Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

123frogman246 t1_j4anbkl wrote

Antibodies are made by the immune system, specifically B-cells. They are used as targeting proteins so that your body can respond to diseases/pathogens. If they are expressed on the surface of the B-cell, then when they find and bind to something 'foreign', they can then cause the B-cell to proliferate (divide and multiply), meaning that your body can fight off the disease. They can also be secreted from other types of B-cells (plasma cells) which flat around to monitor your body, and then bind to foreign pathogens and act as a flag/beacon for other immune cells to come and investigate and attack (T-cells/NK cells).

In terms of what happens when they're not needed, the cell surface expressed antibodies will stay around as long as the individual cell lives (the cell probably recycles and makes more to put on the surface over it's lifespan) and the secreted antibodies will degrade over time or be processed and degraded by other immune cells. The plasma cells will tick over and are there to make more if the disease invades again.

1

menooby OP t1_j4diqcm wrote

Thank you but does the body know if an Antibody has binded to its target? Or does it just hope it does

1

123frogman246 t1_j4h81iz wrote

Yes, if an antibody on the surface of a B-cell binds to the target, then the B-cell will proliferate and attract other immune cells to it to respond to the disease. If it's an antibody that's been secreted, then there are immune cells monitoring the body, looking out for them, and the immune cells will then find them and respond appropriately.

In general (in a healthy individual), the immune is brilliant at knowing when to respond and when not to - T cells and B cells develop in lymph nodes/follicles in your body and go through both negative and positive selection steps - so they bind to foreign substances (ie diseases) but don't respond to your own body (ie they don't attack your own cells).

1