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Pathogens & Diseases
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Disease | A condition that impairs the normal functioning of an organism |
Pathogen | An organism that causes disease |
Communicable Disease | A disease that can be spread between organisms |
Immune Response | The body's reaction in response to entrance of pathogen and its antigen (foreign) |
Antigen | A molecule found on the surface of a cell |
Phagocyte | A type of white blood cell that engulfs the pathogen |
Opsonin | Molecules in the blood that attach to the foreign antigens to aid phagocytosis |
Cytokines | Proteins that act as messenger molecules |
Neutrophils | A kind of phagocyte which travel through the body and can squeeze through the walls of capillaries and to ''patrol'' the tissues |
Macrophages | Larger phagocytes normally found in vital organs such as lungs, liver, spleen, kidney and lymph nodes |