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Chapter: Immunology

Immunological Synapse

Antigen presentation in the form of an immunological synapse between dendritic cell and t cell, love is in the air

Antigen presentation in the form of an immunological synapse between dendritic cell and t cell, love is in the air

In an immunological synapse the membrane between the antigen presenting cell (APC) and the t cell touch. They exchange signals so the APC can present an antigen to the t cell. In this case the APC is a dendritic cell that has the right antigen for the t cell and love is in the air. …

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Shooting Antibodies

Plasma cell; B cell; shooting antibodies with a sling

Plasma cell; B cell; shooting antibodies with a sling

Plasma cells, are a specialized type of B cells that produce large volumes of antibodies. This B cell here is using those antibodies to neutralize an invading flu virus that has entered the body.

Adoptive Cell Transfer

Adoptive cell transfer of CD45.2 T lymphocytes to new host CD45.1 mouse host

Adoptive cell transfer of CD45.2 T lymphocytes to new host CD45.1 mouse host

Adoptive cell transfer refers to the transfer of cells into an organism, which could be a patient or in the case of this cartoon, a mouse. This is a very common technique used in immunology research to understand how the cells behave. Adoptive Cell Transfer in Immunology Research Typically, the cells that are being transfer …

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Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cell

cartoon of monocyte-dericed dendritic cell

cartoon of monocyte-dericed dendritic cell

This monocyte turned into a dendritic cell (DC) and doesn’t even know how it happened! Many researchers isolate monocytes and then derive them into DCs to do studies on these cells. It is a common method followed by people studying DCs that need to generate some cells for their experiments. In case you are interested in …

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MHC Restriction

Cartoon of Dendritic Cell Presenting Antigen on MHC to T Cell

Cartoon of Dendritic Cell Presenting Antigen on MHC to T Cell

The dendritic cell (DC) is presenting an antigen to a T cell but the T cell doesn’t recognize it. This is making the DC kind of sad. In this case the DC is presenting the antigen on an MHC-I molecule and it is showing to a CD8 T cells. However, the T cell will recognize and …

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Dendritic Cell in the intestine

Cartoon of Dendritic Cell and Lymphocyte in the intestine

Cartoon of Dendritic Cell and Lymphocyte in the intestine

A big challenge of the immune system in the intestine is being able to distinguish between harmful pathogens and at the same time be tolerant towards harmless antigens derived from food and commensal bacteria (good bacteria). Mechanisms to maintain tolerance are therefore necessary to avoid unwanted immune responses that may lead to inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) …

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Infected cell

Cartoon of infected cell shedding virus

Cartoon of infected cell shedding virus

A virus is a small infectious agent that needs other cells to replicate. The virus gets its genetic material inside the cell and the cell then uses its machinery to read the genetic code and create virus proteins that will form new viral particles. The cartoon is showing a cell that has been infected and …

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Neutrophil

Neutrophil, a leukocyte phagocytoses bacteria

Neutrophil, a leukocyte phagocytoses bacteria

Neutrophil are the most abundant type of white blood cells and are part of the granulocyte family or the polymorphonuclear cells family.  They get the name ‘polymorphonuclear cells’ because of the varying shapes of the nucleus, which is usually lobed into three segments. Neutrophils are the first cells to get to the site of infection, they …

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Leukocyte Extravasation

Leukocyte extravasation cartoon cell migration biology

Leukocyte extravasation cartoon cell migration biology

Leukocyte extravasation is the movement of leukocytes out of the circulatory system and towards the site of tissue damage or infection. This process is regulated by a concerted action between endothelial cells and leukocytes, whereby endothelial cells activate leukocytes and direct them to extravasation sites, and leukocytes in turn instruct endothelial cells to open a …

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