How Do Immune Cells Recognize Germs in Your Body? - Medical Animation
MEDICAL ANIMATION TRANSCRIPT: Immune cells are constantly circulating through your body. They monitor certain substances on the surfaces of cells called antigens. Healthy cells have different antigens than diseased body cells or foreign invaders in the body. Immune cells usually ignore the antigens on healthy cells. But when immune cells come across antigens on germs, they destroy the germ. For example, some activated immune cells recognize the antigen on infected body cells and then destroy them. Other activated immune cells, called plasma cells, make molecules called antibodies. These antibodies travel through your body and lock on only to germs that have its specific antigen. This marks the germ for destruction.
