the immune system

justin, manuel, beonca, and kaley

the importance and purpose

• • The immune system defends you against millions of bacteria, microbes, viruses, toxins and parasites that would love to invade your body.

Keeps you body free from infection. If you get a cut or splinter, the immune system seals it up, and rids the foreign object.

diseases and other ailments

HIV/AIDS

• After initial contact and attachment to a cell of the immune system, there is a cascade of intracellular events. The end product of these events is the production of massive numbers of new viral particles, death of the infected cells, and ultimate devastation of the immune system.

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Allergies

Sometimes the immune system overreacts to a certain stimuli, causing an allergic reaction. Not all people react the same to all things.

• Makes your immune system weaker and weaker, which then causes other illness to occur.

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Diabetes

immune system inappropriately attacking cells in the pancreas and destroying them, which eliminates or limits the production of insulin •

rheumatoid arthritis

caused by the immune system acting inappropriately in the joints

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Rickets

People with rickets have weak and deformities because the bones do not grow properly.

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Scurvy

causes swollen and bleeding gums, swollen joints and bruising.

Metabolism

• • • Set of chemical reactions that occur in living organisms in order to maintain life.

Allows organism to grow and reproduce There are two categories: – Catabolism ~ breaks down large molecules – anabolism ~ uses energy to construct components of cells such as proteins and nucleic acids.

Lymphatic System

• • • Thymus – ductless, butterfly shaped gland in base of neck. Aids the production of T cells.

Spleen – Lymph Nodes -

Problems and Errors

• • • • • • • Mechanical damage - If you break a bone or tear a ligament you will be "sick“, because you obviously cannot do everything you normally would.

Vitamin deficiency - If you do not get enough vitamin D, C, or enough iron and such, your metabolism and immune system will not work properly.

Organ degradation - In some cases an organ is damaged or weakened Genetic disease - A genetic disease is caused by a coding error in the DNA. The coding error causes too much or too little of certain proteins to be made, and that causes problems at the cellular level Cancer - Occasionally a cell will change in a way that causes it to reproduce uncontrollably. For example, when cells in the skin called melanocytes are damaged by ultraviolet radiation in sunlight they change in a characteristic way into a cancerous form of cell Autoimmunity - the immune system for some reason attacks your own body in the same way it would normally attack a germ Organ Transplant – the body doesn’t always accept the new organ, and may reject it.

Lymphocytes

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T Cells

travel through the blood stream to the thymus gland where they become fully developed Two types: killer T cells and helper T cells.

helper T cells stimulate the B cells to make antibodies, and help killer cells develop Killer T cells kill the body's own cells that have been invaded by the viruses or bacteria. This prevents the bug from reproducing in the cell and then infecting other cells.

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B Cells

mature in the bone marrow react against invading bacteria or viruses by making proteins called are part of the memory of the immune system. The next time the same bug tries to invade, the B cells that make the right antibody are ready for it.

Each B cell makes antibodies with a different variable end from other B cells

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• • Lymphocytes are one of the five kinds of white blood cells or leukocytes made in the bone marrow

Phagocytes

• • • • This is a group of immune cells specialized in finding and "eating" bacteria, viruses, and dead or injured body cells. There are three main types, the granulocyte, the macrophage, and the dendritic cell.

The granulocytes often take the first stand during an infection. They attack any invaders in large numbers, and "eat" until they die. The pus in an infected wound consists chiefly of dead granulocytes. A small part of the granulocyte community is specialized in attacking larger parasites such as worms.

The macrophages ("big eaters") are slower to respond to invaders than the granulocytes, but they are larger, live longer, and have far greater capacities. Macrophages also play a key part in alerting the rest of the immune system of invaders. Macrophages start out as white blood cells called monocytes. Monocytes that leave the blood stream turn into macrophages. The dendritic cells are "eater" cells and devour intruders, like the granulocytes and the macrophages. And like the macrophages, the dendritic cells help with the activation of the rest of the immune system. They are also capable of filtering body fluids to clear them of foreign organisms and particles.

The Complete System

• meets invaders such as bacteria is a group of proteins called the complement system. These proteins flow freely in the blood and can quickly reach the site of an invasion where they can react directly with antigens - molecules that the body recognizes as foreign substances. When activated, the complement proteins can - trigger inflammation - attract eater cells such as macrophages to the area - coat intruders so that eater cells are more likely to devour them - kill intruders