Related topics: immune system
Immune system
hideAn immune system is a collection of biological processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumour cells. It detects a wide variety of agents, from viruses to parasitic worms, and needs to distinguish them from the organism's own healthy cells and tissues in order to function properly. Detection is complicated as pathogens can evolve rapidly, producing adaptations that avoid the immune system and allow the pathogens to successfully infect their hosts.
To survive this challenge, multiple mechanisms evolved that recognize and neutralize pathogens. Even simple unicellular organisms such as bacteria possess enzyme systems that protect against viral infections. Other basic immune mechanisms evolved in ancient eukaryotes and remain in their modern descendants, such as plants, fish, reptiles, and insects. These mechanisms include antimicrobial peptides called defensins, phagocytosis, and the complement system. Vertebrates such as humans have even more sophisticated defense mechanisms. The immune systems of vertebrates consist of many types of proteins, cells, organs, and tissues, which interact in an elaborate and dynamic network. As part of this more complex immune response, the human immune system adapts over time to recognise specific pathogens more efficiently. This adaptation process is referred to as "adaptive immunity" or "acquired immunity" and creates immunological memory. Immunological memory created from a primary response to a specific pathogen, provides an enhanced response to secondary encounters with that same, specific pathogen. This process of acquired immunity is the basis of vaccination.
Disorders in the immune system can result in disease. Immunodeficiency occurs when the immune system is less active than normal, resulting in recurring and life-threatening infections. Immunodeficiency can either be the result of a genetic disease, such as severe combined immunodeficiency, or be produced by pharmaceuticals or an infection, such as the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) that is caused by the retrovirus HIV. In contrast, autoimmune diseases result from a hyperactive immune system attacking normal tissues as if they were foreign organisms. Common autoimmune diseases include Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus type 1 and lupus erythematosus. Immunology covers the study of all aspects of the immune system which has significant relevance to human health and diseases. Further investigation in this field is expected to play a serious role in promotion of health and treatment of diseases.
For more information about Immune system, read the full article at
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News tagged with immune response
Hundreds of genes distinguish patients likely to survive advanced melanoma
3 hours ago |
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Although the chances of surviving advanced melanoma aren't very good with current therapies, some patients can live for years with cancer that has spread beyond the skin to other organs. Now it may be possible to identify ...
Nanoparticles for gene therapy improve
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Nov 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- About five years ago, Professor Janet Sawicki at the Lankenau Institute in Pennsylvania read an article about nanoparticles developed by MIT's Robert Langer for gene therapy, the insertion ...
New Synthetic Molecules Trigger Immune Response to HIV and Prostate Cancer
Nov 05, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (9) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Yale University have developed synthetic molecules capable of enhancing the body’s immune response to HIV and HIV-infected cells, as well as to prostate cancer cells. Their ...
Initial results show pregnant women mount strong immune response to one dose of 2009 H1N1 vaccine
Medicine & Health / Medications
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Healthy pregnant women mount a robust immune response following just one dose of 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine, according to initial results from an ongoing clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and ...
Fibre may keep asthma, diabetes at bay, study finds
Oct 28, 2009 |
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Insoluble dietary fibre, or roughage, not only keeps you regular, say Australian scientists, it also plays a vital role in the immune system, keeping certain diseases at bay.
Scientists use world's fastest supercomputer to create the largest HIV evolutionary tree
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Oct 27, 2009 |
3 / 5 (1) |
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Supporting Los Alamos National Laboratory's role in the international Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI) consortium, researchers are using the Roadrunner supercomputer to analyze vast quantities of genetic sequences ...
HHS' Sebelius: Ample flu vaccine will be available
Medicine & Health / Medications
Oct 26, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday the swine flu vaccine "is coming out the door as fast as it comes off the production line."
Health officials recommend gap between flu spray vaccines
Medicine & Health / Medications
Oct 16, 2009 |
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Both seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu vaccines may be given to a patient at the same visit, as long as they're not both in the nasal spray form, health officials said.
Protein interaction network can respond Helicobacter pylori infection?
Oct 16, 2009 |
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Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) is a gram negative bacterium which infects about 50% of the world population. H pylori colonization causes a strong systemic immune response. Various tools have been employed to identify the rela ...
Lawsuit seeks to halt US swine flu vaccination campaign
Oct 15, 2009 |
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New York medical workers took legal action Thursday to halt a massive swine flu inoculation program being rolled out across the United States, claiming the vaccines have not been properly tested.
Scientists remove amyloid plaques from brains of live animals with Alzheimer's disease
Oct 15, 2009 |
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A breakthrough discovery by scientists from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, may lead to a new treatment for Alzheimer's Disease that actually removes amyloid plaques -- considered a hallmark of the disease -- from patients' ...
Researchers find extreme genetic variability in malaria parasite
Oct 14, 2009 |
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Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) have charted the extreme genetic differences that occur over time in the most dangerous malaria parasite in the world. While ...
High-speed genetic analysis looks deep inside primate immune system
Oct 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Viruses such as HIV and influenza take safe harbor in cells, where they cannot be recognized directly by the immune system. The immune response relies on infected cells announcing the presence of the virus ...
NIH launches 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine trials in HIV-infected pregnant women
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Oct 10, 2009 |
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The first clinical trials to test whether the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine can safely elicit a protective immune response in pregnant women launched yesterday, and a trial to conduct the same test in HIV-infected children ...
Immune cell entry into the pancreatic islets key to understanding type 1 diabetes origins
Oct 08, 2009 |
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St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have discovered how destructive immune cells gain access to insulin-producing cells and help cause diabetes.
