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Immunity Quest

You are a lymphocyte precursor! Your organisms name is John. He is a human who has a
normal functioning immune system
OR DOES HE? That is up to you & the decisions you make in the pages to come. You can
either be Johns savior from malady, or his impetus to peril! Choose wisely, and be prepared for
the twists and turns to follow in:

THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

Do you see yourself as a rolling stone? Please turn to page 2

Do you view yourself as a funny person? Please turn to page 3

You are a T-Lympocyte! You cant be tied down. You were born in the bone marrow, and
matured in thymus. Part of the bodys cell-mediated immunity. You are trained to defend the
body at all cost.

A questionable cell is nearby with a shady attitude and a self-antigen. What do you do?

You kill that cell. Turn to page 12.

Let it go, but keep an eye on it Turn to page 13.

You are a B-Lympocyte! You make up one branch of the adaptive immune system. You govern
the HUMORal immunity. You are involved in the identification of specific pathogens, and you
organize the corresponding immune response. You are made and matured in the bone marrow
and help produce antibodies. The antibodies can then be activated in the spleen and lymph
nodes.

Would you rather burn bright than slowly fade away? Please turn to page 8
Do you enjoy Hasbro Games? Please turn to page 9

You never forget!!! You are a memory T cell!

You start out in life, as we all do, nave and sheltered. You were part of the cell-mediated
immunity system, and you matured in the Thymus. However at an early age, you were exposed
to a horrendous intracellular protein that you can never forget. A virus ravaged Johns body and
killed many of your friends. It is your duty to avenge the fallen at the next possible opportunity.

John is busy studying for an exam when you recognize the intracellular protein that attacked in
the past!

Would you like to alert the immune system? Turn to page 10

If you want to rush the affected cell and inject toxic chemicals to result in apoptosis, turn to page
11.

You are a Cytotoxic T cell!

You go by many names: Tc, CD8+ T-Cells, and Cytotoxic T cells. You work with the cellmediated immunity system. You tend to work with MHC Iwhich is most commonly
associated with viruses.

John is preparing for a big job interview at Sue, Grabbit, & Runne Lawfirm in New York City.
You notice that a virus has infected Johns body. What do you do?

Find the virus near the self-cell displaying the MHC I, and kill the bastard. Turn to page 16.

With tears in your eyes, slowly take the self-cell displaying the MHC I with the bound
pathogenic peptide and tie it to a tree to old yeller it. Turn to page 17.

You are a Suppressor T Cell!

Being a T- cell, you are part of the cell-mediated immunity system and you matured in the
Thymus. But you are you are special because you also express Fox3, in addition to CD4. The
Fox3 is really what sets you apart from the Helper T-Cells.

John has the national kite-surfing championship coming up soon. One is coworkers was ill, and
now John has caught the infection.

What do you do?

Flood the infected site with Fox3 and CD4. Turn to page 22.

You wait for the infection to be over, and try to everyone down. Turn to page 23.

You are a Helper T-Cell!

You are one of the three major T-Cells in the immune system. You earn your name with a
chemical called lymphokines. These molecules are capable of coordinating and recruiting other
part of the immune system. It will also increase their activity during infection. You work best
with MHC-II.

John met a very attractive girl and decided to set up a date for the weekend. He starts to come
down with a nasty viral infection, his lowered immune system also results in a secondary fungal
infection. Where should you go?

Fungal infection. I dont know why I hate fungus so much, but I do. Page 24

I really hope it is viral. Mostly because I what to have a snappy catch phrase about going viral
before I dispatch it straight to hell. Page 25

You are a Plasma Cell!

Like other B cells, you originate and mature in the bone marrow. You were spawned from a
nave B-Cell. You are similarly activated in the spleen and lymph nodes.

John is planning on taking a camping trip soon and accidently lacerates his leg in an hacky-sack
related incident. A pathogen is introduced into his system through the wound and a Memory BCell lets you know about the nasty pathogen your midst. You have a history with this pathogen,
it activated you during the initial response. You want John to still make his camping trip, what
do you do?

Rush into the bloodstream and start making antibodiesbunches of them. Turn to Page 20.

Bust into the systemic circulation and grab onto any affected cells, hold them down until the TCells show up. Turn to Page 21.

You are a Memory B-cell!

You originated from a nave B-Cell. Your sister, a Plasma Cell passed away some time ago.
You are involved in the production of antibodies. Each antibody is specific to the particular
antigens of the invading microbe. You are activated in the spleen and lymph nodes.

John is busy prepping to try-out for The Voice. Suddenly, an antigen enters his bodythe
antigen you were proliferated and activated for

Rush out to action in the secondary response to this particular antigen. Turn to page 18.

Know your place and stay in the lymph node. Turn to page 19.

