Humoral immunity facts for kids
The humoral immune system is a super important part of your body's immune system. Think of it as a special defense team that protects you from tiny invaders like bacteria and other harmful stuff. This part of your immune system uses special molecules found outside your cells, floating around in your blood and other body fluids.
These helpful molecules include antibodies, special proteins called "complement proteins," and tiny "antimicrobial peptides." Their main job is to find and attack invaders that are loose in your blood or other body fluids. Long ago, these body fluids were called "humors," which is where the name "humoral" comes from!
Both your body's basic, quick defense system (called the innate immune system) and your more advanced, learned defense system (called the adaptive immune system) use humoral components to keep you safe. The humoral immune system works differently from "cell-mediated immunity," which uses special cells like phagocytes and T-lymphocytes to fight off threats.
How the Humoral System Works
The main heroes of the humoral immune system are special cells called B cells. These B cells are like tiny factories that create and release antibodies. Imagine antibodies as smart little missiles that can find invaders and stick to them.
Once an invader is covered in antibodies, it's like a signal for other parts of your immune system to come and destroy it. Before a B cell can make these specific antibodies, it often needs help from other cells called T helper cells. These T helper cells "teach" the B cells about the details of the invader, helping them create the perfect antibodies. This teamwork is a key part of your adaptive immune system, which learns and remembers how to fight off different germs.
Making antibodies that are perfectly designed to fight specific bacteria is the most important job of the humoral system. But there are also other humoral defenses that are part of your body's more basic innate immune system.
Discoveries in Humoral Immunity
Scientists have learned a lot about the humoral immune system over many years. Here are some important discoveries:
- Alexins (now called Complement) were found in 1890 by Buchner and Ehrlich. These are soluble parts in the blood that can kill tiny organisms.
- Antitoxins were discovered in 1890 by von Behring and Kitasato. These are substances in the blood that can stop toxins (poisons) from harming the body. This led to "passive immunization," where someone is given antibodies to fight a disease.
- Bacteriolysins were found by Richard Pfeiffer in 1895. These are substances in the blood that work with complement proteins to break down bacteria.
- Bacterial agglutinins and precipitins were identified by von Gruber, Durham, and Kraus around 1896-1897. These substances in the blood can clump bacteria together or make bacterial toxins fall out of solution.
- Haemolysins were discovered by Belfanti, Carbone, and Jules Bordet around 1898-1899. These work with complement to break down red blood cells.
- Opsonins were found by Wright and Douglas in 1903. These are substances in the blood that coat foreign invaders, making it easier for special immune cells called macrophages to "eat" and destroy them.
- Antibodies themselves were a huge area of study. Their formation was understood around 1900, how they bind to invaders in 1938, that they are made by B cells in 1948, their structure in 1972, and the genes that make them in 1976. Paul Ehrlich is considered a founder in this field.
See also
In Spanish: Inmunidad humoral para niños
