The Innate and Adaptive Immune Systems - Vaccine Makers Project

The innate immune system serves as our first line of defense against pathogens, like viruses and bacteria. The skin is part of the innate immune system. It routinely deflects microbes, but sometimes a germ gets inside the body through a cut in the skin or through entry points, like our noses or mouths. Innate immune system cells, like macrophages, neutrophils and natural killer cells are the first responders when germs invade the body. They work together to destroy to microscopic attackers and activate our adaptive immune system. The innate immune response is non-specific, so the germ may be stopped or limited but our body does not generate immunologic memory to protect us against future infections.

If the innate immune system is losing the battle, it ensures that the adaptive immune system jumps in to help. The adaptive immune system has specialized cells that work together to identify, neutralize, and remember invading germs. Unlike the non-specific response of the innate immune system, the adaptive immune system provides a targeted defense. Dendritic cells collect pieces of foreign microbes and present them to T cells. T cells activate B cells, training them to create antibodies that block the pathogen from entering cells. Once the adaptive immune system mounts an immune response, it will remember how to protect against the same invader in the future.

Play a Kahoot! trivia game based on this animation. Visit http://www.vaccinemakers.org/trivia

Animation created by and for the Vaccine Makers Project.
Copyright © 2016, Medical History Pictures, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Vaccine Makers Project (VMP) is the classroom-based program of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (VEC at CHOP). The Center’s team is composed of scientists, physicians, mothers and fathers devoted to the study and prevention of infectious diseases. The Center was launched in October 2000 to provide accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date information about vaccines and the diseases they prevent. The VMP program is committed to public education about vaccine science via scientifically supported, historically accurate, and emotionally compelling content.

The Vaccine Makers Project gratefully acknowledges the ongoing collaboration and partnership with XVIVO, creator of medical animations and scientific media: https://xvivo.com.

Access the VMP’s free classroom materials: http://www.VaccineMakers.org.

Find information and resources related to vaccines and their safety: http://vaccine.chop.edu.

Learn more about the award-winning documentary for which the original animations were created. The documentary tells the compelling story of one of the world’s most accomplished scientists, Maurice Hilleman: http://www.HillemanFilm.com.