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Great Choice!
You are similar to memory B-Cells. You lie in wait until the next exposure to the next antigen!
Once activated, the immunity will provide a faster and more robust response!
You were able to identify the virus earlier, and John felt more quickly than for his first exposure
to the same virus. He was able to recover and prepare for his exam!

You and John get an A+ for quality work! You go memory T-cell!

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You move swiftly to strike, however, in your fervor you forgot that you do not in fact have toxic
chemicals. You sacrificed you footing for a killing strike, and that is why you fail.

John got sick again to the same extent as his initial exposure. He failed the exam, and just
missed his train. Now he has to walk home. In the rain. Way to go, more like Forgetful T-Cell.

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You should not have done that. You just attacked a self-cell. Now you must die. You are
undergoing apoptosis. This is part of the process known as negative selection. Had you done
that in the peripheral system, you could have caused an autoimmune response. Get a grip, you
bought this on yourself.

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Good Choice! That cell is part of the self. You would have undergone apoptosis as part of the
negative selection process. This process is necessary to prevent cells like you from attacking
self-cells out in the body. Autoimmune disorders can occur if the immune system fails to
distinguish between the self and foreign. Now you come across a cell displaying a major
histocompatibility complex. You say to yourself:

Hey! Thats my good friend MHC! Lets go say Hello! Turn to page 14.

Ummm, who is that? I dont think he belongs here. Turn to page 15.

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Great decision! You are Lionel Richie! You have just passed Positive Selectionthe process
selecting only mature cells that respond to the presentation of antigen on MHC. This is
important it shows that you will be able to respond to MHC in the periphery. You must have
been exposed to thymosin, which matures T cells. You are now ready to embark on your own
adventure! You will enter the body mature but nave.

Now you must decide what you would like to be.

Do you find you have a lot in common with elephants? Please turn to page 4.
If you would like to be a badass, please turn to page 5
Do you find yourself attempting to mediate arguments and trying to calm volatile situations?
Please turn to page 6.
If you see yourself as a natural born leader, please turn to page 7.

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How embarrassing for you! You should have recognized MHC! This just shows your
immaturity. Boy is your face red! Or it would be if you had one left. You just underwent
apoptosis because you have just failed the test of Positive Selection. This is done to choose only
mature cells that can respond to the presentation of antigen on MHC. This is important it shows
that you will be able to respond to MHC in the periphery. It looks like you were not ready.

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Seriously, viruses are really small and you couldnt find it. That was a bad decision, and the
infected self-cell spread the virus to other cells. John became very ill and was late for the job
interview. Then mid-interview, he had to excuse himself due to his illness. Needless to say, he
did not get the job.
However, he did bump into a pulchritudinous applicant in the lobby on his way out of the
building. John got her phone number and they started dating. After dating awhile, John
proposed to her at their favorite restaurant. They were married and lived happily ever after.

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Great job! You made the hard but necessary choice to terminate the affected self-cell, and you
were able to stem the virus in time for Johns big interview. Thanks to his wellbeing, he was
able to nail the job interview and start working for the firm.
Unfortunately, the firm dissolved after 6 months and John lives in a van down by the river.

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You should have stayed in the lymph nodes! Your role is to produce antibodies, not go out and
fight the good fight. Now the infection has spread everywhere!

John showed up to the audition with a sore throat and tried to power through the audition. His
voice cracked and he went hoarse mid-audition; however, the show must go on. John got kicked
off the show and instantly became a meme. Shortly after, his terrible performance was auto
tuned and uploaded to youtube. It currently has over 10 million hits.

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Gold stars guys! You stayed in the lymph nodes and produced antibodies to fight the specific
pathogen. This is known as secondary response. It enabled John to recover much faster than
during the primary response, which occurred after his initial exposure to the pathogen. That took
nearly seven to ten days to activate to the B cells. The secondary response you mounted was
much more rapid and robust by comparison. This mechanism is what allows vaccines to be
effective. Now you can just kick back in the lymph node and wait until you are called upon
again. You may be waiting awhile though, Memory B cells can stay alive for the lifespan of the
organism.

John showed up on point for his audition and crushed his soulful rendition of Evergreen. John
was selected for the show and made it to the final four. While he didnt win, he managed to get a
record deal and his own spin-off television program. It ended after 1 season, but he still does
cameos in daytime television and mall tours. John has no regrets.

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Good job! You and hundreds of your friends were activated by memory cells and went into the
blood stream. You produced antibodies that were able to cooperate with T-cells and eliminate
the pathogen.

John felt great and was able to go on his camping trip with his friends. He was able to fish and
waterski on the lake. John slack-lined between trees and played Frisbee in the woods. An
overzealous throw went over his head, and he went to retrieve it. There John saw an adorable
bear cub. As he attempted to take the coolest selfie ever, the mother bear came out of the woods
and bit his face. He died.

