antibody-mediated (humoral) immunity

• • Plasma cells– produce antibodies (proteins) that bind to a specific type of antigen
• • Memory b cells– response to a future exposures of the same antigen by rapidly producing more copies of the same plasma cells
• • The circulating antibodies recognise and bind directly with a specific antigen on the surface of a pathogen to form an antibody-antigen complex. This inhibits the mobility and reproduction of the pathogen, thereby neutralising the pathogen preventing them from entering or damaging new host cells.
• • The neutralised pathogens clump together and are surrounded by thousands of antibodies. This activates and signals phagocytes to engulf and destroy the pathogens by phagocytosis.
• • This response is effective against pathogens in extracellular fluids like blood and tissue fluids between cells. B cells produce antibodies that recognise and bind to specific antigen on the surface of a particular pathogen
• • When a B cell meets and binds to a specific antigen, the B cell is activated to differentiate and divide (or proliferate) into 2 types of cells