CH 16 – Adaptive Immunity

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and attributes of innate and adaptive immunity from Chapter 16 lecture notes.

Innate immunity

Rapid, nonspecific defenses—skin, mucous membranes, phagocytosis, inflammation, and fever—that provide immediate but sometimes insufficient protection.

Adaptive immunity

Specific immune resistance that develops after exposure to a pathogen and acts more effectively upon subsequent infections with the same pathogen.

Specificity

Attribute of adaptive immunity in which responses target particular molecular shapes called antigens.

Inducibility

Attribute of adaptive immunity where immune cells activate only after detecting a specific antigen.

Clonality

Ability of activated lymphocytes to proliferate and produce identical clones to combat an invader.

Unresponsiveness to self

Feature of adaptive immunity that prevents immune cells from attacking the body’s own tissues.

Immunological memory

Long-lasting ability of adaptive immunity to respond faster and more effectively to repeat encounters with the same pathogen.

Lymphocyte

Type of white blood cell with a large central nucleus and thin rim of cytoplasm that acts against specific pathogens.

B lymphocyte (B cell)

Lymphocyte that arises and matures in the red bone marrow and participates in adaptive immunity.

T lymphocyte (T cell)

Lymphocyte that originates in bone marrow but matures in the thymus; central to cell-mediated immunity.

Cell-mediated immune response (Category 1 adaptive immunity)

Adaptive immune defense carried out by T cells to destroy pathogens or abnormal cells.

Antigen

Specific molecule recognized as foreign by lymphocytes, triggering an adaptive immune response.