International School,

Tirur

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY

PROJECT REPORT 2023-2024

TOPIC- IMMUNITY
PROJECT REPORT 2023-2024

International School, Tirur

VENUE
SENIOR SECONDARY
BENCHMARK INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL TIRUR
(Affiliated to CBSE, New Delhi)

GUIDED BY
………..…………………………………………………
Department of Benchmark International School,

Tirur

Done by: ……………………………………………………

Reg. No: ……………………………………………………

 International School, Tirur
(Affiliated to CBSE, New Delhi, Aff. No.931136)

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that this is the bonafide project report in
biology of…………………………………..of class 12 during
the academic year (2023-2024).

Reg.No - Roll No.-

Signature of teacher in charge -

Signature of principal -
Signature of external examiner -
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
“There are times when silence speaks so much more loudly than word
of praise to only as good as belittle a person, whose words do not
express, but only put a veneer over true feelings, which are of
gratitude at this point of time”.

I ……………………………………………. of class 12 express my

gratitude to my school authorities for allowing me to undertake the
project.

I could not have done it, had I not been privileged to get support,
guidance and encouragement from
…………………………………………….

I also express my sincere thanks to my family who extended helping

hand in completing this project.
 CONTENTS

 Immunity

 Types of Immunity

 Antibodies: General Structure and their

Types

 Antibody-Antigen Interaction

 Vaccinization and Immunization

 Auto-Immunity

 Allergies

 Immune system of our body

 Examples of Immuno-deficiency
Diseases along with their brief
description
 Immunity

Every day we are exposed to large number of infectious

agents. However, only a few of these exposures result
in disease because our body is able to defend itself from
most of these foreign agents. This overall ability of the
host to fight the disease-causing organisms, conferred
by the immune system is called Immunity.
Hence, it is also known as disease resistance.
The lack of immunity is known as susceptibility.
Innate Immunity:
It is non-specific, natural type of defense that is present
at the time of birth. It is inherited by the organism from
the parents and protects it from birth. For ex. Humans
have innate immunity against distemper, a fatal disease
of dogs. This is accomplished by providing 4 types of
barriers to the entry of the foreign agents into our body.
These are—

(i) Physical barriers: Skin (its outer tough layer

Stratum corneum) is the main barrier which prevents
entry of the micro-organisms. Mucus coating of the
epithelium lining the respiratory, gastrointestinal and
urino-genital tracts also help in trapping microbes
entering our body.

(ii) Physiological barriers: Acid in the stomach, saliva

in the mouth, tears from eyes prevent microbial growth.

(iii) Cellular barriers: Certain types of leukocytes

(WBC) of our body like polymorpho-nuclearleukocytes
(PMNL-neutrophils) and monocytes and natural
killer (type of lymphocytes) in the blood as well as
macrophages

(iv) Cytokine barriers: Virus-infected cells secrete

proteins called interferons which protect non-infected
cells from further viral infection.
Acquired Immunity
It is pathogen specific. It is also known as adaptive or
specific immunity. It is characterized by memory.
When our body encounters a pathogen for the first time,
it produces a response called primary response which is
of low intensity. Subsequent encounter with the same
pathogen brings forth a highly intensified secondary or
anamnestic response. This is credited to the fact that our
body appears to have memory of the first encounter. It
is of two types: Antibody Mediated and Cell Mediated.

1) Antibody Mediated:
The primary and secondary immune responses are
carried out with the help of two special types of
lymphocytes present in our blood, i.e., B-lymphocytes
and T-lymphocytes. The B-lymphocytes produce an
army of proteins in response to pathogens into our
blood to fight with them. These proteins are called
antibodies. The T-cells themselves do not secrete
antibodies but help B cells produce them. Because
antibodies are found in the blood, the response is also
called as humoral immune response.

