The innate immune system is always ongoing and reacts in the same manner every time

despite the fact that the body may have had the pathogen before, thus making it the body’s
first line of defense. There are two main types of innate defenses: external barriers and
internal defenses. Some types of external barriers are exoskeletons, acidic environments,
secretions, mucous membranes, hairs, and cilia. More specifically, stomach acid creates
acidic conditions for pathogens, which make it extremely difficult for them to survive and as
a result would most likely die. Moreover, cilia are useful because they sift through air to
prevent bacteria from entering, similar to hair. The second main strategy is on a cellular
level, which includes macrophages, inflammatory responses, and interferon proteins. For
example, macrophages patrol the cells and engulf microorganisms that are out of place,
such as pathogens. Furthermore, interferon proteins would be released if a cell was infected
in order to signal to other cells locally to block their entrances such that they do not become
infected.
If pathogens circumpass the innate immune system, the body has two specific adaptive
responses: the humoural response and the cell-mediated response. The humoural response
requires the aid of B-cells. When a lymph sweeps up an antigen (a piece of a pathogen) into
the lymph system, the antigen goes through the system and interacts with several B-cells.
Eventually one B-cell matches the antigen’s shape, and if the antigen is from a virus, then
the B-cell will undergo clonal selection, in which the specific B-cell multiplies rapidly. Most
of these B-cells become effector cells, which release thousands of antibodies to target free
floating viruses and to inhibit their production through precipitation, neutralization,
agglutination, or activation of the complement system. For instance, agglutination would
cluster multiple pathogens together by using both binding sites of the antibody, and
neutralization would involve antibodies binding to surface proteins on a virus and blocking
its ability to infect a host. In addition, some of the other B-cells from the clonal selection
process become memory cells, which stay in the lymph system. This ensures that if the
pathogen enters the body once again in the future, the secondary humoural response will
initiate much faster and react stronger to eliminate the pathogen.
However, to deal with pathogens already inside of cells, the body uses the cell mediated
response, which includes the use of T lymphocyte cells. There are two types of T-cells: T-
helper cells, which manage the immune response, and Cytotoxic T-cells, which eliminate
cells infected by pathogens. Typically, when a macrophage or other white blood cell finds a
pathogen, it destroys it and displays its pieces, which are potential pathogens to T-helper
cells. Additionally, infected cells will display pieces of the attacking pathogen on their
surfaces. T-helper cells act as the organizers of the attack and stimulate Cytotoxic T-cells to
multiply and kill any infected cells exhibiting the selected pathogen. Furthermore, the T-
helper cells will call upon B-cells to begin a humoural response. Once the pathogen is
defeated, similar to the end of the humoural response, some of the activated T-cells
become memory cells, which furthers immunity.