Reactome | Adaptive Immune System

Adaptive Immune System

Stable Identifier

R-HSA-1280218

Type

Pathway

Species

Homo sapiens

ReviewStatus

5/5

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Adaptive immunity refers to antigen-specific immune response efficiently involved in clearing the pathogens. The adaptive immune system is comprised of B and T lymphocytes that express receptors with remarkable diversity tailored to recognize aspects of particular pathogens or antigens. During infection, dendritic cells (DC) which act as sentinels in the peripheral tissues recognize and pick up the pathogen in the form of antigenic determinants and then process these antigens and present them to T cells. These T cells of appropriate specificity respond to the antigen, and either kill the pathogen directly or secrete cytokines that will stimulate B lymphocyte response. B cells provide humoral immunity by secreting antibodies specific for the pathogen or antigen.

Literature References

PubMed ID	Title	Journal	Year
11861602	Innate immune recognition Janeway CA, Jr, Medzhitov, R	Annu Rev Immunol	2002
16551257	The evolution of adaptive immunity Cooper, MD, Pancer, Z	Annu Rev Immunol	2006
21682741	Innate immunity in allergic disease Minnicozzi, M, Sawyer, RT, Fenton, MJ	Immunol Rev	2011