Home > Your body > What does your immune system do? > How does your immune system work? > What do T- and B-cells do?
What do T- and B-cells do?
T- and B-cells are highly specialised defender cells - different groups of cells are tailored to different germs. When your body is infected with a particular germ, only the T- and B-cells that recognise it will respond. These selected cells then quickly multiply, creating an army of identical cells to fight the infection. Special types of T- and B-cells 'remember' the invader, making you immune to a second attack.Enlarge
Human T-cells.
How do you recognise invaders?
Your T- and B-cells recognise invaders by the shape of molecules - antigens - on their surfaces. Your immune system can produce a T- and B-cell to fit every possible shape. However, any T- or B-cell that recognised molecules found on your cells were destroyed while you were growing in the womb, to prevent them from attacking your own body. But you were left with millions of others, one for every foreign antigen you might ever encounter.
What is so special about your T-cells?
Having recognised the invader, different types of T-cell then have different jobs to do. Some send chemical instructions (cytokines) to the rest of the immune system. Your body can then produce the most effective weapons against the invaders, which may be bacteria, viruses or parasites. Other types of T-cells recognise and kill virus-infected cells directly. Some help B-cells to make antibodies, which circulate and bind to antigens.
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A T-cell (orange) killing a cancer cell (mauve).
What is so special about your B-cells?
With the help of T-cells, B-cells make special Y-shaped proteins called antibodies. Antibodies stick to antigens on the surface of germs, stopping them in their tracks, creating clumps that alert your body to the presence of intruders. Your body then starts to make toxic substances to fight them. Patrolling defender cells called phagocytes engulf and destroy antibody-covered intruders.
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