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Immune System

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Immune System-Part II

The immune system is composed of a very complex network of organs, cells, and molecules. All of these contributors play a significant role in the maintaining the body’s homeostasis. There are two paths the immune system can take. These are known as innate and adaptive immunity. They work in conjunction with one another to provide the proper response to environmental factors. Innate immunity is characterized by a rapid response to the stimulus. It is known as the body’s first line of defense. As mentioned above, there are several components of the immune system. Notable cellular components are recognized as T and B lymphocytes. To explain a little about their origin, it begins in the bone marrow. Previous to the bone marrow, the T and B lymphocytes start out as stem cells in the bone marrow. These pluripotent stem cells give rise to myeloid and lymphoid progenitors. The lymphoid progenitors give origin to the T and B lymphocytes and NK cells. The T lymphocytes will leave the bone marrow and migrate to the thymus in order to mature as a T-cell. It should be noted that only mature T lymphocytes leave the thymus and enter into circulation. In contrast, B lymphocytes remain in the bone marrow. At the end of their maturation stage, they can then leave the bone marrow and enter into circulation, migrating to secondary lymphoid organs. B lymphocytes define the classes of immunoglobulins, also known as antibodies, IgA, IgG, IgD, IgE, and IgM. The specificity of the antigen binding is defined by the variable domain of the antibody. The variable domain consists of heavy and light chains of immunoglobulins. Each immunoglobulin is formed from gene segments that rearrange into a specific chain to constitute the complete chain. Each molecule of immunoglobulin is formed by two heavy chains and two light chains that are linked by disulfide

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