Immunity

You will be able to

• Describe how phagocytes (neutrophils and macrophages) recognise, engulf and digest a pathogen.
• Explain what an antigen is and state the difference between self and non-self antigens.
• Describe the sequence of a primary immune response, including the roles of macrophages, T-helper cells, T-killer cells, B-lymphocytes and plasma cells.

You will be able to

• Explain the role of memory cells in the faster, larger secondary immune response and in long-term immunity.
• Explain that vaccines contain antigens that stimulate a primary response and memory cells without causing disease.
• Predict why exposure to a different antigen produces a primary response, not a secondary one.

You will be able to

• Relate the structure of an antibody (heavy and light chains, disulfide bonds, variable and constant regions) to its functions.
• Outline the hybridoma method for producing monoclonal antibodies.
• Explain the principles of using monoclonal antibodies to diagnose disease and to treat it.

You will be able to

• Describe the differences between active and passive immunity and between natural and artificial immunity.
• Explain that vaccines contain antigens that stimulate an immune response and memory cells for long-term immunity.
• Explain how vaccination programmes and herd immunity control the spread of infectious diseases, and why the coverage needed depends on the disease and the vaccine.