Related topics: vaccine , immune system , immune cells , virus , cells
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
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with immune response
Novel nanotechnology heals abscesses caused by resistant staph bacteria
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Dec 22, 2009 |
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Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed a new approach for treating and healing skin abscesses caused by bacteria resistant to most antibiotics. The study ...
Enzyme necessary for development of healthy immune system
Dec 22, 2009 |
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Mice without the deoxycytidine kinase (dCK) enzyme have defects in their adaptive immune system, producing very low levels of both T and B lymphocytes, the major players involved in immune response, according to a study by ...
It takes two to infect: Structural biologists shed light on mechanism of invasion protein
Nov 30, 2009 |
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Bacteria are quite creative when infecting the human organism. They invade cells, migrate through the body, avoid an immune response and misuse processes of the host cell for their own purposes. To this end every bacterium ...
Scientists reveal malaria parasites' tactics for outwitting our immune systems
Nov 30, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (6) |
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Malaria parasites are able to disguise themselves to avoid the host's immune system, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust and published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of ...
Nanoparticles for gene therapy improve
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Nov 06, 2009 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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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 ...
Fibre may keep asthma, diabetes at bay, study finds
Oct 28, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (8) |
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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.
Glaxo's swine flu shot may give kids fever
Medicine & Health / Medications
Dec 04, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The European Medicines Agency warns that young children given GlaxoSmithKline's swine flu shot may get a fever after their second dose.
Pancreatic tumors are marked for immunotherapy
Nov 30, 2009 |
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Pancreatic tumors can be identified by a readily detectable marker that shows promise as a basis for immune therapy against the disease, according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
A natural approach for HIV vaccine
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Mar 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For 25 years, researchers have tried and failed to develop an HIV vaccine, primarily by focusing on a small number of engineered "super antibodies" to fend off the virus before it takes hold. So far, these ...
Seeing family for the holidays? Scientists discover how the stress might kill you
Nov 30, 2009 |
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If you ever thought the stress of seeing your extended family over the holidays was slowly killing you -- bad news: a new research report in the December 2009 print issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology shows that you mi ...
New origin found for a critical immune response
Mar 01, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (8) |
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An immune system response that is critical to the first stages of fighting off viruses and harmful bacteria comes from an entirely different direction than most scientists had thought, according to a finding by researchers ...
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 ...
Vaccine to prevent colon cancer being tested in patients
Mar 19, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (7) |
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Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have begun testing a vaccine that might be able to prevent colon cancer in people at high risk for developing the disease. If shown to be effective, it might ...
Hundreds of genes distinguish patients likely to survive advanced melanoma
Nov 09, 2009 |
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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 ...
Meningitis bacteria dress up as human cells to evade our immune system
Feb 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The way in which bacteria that cause bacterial meningitis mimic human cells to evade the body's innate immune system has been revealed by researchers at the University of Oxford and Imperial ...
