Why is the Third Line of Defense in Nature Specific?

[komal12]

can anyone help answer why the third line of defense in nature is specific. all i have so far is that it's specific because of the vacines that we are immunized with. please help!

 

[contrio]

hmm ok vaccine makes the body immune to specifc antigens, and nothing else.
first line is the skin and other stuff, they are general. second line is the macrophages, they eat up pathogen in a general way. Now if u want more stuff u probably need to write down the specific process of antibody generation and T cell activation stuff, but that's too much right.

 

[komal12]

hmm ok that helps but i still need to answer why it is specific. what is the reason that it isn't like the other non-specific defenses...can you think of anything?

 

[Moridin]

Macrophages, for example, are part of the nonspecific immune system. This is because a macrophage is very versatile and can destroy a lot of things. A B-cell/T-cell on the other hand, are specifically designed for one type of a variant of pathogen.

http://www.niaid.nih.gov/final/immun/immun.htm (Overview)
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/Publications/immune/the_immune_system.pdf (Understanding the Immune System - How it works; large and detailed file)

 

[contrio]

it's specific because it's protein antibody-antigen binding, similar to enzyme substrate binding, which has to be specific. antibody produced from the B-cell stimulated by the T cells. if u need to write an essay on this then I'll have to write more. Nonspecifc macrophage go after a bunch of different things by engulfing them.

 

[komal12]

thank you so much..that reli helped and the reading helped too..and no i don't have to write an essay just a short answer (125 words).

 

[alysa]

hii..i am also stuck in this question explain why the response of the third line of defence specific in nature? can you help me in this questions please:) thankyou

 

[diamonds]

hmm
I had the same question,, please can anyone elaborate more on this question.?