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Cellular immunity allows the body to attack infected cells using cells like macrophages and natural killer cells. It works with humoral immunity to form a healthy immune system, constantly replenishing new immune cells to recognize and respond to new infectious material.
Cellular immunity, also known as cell-mediated immunity, is an important aspect of the immune system that allows the body to attack invading organisms on a cellular level. It is associated with humoral immunity, the part of the immune system that involves an antibody response. Both types of immunity are a key part of a healthy, functioning immune system.
In cellular immunity, the body recognizes infected cells and kills them, using cells such as macrophages and natural killer cells. These cells are designed to trigger cell death, ensuring that infected cells do not replicate and allow the infection to spread. CD4 cells, also known as helper T cells, play an important role in cellular immunity by focusing and directing attacks on infected cells so the immune system can accurately and effectively target an infection.
Many microorganisms target the body by attempting to hijack cells. The cell is used to house the infectious organism and some are even able to reuse the cell for their own ends, using the cell for reproduction and a source of nutrition. Cellular immunity allows the body to identify cells that have been compromised so they can be destroyed, minimizing an organism’s ability to spread through the body.
The immune system uses a number of interconnected systems to catch infectious organisms. One element alone could not eliminate an infection, but working together, the various aspects of the immune system can effectively target and clean up infectious material, as well as isolate toxins. The destroyed and neutralized infectious material makes its way into the lymph nodes and will eventually be cleared from the body.
New immune cells are constantly being produced. Each time the body fights off an infection, it learns to recognize new infectious material and this information is passed on to the entire immune system so it can respond quickly in the future. The cells involved in cellular immunity must be constantly replenished because many are short-lived and during an active immune response, many of the cells will die.
Most people are only aware of their immune system when it’s not working. The immune system is constantly in action, neutralizing threats before people are even alerted to their presence. Sometimes the system breaks down. Either a microorganism outsmarts the immune system or the immune system is simply unable to deal with an infection. An infection could be aggressive, spreading faster than the immune system can respond, or new, with the immune system not recognizing it as a threat until it has taken hold in the body.
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