Cont’d…
Now, the T-cells can also call up the B-cells to join in their
fight against the invaders, depending on the type of germs and depending other
factors at play during invasion, the B-cell is very important because it can not
only trap but also mark the germs that
haven’t yet infected a cell. The B-cell
shoots out antibodies, which is like a net.
These nets are called immunoglobulins and they look to us like the
letter “Y”. The germs are caught in the
fork of the “Y” and neutralized so they are not able to infect your body. Just like the killer T-cell, the B-cell will
make more and more copies of itself in your lymph nodes before it heads to the
infection site. When we feel swollen
lymph nodes, it’s because our activated B-cell and T-cells are making armies to
fight against the invaders.
When all germs are destroyed, the battle is over and the area of
cut is healed completely. The T-cells
and B-cells go back to your lymph nodes, and wait for signals of any other
invaders. Also the macrophage returns to
patrol the skin, looking for new infections.
Now the T-cells and B-cells have fought the infection in the skin now
and have experience of fighting those specific germs that invaded through the
cuts and now they have information about that specific germs stored in the
cells for future battle when required and these cells are called Memory
cells. These memory cells give your body
a great advantage if you get infected by the same germs and the T-cells and
B-cells get a huge head start and can build their cell armies in half the time
during the next germ invasion.
An important difference
between T-cells and B-cells is that B-cells can connect to antigens right on
the surface of the invading virus or bacteria, while T-cells can only connect
to antigens from the outside of the infected cells.
The human’s Acquired
Immune System, mainly the T-cells and B-cells are responsible for the
destruction of foreign particles once they enter the body. Before it has seen a foreign particle, it is
actually quite ignorant about how to destroy it. During the first exposure to an invader, the
acquired immune system must learn how to attack and destroy the foreign
particles, for keeping out things it has never encountered before, hence once
the acquired immune system has created a response, a protective response can be
made more quickly and with greater force, allowing it to protect the body from
harm. You need to know that apart from
T-cells and B-cells, there are also other important part of the acquired immune
system that comes to play when required.