Structure of antibody-

Antibodies are immuneglobulins(Ig) which are

produced in the body in response to the antigen or
foreign body. Thus all antibodies are immunoglobulins
but all immunoglobulins are not antibodies.
IgG serves as a model of basic structural unit of all Ig.
Each antibody molecule has four peptide chains, two
small called light chains and two longer called heavy
chains. Hence, an antibody is represented as H2L2. The
heavy chain has large no. of amino acids while the light
chain has smaller no. of amino acids. A disulfide bond
joins a light chain with a heavy chain. Two disulfide
bonds also link the two heavy chains. This part of the
antibody displays considerable flexibility and is called
the hinge region. The stem of the Y shaped antibody
monomer is called the FC region, so named because
when antibody structure was first being identified, it
was a fragment (F) that crystallized (C) in cold storage.
It lacks the ability to bind to antigen. Two identical
fragments of Y shaped molecule possess the antigen-
binding sites and are thus named fragment antigen
binding (Fab). The antigen binding sites bind to the
specific antigens ex. Each Y-shaped antibody molecule
has at least two binding sites that can attach to a
specific epitope (antigenic determinants of cell wall) on
an antigen. Antigens thus combine with the antibodies.
The combination is very much like the lock and key
anology.
Different types of antibodies like IgA, IgM, IgE, IgG,
IgD are produced in our body.
2) Cell Mediated:
The second type is called cell-mediated immune
response or cell-mediated immunity (CMI). The T-
lymphocytes mediate CMI. Very often, when some
human organs like heart, eye, liver, kidney fail to
function satisfactorily, transplantation is the only
remedy to enable the patient to live a normal life. Then
a search begins – to find a suitable donor. Grafts from
just any source – an animal, another primate, or any
human beings cannot be made since the grafts would be
rejected sooner or later. Tissue matching, blood group
matching are essential before undertaking any
graft/transplant and even after this the patient has to
take immune suppressant all his/her life. The body is
able to differentiate ‘self’ and ‘non-self’ and the cell-
mediated immune response is responsible for the graft
rejection.
 The cells of the immune system are derived from
the pluripotent stem cells in the bone marrow.
Pluripotent means a cell that can differentiate into
many different types of tissue cells.

 When antibodies on B cell’s surface bind with

antigens, the B cell is activated and divides,
producing clones. These clones give rise to plasma
B cells and memory B cells. This phenomenon is
called clonal selection.
.

Active and Passive Immunity:-
When a host is exposed to antigens, which may be in
the form of living or dead microbes or other proteins,
antibodies are produced in the host body. This type of
immunity is called active immunity. Active immunity
is slow and takes time to give its full effective response.
Injecting the microbes deliberately during
immunization or infectious organisms gaining access
into body during natural infection induce active
immunity.
It is further of two types: Natural and Artificial

A person who has recovered from an attack of small

pox or measles or mumps develops natural active
immunity . Artificial active immunity is the resistance
induced by vaccines.
 When ready-made antibodies are directly given to
protect the body against foreign agents, it is called
passive immunity. Ex: The yellowish fluid colostrum
secreted by mother during the initial days of lactation
has abundant antibodies (IgA) to protect the infant. The
foetus also receives some antibodies from their mother,
through the placenta during pregnancy.
It is also of two types: Natural and Artificial Natural
Passive immunity is the resistance passively transferred
from the mother to the foetus through placenta. Ex: IgG
antibodies can cross the placental barrier to reach the
foetus. Artificial passive immunity is the resistance
passively transferred to a recipient by administration of
antibodies. This is done by administration of hyper
immune sera of man or animals which contains
antibodies.
For ex: anti-tetanus serum (ATS) is prepared
in horses by active immuniastion of horses with tetanus
bleeding them and separating the serum. ATS is then
used for passive immunization against tetanus.

VACCINISATION AND IMMUNISATION

Vaccine is a preparation/suspension or extract of

dead/attenuated (weakened) germs of a disease which
on inoculation (injection) into a healthy person provides
temporary/permanent active/passive immunity by
inducing antibodies formation. Thus antibody
provoking agents are called vaccines. The principle of
immunization or vaccination is based on the property of
‘memory’ of the immune system. In vaccination, a
preparation of antigenic proteins of pathogen or
inactivated/weakened pathogen (vaccine) is introduced
into the body. The antibodies produced in the body
against these antigens would neutralize the pathogenic
agents during actual infection. The vaccines also
generate memory –
B and T-cells that recognize the pathogen quickly on
subsequent exposure and overwhelm the invaders with
a massive production of antibodies. If a person is
infected with some deadly microbes to which quick
immune response is required as in tetanus, we need to
directly inject the preformed antibodies or antitoxin (a
preparation containing antibodies to the toxin). Even in
cases of snake bites, the injection which is given to the
patients, contain preformed antibodies against the snake
venom. This type of immunization is called passive
immunization. Recombinant DNA technology has
allowed the production of antigenic polypeptides of
pathogen in bacteria or yeast. Vaccines produced using
this approach allows large scale production and hence
greater availability for immunization, e.g., hepatitis B
vaccine produced from yeast.
 Toxoid is a modified bacterial toxin that has been
made non toxic but retains the capacity to stimulate
the formation of antitoxin.
Vaccines are classified as follows:-
1. 1st generation vaccines: Produced by conventional
methods. Ex: small pox vaccine, Salk’s
polio vaccine.
2. 2nd generation vaccines: Prepared with the help of
genetic engineering techniques. Ex: Hepatitis B and
Herpes vaccine.
3. 3rd generation vaccines: Synthetic vaccines which
are under trial.
ALLERGIES

