RAL ACADE
NT M
CE Y
PROJECT EMMUNITY
Submitted by - Ashit kumar
Class - XII
Roll No - 14
Submitted to - Mr. Nishant Vijai
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Ashit kumar of
class XII has successfully completed
the biology project for academic
- 2023
year 2022
This project file has been prepared
according to CBSE guidelines
Project Principal's Examiners
Co-Ordinator Signature Signature
Signature
Acknowledgement
I would like to express my special thanks of
gratitude to my teacher Mr. Nishant Vijai Sir
who gave me the golden opportunity to do this
wonderful project on the topic Immunity,
which also helped me
in doing a lot of Research
and i came to know about so many new things I
am really thankful to them
Teacher Signature
What is Immunity?
Immunity is the ability of the body to defend itself against
disease-causing organisms. Everyday our body comes in
contact with several pathogens, but only a few results into
diseases. The reason is, our body has the ability to release
antibodies against these pathogens and protects the body
against diseases. This defence mechanism is called immunity
Types of Immunity
There are two major types of immunity:
Innate Immunity or Natural or Non-specific Immunity.
Acquired Immunity or Adaptive Immunity
Innate Immunity
This type of immunity is present in an organism by birth.
This is activated immediately when the pathogen attacks.
Innate immunity includes certain barriers and defence
mechanisms that keep foreign particles out of the body.
Innate immunity refers to the body’s defence system.
This immunity helps us by providing the natural resistance
components including salivary enzymes, natural killer cells,
intact skin and neutrophils, etc. which produce an initial
response against the infections at birth prior to exposure
to a pathogen or antigens.
It is a long-term immunity in which our body produces the
antibodies on its own. Our body has few natural barriers to
prevent the entry of pathogens.
Types of Barriers
The four types of barriers are:
Physical barrier
Physiological barriers
Cellular barriers
Cytokine barriers
Physical barrier
These include the skin, body hair, cilia, eyelashes, the respiratory tract,
and the gastrointestinal tract. These form the first line of defence.
The skin does more than providing us with fair or dark complexions. Our
skin acts as a physical barrier to the entry of pathogens. The mucus
coating in our nose and ear is a protective barrier which traps the
pathogen before it gets inside.
Physiological barriers
We know that our stomach uses hydrochloric acid to break down the
food molecules. Due to such a strongly acidic environment, most of the
germs that enter our body along with the food are killed before the
further process is carried on.
Saliva in our mouth and tears in our eyes also have the antibiotic
property that does not allow the growth of pathogens even though
they are exposed all day.
Cellular barriers
In spite of the physical and physiological barriers, certain pathogens
manage to enter our body. The cells involved in this barrier are
leukocytes (WBC), neutrophils, lymphocytes, basophil, eosinophil, and
monocytes. All these cells are all present in the blood and tissues.
Cytokine barriers
The cells in our body are smarter than we give them credit for. For
instance, in case a cell in our body experiences a virus invasion, it
automatically secretes proteins called interferons which forms a
coating around the infected cell and prevents the cells around it
from further infections.
Cells Involved In Innate
Immunity
Phagocytes: These circulate through the body and look
for any foreign substance. They engulf and destroy it
defending the body against that pathogen.
Macrophages: These have the ability to move across the
walls of the circulatory system. They release certain
signals as cytokines to recruit other cells at the site of
infections.
Mast Cells: These are important for healing wounds and
defence against infections.
Neutrophils: These contain granules that are toxic in
nature and kill any pathogen that comes in contact.
Eosinophils: These contain highly toxic proteins that kill any
bacteria or parasite in contact.
Basophils: These attack multicellular parasites. Like the
mast cells, these release histamine.
Natural Killer Cells: These stop the spread of infections by
destroying the infected host cells.
Dendritic Cells: These are located in the tissues that are
the points for initial infections. These cells sense the
infection and send the message to the rest of the immune
system by antigen presentation.
Acquired Immunity
Acquired immunity or adaptive immunity is the immunity that our body
acquires or gains over time. Unlike the innate immunity, this is not
present by birth.
The ability of the immune system to adapt itself to disease and to
generate pathogen-specific immunity is termed as acquired immunity. It
is also known as adaptive immunity.
