The residents 20 entries — immune cell types and the complement system beside them — each with an everyday metaphor, the mechanistic detail behind it, and where that metaphor stops being true. Expand a card for the full entry.
20 ATLAS ENTRIES
4 LINEAGES
20 GRAPH MAPPINGS
All residents Myeloid Lymphoid Innate lymphoid Bridge
Neutrophil The rapid-response patrol The most abundant white blood cell. First to arrive at infection sites, fights hard, dies fast, and leaves a trail of destruction.
Myeloid 1 graph nodes Macrophage The street cleaner & sentinel Tissue-resident giant cells that eat debris, present antigens, and orchestrate local inflammation. They are the city's janitors, sentinels, and local commanders rolled into one.
Myeloid 1 graph nodes Dendritic Cell The intelligence officer The bridge between innate and adaptive immunity. They patrol tissues, capture enemies, and carry intelligence to headquarters (lymph nodes) to brief the T cells.
Myeloid 2 graph nodes Natural Killer Cell The corruption inspector Innate lymphocyte that kills virus-infected and cancerous cells without needing prior sensitization. They inspect every cell for signs of corruption.
Innate Lymphoid 1 graph nodes B Cell The weapons designer Lymphocyte that recognizes specific antigens and produces antibodies. Part researcher, part factory manager. They design precision weapons against each new threat.
Lymphoid 2 graph nodes Plasma Cell The antibody factory The mass-production arm of the B cell response. These cells sacrifice everything, mobility, surface receptors, even their own lifespan, to pump out antibodies at staggering rates.
Lymphoid 1 graph nodes CD4+ T Helper Cell The strategic coordinator The general who never fires a weapon but directs the entire immune response. CD4+ T cells tell B cells to make antibodies, macrophages to fight harder, and CD8+ T cells to kill.
Lymphoid 5 graph nodes CD8+ Cytotoxic T Cell The precision strike team Elite killer lymphocytes that eliminate virus-infected and cancerous cells with surgical precision. Each one is trained to recognize a single specific target.
Lymphoid 2 graph nodes Regulatory T Cell (Treg) Internal affairs The immune system's peacekeepers. Tregs suppress excessive immune responses, prevent autoimmunity, and call off the attack when the threat is gone.
Lymphoid 1 graph nodes Mast Cell The fire alarm system Tissue-resident alarm cells that trigger immediate inflammatory responses. They are the city's fire alarms, sitting quietly until triggered, then unleashing chaos.
Myeloid 1 graph nodes Eosinophil The heavy artillery Specialized granulocyte designed to fight parasites that are too large to phagocytose. They release toxic chemicals directly onto the target, like artillery firing at a fortress.
Myeloid 1 graph nodes Basophil The backup alarm The rarest granulocyte. Circulating alarm cell that amplifies allergic and anti-parasite responses. Like mast cells, but mobile. They rush to tissues when needed.
Myeloid 1 graph nodes Monocyte The mobile reserve force Circulating precursor cells that rush to sites of inflammation and transform into macrophages or dendritic cells. They are the city's deployable workforce.
Myeloid 1 graph nodes Innate Lymphoid Cell (ILC) The neighborhood watch Innate counterparts of T helper cells. They respond within hours to tissue damage, without needing antigen-specific recognition. The local first responders of the lymphoid world.
Innate Lymphoid 1 graph nodes Memory T & B Cells The veterans & archivists Long-lived cells that remember past encounters. They are the immune system's archive, ensuring the next response to a known threat is faster, stronger, and more precise.
Lymphoid 2 graph nodes Complement System The city's alarm network Not a cell but a system of proteins that cascade like falling dominoes. It tags pathogens for destruction, punches holes in their membranes, and amplifies inflammation, the city's automated defence network.
Bridge 3 graph nodes γδ T Cell The border patrol Unconventional T cells that patrol barrier tissues (skin, gut, lung) and respond to stress signals without needing MHC-restricted antigen presentation. They are the border patrol, first to react at the body's frontiers.
Lymphoid 1 graph nodes MAIT Cell The microbial sensor Semi-invariant T cells that detect microbial vitamin B metabolites presented by MR1. They are the body's microbial sensor, bridging innate and adaptive immunity at mucosal barriers.
Lymphoid 1 graph nodes NKT Cell The lipid detective T cells that recognize lipid antigens presented by CD1d. They bridge innate and adaptive immunity by responding to lipid signals from microbes and self-tissues within hours.
Innate Lymphoid 1 graph nodes Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cell The corrupted officials Immature myeloid cells that suppress immune responses. In cancer, they are recruited by tumours to shut down anti-tumour immunity, the city's officials bribed to look the other way.
Myeloid 1 graph nodes