The Immune System and Antibody Response

Immunology is the study of the cellular and molecular components that make up the immune system. This system creates coordinated responses to combat infection and disease. The immune response can be classified into two parts. Innate immunity, which acts as the first line of defense, reacts quickly and relatively nonspecifically, and includes NK cells, dendritic cells, neutrophils, macrophages, and myeloid cells, especially at barrier surfaces such as the skin and mucosa. Adaptive immunity, which creates more specific, long-lasting and systemic responses, involves T cells and B cells.

The human body has a variety of microenvironments that create specific niches of the immune system. For example, the intestinal immune system is partially generated by the presence of commensal gut bacteria and is fine tuned to deal with this environment full of microbes. Immunology, however, is not limited to interactions with microbes and foreign invaders, but also includes processes that can determine outcomes for disease states like cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. The immune system also regulates itself to protect healthy, non-diseased tissues from damage; when this process goes awry, autoimmune diseases are the result. These niche environments and dynamic processes create a plethora of research opportunities in the field of immunology.

Our robust portfolio of antibodies for immunology applications includes tools for IHC/IF/ICC, ISH, ELISA, Western blotting, flow cytometry, and other immunoassays to fit your specific immunology research needs. All of our antibodies are manufactured and validated in-house.