An individual acquires the immunity after the birth, hence is called as the
acquired immunity.
It is specific and mediated by antibodies or lymphocytes which make
the antigen harmless.
The main function of acquired immunity is to relieve the victim of the
infectious disease and also prevent its attack in future.
It mainly consists of an advanced lymphatic defence system which
functions by recognizing the own body cells and not reacting to them.
The immune system of our body identifies the pathogens which have
encountered in the past. It is mainly caused when a person comes in
contact with the pathogen or its antigen.
Our body starts producing antibodies to engulf the pathogen and
destroy its antigen.
When it encounters for the first time, it is called a primary response.
Once a body gets used to these pathogens, antibodies are ready to
attack them for the second time and are known as naturally acquired
immunity.
The acquired immunity in our body has certain special features.
Features of Acquired Immunity
Specificity: Our body has the ability to differentiate between
different types of pathogens, whether it is harmful or not, and
devise ways to destroy them.
Diversity: Our body can detect vast varieties of pathogens,
ranging from protozoa to viruses.
Differentiate between self and non-self: Our body has the
unique ability to differentiate between its own cells and
foreign cells. It immediately starts rejecting any foreign cell in
the body.
Memory: Once our body encounters a pathogen, it activates
the immune system to destroy it. It also remembers what
antibodies were released in response to that pathogen, so
that, the next time it enters, a similar procedure is followed by
the body to eliminate it.
Cells Involved in Acquired
Immunity
The acquired immunity involves two types of cells: B-cells and T-
cells
B-cells
They develop in the bone marrow.
These cells are activated on their encounter with foreign agents.
These foreign particles act as foreign markers.
The B-cells immediately differentiate into plasma cells which
produce antibodies specific to that foreign particle or so-called
antigen.
These antibodies attach to the surface of the antigen/foreign
agent.
These antibodies detect any antigen in the body and destroy it.
The immunity dependent on B-cells is called humoral immunity.
T-cells
They originate in the bone marrow and develop in the thymus.
T-cells differentiate into helper cells, cytotoxic cells, and regulatory
cells. These cells are released into the bloodstream.
When these cells are triggered by an antigen, helper T-cells release
cytokines that act as messengers.
These cytokines initiate the differentiation of B-cells into plasma
cells which release antibodies against the antigens.
The cytotoxic T-cells kills the cancer cells.
Regulatory T-cells regulate immune reactions.
Types of Acquired Immune Response
Humoral Immune Response
The antibodies produced by B-lymphocytes are present in the blood
cells and they are transported all over the body. This is why it is called
the humoral immune response as it consists of an antibody produced
by the lymphocytes.
It depends upon the action of antibodies circulating in the body. When
an antibody on a B-cell binds with an antigen, humoral immunity
comes into play. The antigen is internalized by the B cell and
presented on the helper T cell. This activates the B-cell.
The activated B cells grow and produce plasma cells.
These plasma cells release antibodies in the bloodstream. The memory
B cells retain the information about the pathogen to prevent any
disease caused by that pathogen in the near future.
Cell-mediated Immune Response
Cell-mediated immunity is initiated by the T helper cells.
The cytotoxic T cells eliminate the infected cells from the body by
releasing toxins, thereby, promoting apoptosis or programmed cell
death.
The T helper cells help to activate other immune cells. Cell-mediated
immunity becomes clear in the case of transplant patients.
When any of our sense organs stop functioning, it can be
transplanted to replace the malfunctioning organs. But it is not that
simple with the immune response. It appears that T-lymphocytes are
capable of recognizing whether tissue or an organ is from our body
or foreign bodies. This is the reason why we cannot transplant and
implant the organs into our body even if we find the donor with the
same blood group because our body might reject the transplanted
organ. The T-
cells quickly recognize that the tissue or an organ as a foreign and do not
allow it to become a part of the body. This is why transplant receivers have
.to take immunosuppressant medication for the rest of their lives. This
response is controlled by the T-lymphocytes
Types of Acquired Immunity
Active Immunity
Active immunity involves the direct response to a foreign antigen within
the body. In the case of the acquired or adaptive immune system, the
body remembers the pathogens it has encountered in the past. This is a
direct result of the active immune system.