The exaggerated response of the immune system to

certain antigens present in the environment is called
allergy. The substances to which such an immune
response is produced are called allergens. The
antibodies produced to these are of IgE type. Common
examples of allergens are mites in dust, pollens, mould,
spores, feathers, fur, animal dander, etc. Symptoms of
allergic reactions include sneezing, watery eyes,
running nose and difficulty inbreathing. Allergy is due
to the release of chemicals like histamine and serotonin
from the mast cells. For determining the cause of
allergy, the patient is exposed to or injected with very
small doses of possible allergens, and the reactions
studied. The use of drugs like anti-histamine, adrenalin
and steroids quickly reduce the symptoms of allergy.
Somehow, modern-day life style has resulted
in lowering of immunity and more sensitivity to
allergens – more and more children in metro cities of
India suffer from allergies and asthma due to sensitivity
to the environment. This could be because of
the protected environment provided early in life. Some
forms of allergy are:-
Hay Fever: Allergy due to pollen of grasses, trees and
other plants. It is characterized by inflammation of the
membrane lining the nose.
Asthma: The tissue surrounding the bronchioles of the
lungs swell up and compress the bronchioles. Hence,
there is difficulty in breathing. Treatment is with
bronchodilators with or without corticosteroids, usually
administered via aerosol or dry powder inhalers.
Anaphaylaxis (Anaphylactic shock):
An allergic reaction involving all the tissues of the
body and occurs in a few minutes after the injection of
an antigen such as penicillin.

Auto Immunity
If the immune system fails to recognize self from non self and
starts destroying the body’s own proteins, this leads to some
malfunctions which are called autoimmune diseases and
such an immunity is known as autoimmunity.
Sometimes due to genetic and other unknown reasons,
the body attacks self-cells. This results in damage to
the body and is called auto-immune disease.
Ex: Addison’s disease, Auto immune haemolytic
anaemia, Rhemumatoid arthritis, etc.
IMMUNE SYSTEM IN THE BODY:

The human immune system consists of lymphoid

organs, tissues, cells and soluble molecules like
antibodies. Immune system is unique in the sense that it
recognizes foreign antigens, responds to these and
remembers them. The immune system also plays an
important role in allergic reactions, auto-immune
diseases and organ transplantation.
Lymphoid organs:
These are the organs where origin and/or maturation
and proliferation of lymphocytes occur. The primary
lymphoid organs are bone marrow and thymus where
immature lymphocytes differentiate into antigen-
sensitive lymphocytes. After maturation the
lymphocytes migrate to secondary lymphoid organs like
spleen, lymph nodes, tonsils, Peyer’s patches of small
intestine and appendix. The secondary lymphoid organs
provide the sites for interaction of lymphocytes with the
antigen, which then proliferate to become effector cells.
The bone marrow is the main lymphoid organ where all
blood cells including lymphocytes are produced. The
thymus is a lobed organ located near the heart and
beneath the breast bone. The thymus is quite large at the
time of birth but keeps reducing in size with age and by
the time puberty is attained it reduces to a very small
size. Both bone-marrow and thymus provide micro-
environments for the development and maturation of T-
lymphocytes. The spleen is a large bean-shaped organ.
It mainly contains lymphocytes and phagocytes. It acts
as a filter of the blood by trapping blood-borne
microorganisms. Spleen also has a large reservoir of
erythrocytes. The lymph nodes are small solid
structures located at different points along the
lymphatic system. Lymph nodes serve to trap the
micro-organisms or other antigens, which happen to get
into the lymph and tissue fluid. Antigens trapped in the
lymph nodes are responsible for the activation of
lymphocytes present there and cause the immune
response. There is lymphoid tissue also located within
the lining of the major tracts (respiratory, digestive and
urogenital tracts) called mucosal-associated lymphoid
tissue (MALT). It constitutes about 50 per cent of the
lymphoid tissue in human body.

IMMUNODEFICIENCY DISEASE
These are conditions where the defense mechanisms of
the body are weakened, leading to repeated microbial
infections.
These may be primary or secondary:-
Primary immunodeficiency diseases: They exist from
birth. A person may be without B cells or T cells or
both from the birth. Ex: Severe combined
immunodeficiency disease (SCID).
Secondary immunodeficiency diseases:
Factors such as malnutrition, infections, metabolic
disorders may lead to defects in specific and non
specific immunity. Thus, they are more common than
primary immunodeficiency diseases.
Ex: AIDS, Hodgkin’s disease.
SCID: The person who is suffering from SCID lacks
both B cells and T cells from birth. It is a serious
genetic disease in which the person is highly susceptible
to infection.
AIDS: It is a disorder of cell mediated immune system
of the body. There is a reduction in the number of
helper T cells which stimulate antibody production by
B cells. This results in the loss of natural defence
against viral infection.

References
 NCERT Class 12 Biology Textbook

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immunity_(medical)

 http://www.hammiverse.com/lectures/43/2.html

 https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless- biology/
chapter/antibodies/

 http://www.microbiologynotes.com/differences-between-
primary-and-secondary-immune-response/