Learn About The Immune System

The immune system is the police of the body. Almost every cell and space in the body is patrolled for intruders and abnormalities. Specialized cell types carry out certain functions:

• Macrophages devour bacteria, viruses, abnormal cells and debris. They warn T-cells about viruses and bacteria.


• T-cells patrol cells of the body and make sure they are o.k. They get signals from macrophages. T-cells coordinate a lot of the immune response. They tell B-cell to produce antibodies and they can kill abnormal cells that are then absorbed by macrophages.


• B-cells produce antibodies. Antibodies are small molecules that attach to certain structures at other cells like bacteria. By clotting the surface of bacteria they become inactive and can be devoured by macrophages. Each B-cell produces a specialized antibody that targets a specific bacteria or virus. Once a B-cell became active it stays on alert. This is why you suffer from a children's disease only once and why you are immune to a common cold in winter after you went through it.

There three types of organs that are part of the immune system:

• The bone marrow is where all blood cells of the immune system are produced.


• The thymus is the training station of the T-cells. Here, T-cells learn to distinguish between structures that belong to the body and foreign cell structures of bacteria and viruses.


• Lymph nodes are communication centers of the immune cells. Here macrophages inform T-cells which in turn trigger B-cells to produce antibodies. There multiple lymph nodes in the human body such that close to every part of the body there is such a communication center.