Active immunity occurs when we are in contact with the pathogen or
its antigen.
Antigens stand for antibody generator. It is with the help of antigens
released by the pathogen that our body tackles the pathogen.
So what our body does is, it starts producing antibodies to attack the
pathogen based on its antigen. When this happens for the first time, it
is called a primary response. Once a body experiences a pathogen for
the first time, it keeps a few of the antibodies that attacked the
pathogen just in case it attacks for the second time. This is known as
natural active immunity.
Passive Immunity
Passive immunity involves the immune response by the antibodies
attained from outside the body. The primary response by the body to a
pathogen it encounters for the first time is rather feeble, so the first
encounter is always a little harsh on the body.
What if we could immunize everyone without the need for them ever
getting sick?
Biotechnology has grown tremendously in the last decade or two and
now we are capable of manufacturing antibodies for diseases. These
ready-made antibodies protect the body even if the body hasn’t yet
experienced a primary response.
While active immunity may protect us from a disease for a lifetime,
passive immunity is the more short term.
Passive immunity develops immediately and our body could begin its
attack on the pathogen right away.
There are two types of passive immunity:
Natural Passive Immunity
Artificial Passive Immunity
AutoImmunity
Sometimes the immune system attacks its own tissues and organs
instead of the foreign agents. This is called autoimmunity. Type I
diabetes is an example of autoimmune disease.
Vaccines
A vaccine is made up of the antigens of the pathogen that cause the
disease. For eg., the smallpox vaccine contains the antigens of the
pathogen causing smallpox disease. When a person is vaccinated with
the smallpox vaccine the antibody-producing cells are stimulated that
produce smallpox antibodies. Thus, the body is protected against the
disease occurring in future.
Vaccinating pathogenic microbes into our body deliberately produces a
similar response and is termed as artificially acquired immunity.
Immunization is a process providing resistant to pathogenic microbes
and other infectious diseases by the administration of a vaccine into
the body. By immunization, it stimulates the body’s immune system to
protect against subsequent infection or disease.
Immune System
The immune system is our body’s best defensive system. It functions
against infringing microorganisms and keeps us healthy.
Immunology is a branch of biology which deals with complex body
functions of the immune system. The ability to tackle antigens or
pathogens and being healthy is referred to as immunity.
The immune system is composed of cells, tissues, and organs that work
unitedly in protecting our body. This system defends the human body
from the trespassing pathogens in a variety of ways. They work based
on memory, some are innate, and some are acquired. Hence, they
function in allergies, autoimmunity and organ transplantation.
The most important cells involved in the immune system are white blood
cells (or) leukocytes, which are involved in destroying disease-causing
organisms or substances. Apart from the leukocytes, lymphoid organs,
tissues, and proteinaceous molecules antibodies are also involved in the
defensive system
the immune system - lymphoid organs
Lymphoid Organs
The organs of the immune system which are involved in defending the
body against invading pathogens causing infections or spread of
tumours is termed as Lymphoid organs. It includes bone marrow,
blood vessels, lymph nodes, lymphatic vessels, thymus, spleen, and
various other clusters of lymphoid tissue.
Lymphoid organs are the site of origin, maturation, and proliferation
of lymphocytes. They exist as primary, secondary or tertiary and
these are based on their stage of development and maturation.
These organs consist of fluid connective tissues with different types
of leukocytes or white blood cells. The highest percentage of
Lymphocytes are present in the white blood cells or leukocytes.
Primary lymphoid organs
The primary lymphoid organs produce and allow the maturation of
lymphocytes. It also serves by generating lymphocytes from
immature progenitor cells. Therefore it is referred to as the central
lymphoid organs. Examples of primary lymphoid organs include
thymus and the bone marrow.3
Secondary lymphoid organs
The secondary lymphoid organs are referred to as the peripheral
lymphoid organs as they are involved in promoting the sites for the
interaction of lymphocytes with the antigen to become effector cells.
They initiate an adaptive immune response. The secondary lymphoid
organs Examples of secondary lymphoid organs spleen, tonsils, lymph
nodes, appendix, etc. are secondary lymphoid organs.
Tertiary lymphoid organs
The tertiary lymphoid organs usually contain very less number of
lymphocytes. It plays an important role during the inflammation
process.