Page 130 - MNU microbiology theoritical 2025

General Microbiology & Immunology (PM 401) Second level Semester 4 2024/2025

Dendritic cells

• Dendritic cells are found in various tissues throughout

the body, where they function as “scouts.”

• They routinely engulf material in the tissues and then

bring it to the cells of the adaptive immune system for

“inspection.”

• acting as a major link between the innate and adaptive immune systems.

C. Natural killer cells
• Natural killer (NK) cells are also known as large granular lymphocytes (LGL)

because they resemble lymphocytes in their morphology, except that they are

slightly larger and have numerous granules.

• represent 5–20% of all circulating lymphocytes in humans

• NK cells can kill virus infected and malignant target

cells

• They were named "natural killers" because of the they do not

require activation to kill cells

General Microbiology & Immunology (PM 401) theoretical handbook Page 119