How Vaccines Work: A Cellular Perspective
- Saulene Sebeda
- Oct 26, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 28, 2024
Vaccines are among the most powerful tools in medicine, helping your immune system combat infectious diseases before they can cause harm. But how exactly are vaccines able to train your immune system to fight off pathogens? This blog will explore the fascinating cellular processes that occur to make vaccines effective.
Your immune system works like security in your body; it protects you from harmful "invaders." Vaccines boost your body's adaptive immune system. This is done by simulating an infection, training your immune system to recognize the dangerous microbes causing the infection without the actual risks of illness. You may be wondering, however, how your vaccines are able to simulate infections without actually risking your body to illnesses. Vaccines are able to present antigens---proteins or molecules from a virus or bacterium---that trigger an immune response. There are different ways that vaccines introduce antigens into your body:
Inactivated vaccines: Use the killed forms of pathogens
Live-attenuated vaccines Contain weakened versions of the virus
Subunit vaccines: Use a fragment of the pathogen
mRNA vaccines: Provide the instructions for your cells to make the pathogens temporarily, which causes an immune response
Once the antigen enters your body, there are several immune cells taking action:
Antigen-Presenting Cells: Engulf the antigen and present it on their surfaces, which signals other immune cells to activate
Helper T Cells: Direct other immune cells to respond
B Cells & Antibodies: Produce antibodies that neutralize pathogens by preventing them from infecting your body by marking them for destruction
Cytotoxic T Cells: Find and destroy infected cells to stop the spread of infection
One misconception of vaccines is that they only trigger an immediate response. However, vaccines also create memory B and T cells. The cells are able to remember and recognize the antigen, causing your immune system to have a faster defense against the pathogen if you encounter it in the future.
In short, vaccines are able to train your immune system to fight off infections safely and more effectively. With the help of various cells, vaccines prepare your body to overcome dangerous pathogens without the risks of illness.
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