Adaptive Immunity Overview and Key Concepts

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms related to adaptive immunity, including important cell types, immune responses, and mechanisms.

Adaptive Immunity

A specialized immune response developed in reaction to pathogens, characterized by memory and specificity.

Antibodies

Glycoproteins produced by plasma cells that recognize and bind to specific antigens.

Antigens

Foreign substances that elicit an immune response, including exogenous and endogenous types.

B cells

Lymphocytes that mature into plasma cells to produce antibodies and memory B cells.

T Cells

Lymphocytes involved in cell-mediated immunity, which target infected host cells.

Humoral Immunity

An arm of adaptive immunity that involves B cells producing antibodies against exogenous antigens.

Cell-Mediated Immunity

An immune response that involves T cells targeting and destroying infected or cancerous cells.

Dendritic Cells

A type of antigen presenting cell (APC) that processes antigens and presents them on MHC proteins.

Clonal Selection Theory

The concept that only certain B cells that recognize an antigen will proliferate and produce specific antibodies.

Immunogenicity

The ability of an antigen to provoke an immune response.

MHC Proteins

Major Histocompatibility Complex proteins that present antigens to T cells; include MHC I and MHC II.

Memory B Cells

Long-lived B cells that can quickly respond to subsequent exposures to an antigen.

Primary Immune Response

The initial immune response to an antigen, characterized by slower production of antibodies.

Secondary Immune Response

A faster and more effective immune response due to the presence of memory B cells.

T Helper Cells

A subset of T cells that assist in activating B cells and cytotoxic T cells.

Cytotoxic T Cells

T cells that kill infected or cancerous host cells.

Cytokines

Signaling proteins secreted by immune cells to communicate and regulate immune responses.