In our immune system, how do the cells (whichever ones are appropriate) recognize and store the information of previous pathogens, and where in the body is that information stored?

Question

Follow up: Does that information deteriorate or do these cells ‘forget’?

Edit: If you’re able to answer the question, but can’t ELI5, then maybe explain in a way that a lay-person would understand i.e. not jargon-heavy.

In: Biology

Answer 1

T cells exposed to pathogens express proteins on their surface. Conversely ones that have not been exposed do not. The former are considered effector memory t cells and the others naive. If you are looking for more information do some research on t cells that express cd28 or cd95.