Molecules and Chemical Processes of the Immune System

NK cells, monocytes, neutrophils, and macrophages are involved in IgG-mediated ADCC (see below) eosinophils are involved in IgE-mediated ADCC. 

Autoimmune disease can also arise from a foreign substance possessing an epitope very similar to an epitope that is found on a host molecule. This situation, termed molecular mimicry, is the cause of post-streptococcal rheumatic fever because an epitope on the streptococcal M protein elicits formation antibody that reacts with an epitope on myosin. 

The highly coordinated and regulated responses of the cells of the immune system directly reflect properties of 

In the newborn infant, resistance to infectious agents is first achieved by maternal antibodies that cross the placenta during fetal development or antibodies from mammary gland secretions transferred to a nursing infant. Subsequent antibody-mediated protection is provided by antibodies synthesized by the B cells of the individual as described above. Following this natural sequence, the focus on molecules and how molecular structures account for biological function begins with antibody structure. 

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SECTION 35.5 Molecules and Chemical Processes of the Immune System... 

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