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Oh no. You really stepped on the antibodies toes there. You should have just produced them
and let them do their job. You really shouldve paid better attention during you orientation in the
bone marrow.

Instead of going camping, John gets very sick. He gets an extraordinarily high temperature and
goes to the hospital. He dies.

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That was a bad calla really bad call. Your response actually tones down the response from the
other immunity cells. You pretty much single handedly destroyed one of Johns line of defense.

John was definitely not feeling well enough to participate in the competition. His friends
convinced him toget out of bed and go with them to the zoo. While there, John tried to get the
coolest selfie ever in front of the lemurs cage. He got a little too close and the lemur pawed his
face. He has a sick scar now though. He finally got over his infectionno thanks to you.

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Good Choice!
You help tone down the immune response once the infection is over, and help turn off the selfreacting lymphocytes preventing autoimmunity. The term for this action is self-tolerance.

John was able to compete in the Kite-Surfing Championship and took first place!!!

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Good Decision!
Helper T-Cells like you work best against bacterial, fungal, and parasitic infection. You didnt
choose viral because you know that they are Cytoxic T-Cells bailiwick. Way to work together
as a team just like you should. You truly are a Helper T-Cell if there ever was one.

John was able to make a full recovery and take Mary to Casa Bonita. They had a wonderful
time, and began to date seriously. They married after a short engagement and had three children
and a Bassett hound. They retired to the island of Malta to live out their twilight years.

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Oops. You are a little out of your depth taking on viruses like that. You work best against
fungus, parasites, and bacteria. The viral specialist in the body is really the Cytotoxic T-Cell.
Your record with viruses get even worse if you consider the fact that Human Immunodeficiency
Virus gets rid of you and your kind. After that occurs, there is no one left to rally the rest of the
immune system and it leaves the organism susceptible to further infections. Dont worry though,
John doesnt have HIV. He has something far worse

John was not feeling better so he had to cancel the date. He decided to go to the local urgent care
to see if he could pick up some antibiotics to treat his ailment. There he met Rita, a wonderful
nurse who won his heart. Sadly, she would be the first person to die from the J-virsus, a mutated
strain of the infection John had. He took antibiotics unnecessarily and then didnt finish the
bottle. It created a virulent, highly communicable strain. The infected lost all executive
cognitive functioning and fell to their most basic needto feed. John bit Rita, and she too
quickly became ill. The city was soon under siege by thesethings. They certainly werent
human anymore. The police attempted containment, but what could they do? They didnt sign
up for this. In a last ditch effort, they released and armed the inmatesbut as the infected began
to thrash against the doors of the jail the grizzled sheriff picked up the phone and said, Send in
the marines, shortly before being torn asunder. The state police were similarly unable to
contain the spread. Finally, samples of the stain were collected and able to be studied. A
scientist in a lab coat slowly looks up from his microscope and whispers, My God. He turned
to his assistant and instructed him to get the president on the phone. Barak Hussein Obama sat in
the oval office stroking his chin when a red phone began to ring. After lifting it to his ear, he
turned pale and dropped the receiver before bringing his hand to his to mouth. Sweat began to
form upon on his brow. He had to inform the nation. Before the address he slowly walked the
halls, admiring the portraits of the great men that came before him. He wanted to draw strength
from them not knowing the strength has been inside him all along. He alerted the country to the
threat, and apologized for taking all their guns. They would have to fight the infected with
stones and sticks now. After the address the country panicked and an old general walked in and
said, You know what you have to do sir. We have to nuke the bastards. No, there must be a
middle ground. The President snapped. A slender scientist shuffled forward from the corner.

