The biology of the immune system
D. P. Huston
Intact immunity is fundamental for survival. The human immune system has
evolved with the sophisticated biologic capacity to distinguish self from
nonself and for memory through the process of clonal expansion. The ability
to distinguish even subtle differences from self, and among myriad
antigens, is possible by the rearrangement of genes that encode
immunoglobulins and T-cell receptors, as well as by the requirement for T
cells to recognize antigens in the context of presentation by HLA molecules
encoded within the major histocompatibility complex. Modulation of immune
function initiated by antigenic stimulation and cell-cell interactions is
facilitated by a plethora of soluble mediators such as cytokines. This
overview of the biology of the immune system provides a framework for
understanding physiologic immune responses and how lacunar defects within
the immune system explain the pathogenesis of immunologic disorders.
Through such understanding, potential targets can be identified for
therapeutic modulation of the immune system.
