Question

Identify and describe antibodies main purpose and how they function. What do antibodies react to and how are they created?

Answer 1

Antibodies:

Antibodies are well known as Immunoglobulins. The main purpose of antibodies is to prevent the pathogens from attacking Human body. Production of antibodies is the main role of humoral immune system.

Production of antibodies:

When an antigen comes into contact with the blood stream it can directly activate the B-cells or it may be taken by Antigen Presenting Cell (APC) and present it to T-helper cells with the help of MHC-II.

This leads to the activation of T-helper cells which inturn secrete cytokines and cause activation of B-cells.Thus activated B-cells start differentiating into plasma cells and memory cells.

These plasma cells produces antibodies which are antigen specific and the memory cells helps in attacking the same antigen when it again enters the body next time.

Function of antibodies:

When antibodies are released into the blood stream, they directly attacks the antigen and destroy them by following processes:

1.Neutralisation, in the sense blocking pathogenic sites of antigen.

2.Immobilisation of microbes by forming antigen-antibody complexes preventing their entry into the cells.

3.Agglutination and precipitation which circulate macrophages to phagocytes.

4.The antigen-antibody complex can activate complement system to attack it with membrane attack complex and thereby by causing lysis of infected cell.

5.They coat the antigens and by this process of opsonization they enhances the phagocytosis.