T cell Activation
T cells become activated upon encountering a pathogen and can become either cytoxic T or helper T cells.
This diagram illustrates the process of T cell activation: T-cells are mobilized when they encounter a cell such as a dendritic cell or B-cell that has digested an antigen and is displaying antigen fragments bound to its MHC molecules. Cytokines help the T cell mature. The MHC-antigen complex activates the T-cell receptor and the T cell secretes cytokines.Some cytokines spur the growth of more T cells. Some T-cells become cytotoxic cells and track down cells infected with viruses. Some T-cells become helper cells andsecrete some cytokinesthat attract freshmacrophages,neutrophils, otherlymphocytes, and othercytokines to direct therecruits once they arriveon the scene.
Source
Boundless vets and curates high-quality, openly licensed content from around the Internet. This particular resource used the following sources: