lymphatic

how does the boby recognise "self" cells?

[Ken_PA]

Hi, the immune system is very complicated and not completely understood, but here's a basic:

almost every cell carries Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Class I molecules on their surface. The purpose is to display to the outside the proteins that are contained inside. A cancerous cell will have distorted proteins. So will a virus infected cell.

This gives Killer T Cells the ability to check the cells out, by moving across its surface. If the Killer Ts run across a cell that has cancer or is infected, they'll normally kill it, using chemicals.

T cells mature in the thymus gland, where they are tested to see if they are programmed to kill 'self' cells. If so, they are deleted. Otherwise, they are released into the body to do their job. However, the process is not 100% error free - which might be a cause of autoimmunity.

In the marrow, B cells are similarly tested to see if they react to self. If not, they are allowed to leave and might end up producing antibodies to foreign invaders such as viruses, etc

[Ken_PA]

Hi, the immune system is very complicated and not completely understood, but here's a basic:

almost every cell carries Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Class I molecules on their surface. The purpose is to display to the outside the proteins that are contained inside. A cancerous cell will have distorted proteins. So will a virus infected cell.

This gives Killer T Cells the ability to check the cells out, by moving across its surface. If the Killer Ts run across a cell that has cancer or is infected, they'll normally kill it, using chemicals.

T cells mature in the thymus gland, where they are tested to see if they are programmed to kill 'self' cells. If so, they are deleted. Otherwise, they are released into the body to do their job. However, the process is not 100% error free - which might be a cause of autoimmunity.

In the marrow, B cells are similarly tested to see if they react to self. If not, they are allowed to leave and might end up producing antibodies to foreign invaders such as viruses, etc

[shirl350]

Thank you. You have gbeen agreat help