ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the role of the cellular network and reviews the role of the separate parts in the protection from disease. Histocompatibility systems consist of genes coding for the set of cell surface molecules which not only characterize “self” but serve as functional molecules during cellular interactions of an immune response. Immune mechanisms of disease to viral infection occur through both a specific humoral and cell-mediated immune response requiring the involvement of the major histocompatibility complex. The function of the immune cytotoxic T lymphocyte along with the appropriate accessory cells must be able to discriminate between infected and uninfected host cells. The tolerance phenomena as a result of oral administration of immunogen is demonstrated by the specific absence of systemic antibody response. The chapter explores a variety of mechanisms by which the host’s immune response results in greater tissue destruction or physiological alteration than that caused by viral cytolysis.
