Introduction to Adaptive Immunity
Wednesday January 15
Dr. Rodney DeKoter
Microbiology & Immunology
Learning Objectives
• To review the differences between innate and adaptive immunity
• To learn the cellular basis of adaptive immunity:
T and B lymphocytes
• To learn the structure of T cell and B cell receptors
• To learn about antigens and epitopes
• To learn the fundamentals of T cell and B cell receptor
recognition of antigen
• To learn about the clonal selection theory
Louis Pasteur and the Rabies Vaccine
Louis Pasteur,
Joseph Meister
Rabies Vaccine
(Harper’s Weekly
Magazine,1885)
Paul Ehrlich:The Side Chain Theory
Paul Erlich (1891):
Anti-Body
Antibody-Generator
(Antigen)
Innate and Adaptive Immune Responses
Aspects of Immunity
Cellular
Innate Adaptive
Humoral
Cellular Adaptive Immunity: T cells
Discovery of the thymus – 1960
• Jacques Miller, working in England,
discovered that surgical removal of the
thymus from newborn mice eliminated
adaptive immunity
• Mice could no longer make antibodies
in response to immunization
• Mice could no longer immunologically
reject a skin graft
• Cells named T (thymus) lymphocytes
Cellular Adaptive Immunity: B cells
Max Cooper (1965)
Surgical removal of Bursa from Chickens eliminated
Antibody production
Mammalian B Cell Development Occurs in The Bone Marrow
Figure 2-10
B and T Cells Have Antigen Receptors on Their Surface
Structure of B cell and T cell Receptors
T cell Receptor B cell Receptor
Created with Biorender
B Cell Receptors and Antibodies
- Are membrane-bound or
secreted forms of the same
molecule
- have the same antigen
specificity
- Bind antigens directly
Antigens and Epitopes
An antigen is a molecule that is
recognized by a B cell or T cell
receptor
https://opentextbc.ca/biology/chapter/23-2-adaptive-immune-response/
The epitope is the molecular
surface that interacts directly with
B cell or T cell receptor
Created with Biorender
Antigen Recognition by BCRs/Antibodies
B cell receptors and antibodies can be generated to recognize any type
of antigen in any three-dimensional conformation
Janeway's Immunobiology, 10e
Signal Transduction by B Cell Receptors
Is Enhanced by Crosslinking
T Cell Receptors Recognize Only Peptide
Antigens Presented by MHC Molecules
(8-24 amino acids)
Each B Cell or T Cell Makes a Receptor
of One Single Specificity
Each B cell makes a BCR specific for
one unique epitope. This can be any
type of molecule.
Each T cell makes a TCR specific for
one unique epitope
https://oncologypro.esmo.org/
BCRs and TCRs Are Encoded by
Recombined Genes
• Hozumi and Tonegawa 1976 (Nobel Prize, 1987; Box 6-1 in
Kuby textbook): Discovered that the genes that encode
antibodies and B cell receptors are located in various regions
of the genome and consist of V, D, and J segments
• V, D, and J segments are brought together by genetic
recombination to encode antibodies and B cell receptors
• Tak Mak and Mark Davis 1984: discovered the genes that
encode T cell receptors
• BCR and TCR rearrangement occurs during lymphocyte
development to generate a repertoire of antigen specificities
– before cells encounter antigen
Macfarlane Burnet’s Clonal Selection Theory
Nobel
Prize 1960
Postulates of the Clonal Selection Theory
1) Each lymphocyte bears a single type of
receptor with a unique specificity
2) Interaction between a foreign molecule
and a lymphocyte receptor capable of
binding that molecule with high affinity
leads to lymphocyte activation
3) The differentiated effector cells derived
from an activated lymphocyte will bear
receptors of identical specificity to those
of the parental cell from which that
lymphocyte was derived
4) Lymphocytes bearing receptors specific
for ubiquitous self molecules are deleted
at an early stage in lymphoid cell
development and are therefore absent
from the repertoire of mature
lymphocytes
Clonal Selection of B and T cells Explains
Kinetics of Adaptive Immunity
Clonal Selection
Clonal Selection
Summary
• Adaptive immunity describes an immune response that is
greater in magnitude and quality upon a second infection
• T and B lymphocytes are the cellular basis of adaptive
immunity
• T cells express a T cell receptor
• B cells express a B cell receptor and make antibodies (the
secreted form of the B cell receptor)
• The B cell receptor recognizes any molecule while the T
cell receptor recognizes peptides in an MHC-restricted
manner
• Adaptive immunity involves clonal selection of B and T
cells with pre-existing antigen specificities
