T Cell Immunity: Locations, Types – Functions, and Development – T-cells are one of the types of white blood that acts as antibodies in the body.
T cells cooperate with macrophages to attack viruses or bacteria. Unlike macrophages that attack foreign objects in general, T cells attack specific viruses.
Why is T cell immunity called the body final defense cell?
The answer is because the T cell immunity protect the body directly or activate the immune system. T cells also attack carcinogenic substances and specific harmful viruses.
An example of a virus targeting the T cell is an HIV virus.
As with white blood and red blood, T cells are formed in the spinal cord. Our bodies have 25 million different T cells. Each cell has a specific antigen receptor.
Location of T cells
With a very fantastic amount of 25 million, these T cells have different types. Where each of these T cells has a more specific antigen receptor to kill the virus that enters the human body.
The location of this T cell is specific to the two lines of the system that exist in the body. Similar to white blood cells, this T-cell helps as a final defense against the virus through the spleen and vascular system.
While white blood cells accumulate and settle in the spleen system to fight the virus in the front guard of the body, T cells help white blood cells by entering the blood vessels. Thus, the body can react and attack the virus that enters quickly.
The spleen itself is known to be found on legs, neck, and armpits.
Specific Types and Functions of T Cells
Cytotoxic T Cells (CD8 + T cell)
Function: involved in the direct destruction of cells that have become cancerous or virus-infected.
Cytotoxic T cells contain granules (pouches that contain digestive enzymes or other chemicals) so that they utilize causing the target cells to rupture in a process called apoptosis.
Helper T cell (CD4 + T cells)
Function: Precipitate the production of antibodies by cell B and also produce substances that activate cytotoxic T cells and white blood cells known as macrophages.
Regulatory T cells or T-suppressor cells
Function: Suppress the response of cell B and other T cells against the antigen. This emphasis is needed so that the immune response does not continue so no longer needed. Defects in T-cell regulators can lead to the development of autoimmune diseases.
Natural Killer T Cell (HCV)
It has the same name as the different types of lymphocytes called natural killer cells. NKT cells are T cells instead of natural killer cells.
Function: Distinguishes infected cells or cancers of normal body cells and attack cells that do not contain molecular markers identifying them as body cells. One type of NKT cell known as invariant natural killer T (INKT) cells, protecting the body against obesity by regulating inflammation in adipose tissue.
T Cell Memory
Function: Helps the immune system recognize previously discovered antigen and respond faster and for a longer period of time.
T Cell Development
An immature T cell, develops in the bone marrow. Once they reached a certain stage in its development, it would leave the marrow and travel to the thymus, where they undergo the end of its development, but it was the most important in the developmental phase.
When they enter the thymus, an immature T cell is able to distinguish into all types of mature T cells (cytotoxic cells, regulatory cells, and helper cells).
In addition, at the stage of their development, they have not begun to express the receptors conferring the antigenic specificity that matures T cells have..
During the development process, the gene that is coded for T cell antigen receptors undergoes a recombination process. At the end of this process, T cells specific to-order antigen of about 9-11 amino acids-and can only be activated with that specific antigen.
Once this has been completed, the mature T cell falls undergoing a selection process where the T cell with a weak binding affinity for non-self antigen, and the T cell with a strong binding affinity for the self antigen will be eliminated.
At the end of the maturation process, the T cells come out of the thymus and begin circulating in the blood and lymphatic systems until they are activated by the antigen.
As a result of maturation and selection, these cells can only be active in the presence of foreign antigen (in some cases, this process may also fail due to several reasons such as autoimmune diseases, in which the body’s immune system invades the body’s own tissues, probably will occur).
Thank you very much for reading T Cell Immunity: Locations, Types – Functions, and Development, hopefully useful.
