The Molecules

of HIV
The human immune system
 Main page An article from "The Molecules of HIV" (c) Dan Stowell
www.mcld.co.uk/hiv
 A HIV
particle The mammalian immune system is a fantastic, and fantastically-
 HIV life- complex, system. There are a number of cells specialised for
cycle particular jobs in recognising and defending against foreign materials
that might enter the body (e.g. bacteria or viruses). Some of these
 HIV genom cells also play roles in other procedures such as wound-healing.
e
There are differences in the immune systems of different species -
 Immune sys humans, primates, etc. - and since we're interested in HIV, we'll just
tem look at the human immune system for now.
 Ways to The following image shows a summary of the important cells and
stop it molecules in the human immune system - the top half of the picture
 3D HIV represents detection of invaders, and the bottom half represents the
 Index defence which is triggered by that detection.

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 Written by
Dan Stowell
(©2002-2006)

From our perspective of HIV, the most important cells are perhaps
the lymphocytes - indeed, one specific type, called "T
lymphocytes" or "T cells". They are the cells which HIV targets and
infects. In ordinary immune function, T cells often work together
with the other major type of lymphocyte: B lymphocytes or B
cells. Notice the position of the helper T cells in the diagram
(labelled TH) - they're in the middle, the key in the transition from
detecting an invader to launching a defence against it.
Also important are macrophages, cells which effectively "eat"
invaders. HIV does target macrophages, but to a much lesser extent
than T cells.
Antibodies (immunoglobulins) aren't cells, but are molecules
secreted by the immune system - molecules designed to latch on to
invaders and to neutralise them in various ways, and also to trigger
certain activities of the immune cells. You can see some of them
indicated in the diagram, including various interleukins (labelled IL).
Cytokines too are important molecules in the immune system - they
are molecular signals emitted by lymphocytes and other cells.