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Immune Tolerance definitions Flashcards

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Immune Tolerance definitions
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  • Immune Tolerance
    The immune system's ability to ignore harmless antigens while targeting harmful ones, preventing autoimmune diseases.
  • Autoimmune Diseases
    Conditions where the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own healthy cells.
  • Central Immune Tolerance
    Occurs in primary lymphoid organs, eliminating self-reacting cells through negative selection.
  • Peripheral Immune Tolerance
    Occurs in secondary lymphoid organs, involving both positive and negative selection of mature immune cells.
  • Negative Selection
    Elimination of immune cells that react to self or harmless antigens, preventing autoimmune responses.
  • Positive Selection
    Promotion of immune cells that bind to MHC, ensuring they can recognize antigens properly.
  • Primary Lymphoid Organs
    Sites like the thymus and bone marrow where immune cells develop and undergo central tolerance.
  • Secondary Lymphoid Organs
    Locations such as lymph nodes where mature immune cells undergo peripheral tolerance.
  • Self-reacting Cells
    Immune cells that mistakenly target the body's own healthy cells, leading to potential harm.
  • Apoptosis
    Programmed cell death used to eliminate self-reacting or improperly functioning immune cells.
  • MHC
    Molecules on cell surfaces that help the immune system recognize foreign substances.
  • Anergy
    A state of unresponsiveness in immune cells that prevents them from attacking self-antigens.
  • Adaptive Immune System
    The part of the immune system that learns to recognize and remember specific pathogens.
  • Pathogens
    Harmful organisms or substances that can cause disease, targeted by the immune system.
  • Microbiota
    The community of harmless microorganisms living in and on the human body, tolerated by the immune system.