Did you know you had two types of immune systems? Well, actually it's just one, but humans tend to divide things into several parts to understand them better. So we refer to two types of immunity, innate and adaptive, to help us understand how our body's defense strategy works.
The phagocyte can move by sensing chemical signals, Daredevil-style with sound. Phagocytes detect signals produced by pathogens, like bacteria, tattletale leukocytes, or damaged cells. And what it does is devour everything - whether it's bacteria, marked pathogens, or cellular waste, it engulfs and digests it.
Protect the Gate!
From the beginning of our days in this world, we have a series of resources to defend our body like a castle. Like any great fortress, the first defense system is the skin, an impenetrable wall for our pathogenic enemies. As the weak point of a wall is always the access points - the eyes, mouth, nose, and other orifices. At the doors, we have mucous membranes, which as their name suggests, produce a humid and viscous substance we call mucus, and it doesn't always have to be green. Mucus can trap pathogens and harmful substances that can then be expelled. We can also include other secretions like tears or saliva in the list of defensive secretions.The Lymphocyte's Last Breath
If the enemy manages to access our castle, we have weapons and soldiers ready to fight it. Do you know viruses' invasion strategy? Your body does. Your body knows that viruses access the inside of your cells and use their internal systems to copy themselves repeatedly, thus increasing their numbers. So some of your white blood cells, when infected, can warn surrounding cells to protect themselves. These signals are called interferons - you can remember their name because they serve to interfere with virus invasion. Uninfected cells receiving these signals protect themselves to prevent viruses from replicating inside them, thus stopping the enemy's advance.The Natural Killer and the Phagocyte
The Natural Killer is a type of lymphocyte with a name as cool as it is sinister. These tough guys go throughout the organism asking for ID from every cell they cross. You might wonder why I call them tough guys. Well, if you don't show your ID quickly, they'll liquidate you, just like that, no second chances. The practical function of this is that virus-infected cells or some cancer cells have a different molecular ID than healthy cells.The phagocyte can move by sensing chemical signals, Daredevil-style with sound. Phagocytes detect signals produced by pathogens, like bacteria, tattletale leukocytes, or damaged cells. And what it does is devour everything - whether it's bacteria, marked pathogens, or cellular waste, it engulfs and digests it.