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He had glasses. He said, There may be a solution. The president and his cabinet fly in a
helicopter to the scientists facility. On the horizon, you can see smoke and destructionand the
infectedmaking their way toward the capital. At the facility, you can see an infected
individual in a glass cell. She is crudely chained to the wall. The President asked, Is that really
necessary? I meanshe is in a Plexiglas cell already, and its not like someone can enter the
cell. Her arms are free and she can still bite someone. And how did you get a chain on her to
begin with? Additionallywhy do you even have a heavy chain like that here? You are a
research facility. Everyone just kind of stared at each other awkwardly. The old general
stepped forward, Just tell us how we can kill it. The scientist opened a glass case and some
smoke came out as he removed a vile and simply said, Nanobots. He tossed the vile into the
glass cell and it shattered on the ground. The infected woman suddenly began to convulse and
fell to the ground. The room applauded. Very well done sir said a secret service agent. He
was a fresh-faced young man who just started on the task force. His young, beautiful wife was
pregnant with his first baby. The ectomorphic scientist began to smugly smile and explain his
plan of action to the room. Then behind him, the infected woman slowly rose to her feet. She
pulled fast against the chain, and the entire room heard it snap. Everyone was terrified as she
slammed her body against the glass and small fractures began to appear. The slight scientist
bellowed, Oh no, the nanobots have only increased her strength. And the nanobots are selfreplicating, so if she bites anyone, it will be passed onto them as well. The infected woman
burst through the glass and ate the scientists face and bit a bunch of other people. As they began
to turn, the young secret service agent said, Mr. President, we need to get you out of here. He
shoved the president, the general, and a few other survivors out a giant door and then slammed it
shut. He turned a giant wheel thing on the door, and the surviving party could hear it clang
heavily as the locking mechanism snapped into place. Then a faint, Tell my wife I love her, and
my unborn child. The door cannot hold forever (the nano-infected have super strength). The
president and his party left speeding down the road in what was left of his motor cade. The
president leaned back in his seat, loosened his tie, and sighed at the ceiling. That middle ground
you were looking for Mr. President, I may have it for you. Then for the first time, the old
general smiled. Smash cut to a military base. So what is this super weapon you are talking
about general? Thundering footsteps can be heard in the distance. The footfall crescendos until
a solider walks in wearing a totally black mech suit. It has cannons and rockets and all sorts of
things. The visor retracted, and the president could clearly see that it was Ronald Reagan
smoking a cigar. He slowly took the cigar from his mouth and hollered, Its time to suit up Mr.
President. Then President Obama comes out in his own sweet Mech suit. This one has stars
and stripes on it. Then he goes to address the Marines at the base. He gives the exact same
speech that Bill Pullman gave in Independence Day. Word for word. He even used a bullhorn.
And even though everybody knew that he took it from Independence Day, and even though it
was not July 4th, the servicemen still went nuts because you cannot make a speech better than
that. The stoic general even shed a tear. Then President Obama and Former President Reagan
high-fived and it sounded like thunder. All of the military got similar suits, and went out and
took back the country. God bless America.

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Thank you for completing IMMUNITY Quest! I

hope you had fun!
There is some additional information that I do not think could be comprehensively covered in a
choose-your-own-adventure format. The innate immune system deserves much greater attention
than it received. For that purpose, I will do my best to include any further relevant information
in the following addendum.

Innate Immunity defenses that are always active, but lack the ability to target specific
infections. This includes organs like the skin, antimicrobial molecules, various
phagocytes, and stomach acid.

The complement system is a system that operates in innate immunity. Complement

proteins can punch holes in the cell walls of bacteriait is not specific, because it does
not target a particular organ.

Interferons are another important part of the innate immune system. Interferons slow
cell production if they detect a virus. This slows the spread of the infection.
Additionally, they up the MHC-I and MHC-II. This increases the presentation of
endogenous proteins, making it easier to identify infected cells.

Natural Killer Cells are another component of innate immunity. If they notice the downregulation of MHC molecules (a mechanism of some viruses), they just kill everything
nearby, because the MHC is how to know what is inside the cell. If there is nothing
there, they kill it.

Dendritic Cells and Macrophages also are responsible for an inflammatory response, by
secreting cytokines. Cytokines trigger an influx of immune cells from the blood.

Macrophages operate by first phagocytizing the invader through endocytosis. Then it

digest the invader. Finally, it presents protein pieces of the invader to other cells (totally
hardcore). This way the other cells can recognize the pathogenic peptide. Macrophages
also release cytokines, which recruit other immune cells to the area.

Mast cells are similar to basophils, but exist in the mucosa and epithelium.

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Immune Tissues: Gut-Associated Lymphoid Tissue (GALT), Tonsils, Adenoids, and

Peyers Patches (in the small intestine).
Leukocytes are divided into two groupsgranulocytes and agranulocytes. The granules
contain toxic enzymes and chemicals that may be released through exocytosis.

Granulocytes include: neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils. Neutrophils are

phagocytic and target bacteria. They can follow a bacterias chemical trail, or recognize
a bacteria tagged by an antibody. Eosinophils and basophils are mostly involved in
immune responses like the release of histamine and causing inflammation of the infected
area.

Agranulocytes include: the lymphocytes, monocytes (phagocytic cells in the blood),

macrophages (phagocytic cells in the tissue).

Some tissues have special names for their macrophages. Microglia in the central nervous
system. Langerhans in the skin. Osteoclasts in the bone.
There is MHC-I and MHC-II. MHC-I displays endogenous proteins (from inside the
cell). That way, if the cell is infected, it will be visible, and the cell can be destroyed.
MHC-II molecules are displayed by professional antigen-presenting cells (like
Macrophages).