Antibody Structure and

Functions in humoral
immunity
Components of the immune
system
White blood cells
Lymphoid organ
Primary lymphoid organ:

Bone marrow & fetal liver
origin of all immune cells
site for development and education of B cells
Thymus:
site for development and education of T cells
Secondary lymphoid organ
Lymph nodes, spleen, lymphoid tissue
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
antibodies (Abs): immunoglobulin (Ig)
T cell receptor (TCR)
TCR /
Major histocompatibility complex
(MHC)/HLA
Class I
Class II
Immune responses
Natural/innate/nonspecific
Humoral: type I IFN (IFN-
lysozyme, 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)