• Question: How do parts of the immune system work together?(how do they know if the other has killed it or just started killing it to help it) How do they know where on the whole body is that precise germ?

    Asked by Charlio27 to Carmen, Daniel, Laura, Noel, Steph on 6 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Noel Carter

      Noel Carter answered on 6 Mar 2015:

      That is a really good question.

      The cells in the immune system talks to one another. Not using speech but using signals. The signals that they use are often proteins. So one type of cell might make a protein that it then releases into the blood stream and that protein reaches another cell and it acts as a signal telling it to behave in a certain way. I am interested in proteins called chemokines. These are made by organs and tissues if they are damaged or infected. The chemokines then act as signals for white blood cells to come into the tissue and to start repairing the damage or fight the infection.

    • Photo: Laura Garcia Ibanez

      Laura Garcia Ibanez answered on 9 Mar 2015:

      As Noel said, immune cells can communicate secreting proteins such as chemokines and cytokines but also they can interact directly. Cells express specific receptors and ligands that when bound activate signals inside the cell and these signals guide the cell and the response.

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