Immune System Function - Lymphatic System Function

In this video I discuss the immune and lymphatic systems. I cover the functions of the immune system, functions of the lymphatic system, what are lymph nodes, what are lymph vessels, and what is lymph fluid. I also discuss white blood cells, and how some of them work.






Transcript (partial)

The lymphatic and immune systems work very close together, so in this video we are going to group them together.

Let’s start by looking at the components of each of the systems. The lymphatic system is comprised of lymph vessels, lymph nodes, and lymph fluid that flows through the vessels and nodes.

It also contains the thymus here, the spleen here and the tonsils here. The immune system is comprised mainly of white blood cells and bone marrow, which is where white blood cells are derived from.

The lymphatic system has 3 main functions beginning with the removal of some of the fluid that surrounds cells in tissues and organs.

When nutrient rich blood enters capillaries in tissues or organs, blood plasma fluid passes through capillary walls to drop nutrients off.

In order to maintain fluid balance, as fluid enters the tissue, fluid is removed from the tissue into a lymph capillary, and this fluid is now called lymph. This lymph fluid travels through lymph vessels and eventually re-enters blood.

The 2nd lymphatic system function is that Fats are absorbed into the system during the digestive process, where they are transferred into the bloodstream and eventually to the liver for processing.

The lymphatic system is also a mode of transport for many immune system cells and lymphatic vessels uptake many antigens from various tissues throughout the body.

These antigens are taken to lymph nodes and get an immune response.

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:10 Components of the lymphatic system
0:20 Components of the immune system
0:30 Functions of the lymphatic system
1:29 Functions of the immune system


The main function of the immune system is to protect the body against harmful substances. It does this through using its white blood cells to fight invaders.

For instance if a cell is infected with a virus and this cell bursts, releasing microbial antigens. An antigen presenting cell, or dendritic cell, picks up one of these antigens and bring it to a local lymph node.

Here it is presented to a killer t cell, which recognizes the antigen and sends in other t cells to the infected area. The t cells arrives and releases granzymes which enter the infected cell , preventing the release of viral components, thus preventing the spread of the virus.

And that is the basics on the immune and lymphatic systems.