Antibody Structure and

Functions in humoral
immunity

Components of the immune

system

White blood cells

Lymphoid organ

Primary lymphoid organ:

Bone marrow & fetal liver

Thymus:

site for development and education of T cells

Secondary lymphoid organ

Lymph nodes, spleen, lymphoid tissue

origin of all immune cells

site for development and education of B cells

induction sites for immune responses

Body tissues

effector sites for immune responses

Blood cells derived from bone

marrow cells

Blood cells migrate through blood and

lymph nodes or home to tissues

Lymphoid cells
Resting lymphocytes
are round cells with a
large nucleus

Lymphoid organ

White blood cells

migrate through blood,
lymph nodes and
tissues.
Lymphocytes
recirculate between
blood and lymph
organ until encounter
their Ag
Lymph from body
surfaces drains through
the draining lymph nodes
into the thoracic duct and
then into the blood
circulation.

Clonal selection
Lymphocyte development and maturation

Lymphocyte activation

Lymphocyte proliferate and differentiate

into effector and memory cells
Lymphocyte stimulation

Lymphocytes change function

and morphology on antigen
stimulation

Effector cells attack invading

pathogens
Memory cells protect against a
new infection

Recognition
Different pathogen require different
response mechanism for detection,
recognition & destroying them
Lymphocyte receptor:

BCR (surface Ig): recognize Ag that is present

outside the cells
TCR: detect Ag generated inside infected cell
Each developing lymphocyte generate a
unique Ag receptor by rearranging its gene
segment:

Cells interaction: 2 signal are required for

lymp activation

Antigen presenting cells (APCs)

Effector Mechanism
T Lymphocytes:

T cells are responsible for the cell mediated imm

response
CTL (cytotoxic T lymp) recognize infected cells
CTL tipically express molc CD8 on their surface

T cells that activate the cells they recognized are marked

by molc
CD4 on their surface.
CD4 T lymp can be divided into 2 subset :

TH1 cells: activate M (stimulating antibacterial

mechanism) and release cytokine & chemokine
TH2 cells: activate B cells to produce certain Ab (ch.8)

T cell help for macrophages and B cells

requires recognition of peptide-MHC II

Molecules involved for

antigen recognition

B cell receptor & product

T cell receptor (TCR)

antibodies (Abs): immunoglobulin (Ig)

TCR /

Major histocompatibility complex

(MHC)/HLA

Class I
Class II

Immune responses

Natural/innate/nonspecific

Humoral: type I IFN (IFNlysozyme, Complement proteins

Cellular: phagocytes, NK cells

Adaptive/acquired/specific

Humoral: Abs: IgM, IgG, IgA, IgE, IgD

Cellular: T cells:

CD4+ Th, CD8+CTL

Ab molecule: structure of
immunoglobulin

Immmunity mediated by Ab:

humoral immunity
B cells produce antibodies
which can recognize soluble
antigen
An immunoglobulin molecule
has two identical H-chains
and two identical L-chains
The variable regions of Abs
are encoded by multiple
gene fragments
Variable region determine
Ag binding specificity

Immunoglobulin is a general term for antibodiess

Macrophages and antibodies play a

prominent role in the removal of antigens
and cell debris

Concluding remarks

Ab/Ig: glycoproteins produced in membrane-bound or secreted forms by

(activated) B cells

Comprises 2 identical covalently-linked Heavy (H) chains and 2 identical

Light (L) chains

Fab (antigen binding region) is highly variable; Ab can be produced ca

109/indiv. with distinct specificity

Effector functions: C region of the H chain molecule

Opsonization by binding through FcR on phagocytic cell membrane

Complement activation esp. via the classical pathway

Ab-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) function

Ab-mediated type I hypersensitivity reaction

H chain of C region determine also the tissue distribution, ie. IgA

isotypesecretion (mainly)