When our immune systems learn to recognize a pathogen for the future, where / how is that “memory” stored?

541 views

When our immune systems learn to recognize a pathogen for the future, where / how is that “memory” stored?

In: Biology

Anonymous 0 Comments

when your immune system discovers a pathogen, a cell (usually a macrophage) cuts it up and displays the samples to other immune cells specialized in communication (such as dendritic cells) for further processing. in this case, a cell will go along looking for b cells with receptors that match the antigen pieces on the shell. if it connects, that b cell starts multiplying rapidly and producing antibodies. some of those b cells turn into memory b cells. their function is specifically to “remember” antigens you encounter, and trigger the body to produce specific antibodies should you encounter it again. as for where they usually hang out when inactive, im not sure.

its probably a little more complicated than that, but thats a basic explanation i guess.

i believe this process also applies to t cells as well, with basically the same concept with a few minor differences.
tl;dr: our body makes special cells designed to “remember” stuff that attacked you in order to produce a more effective response in a shorter amount of time.