Final answer:
The principal chemical agents of the humoral immunity attack are antibodies, which are secreted by B cells. These antibodies bind to antigens, neutralize pathogens, and can activate other immune response mechanisms like phagocytosis or the complement system.
Step-by-step explanation:
Principal Chemical Agents of Humoral Immunity-
The principal chemical agents of the humoral immunity attack are molecules known as antibodies or immunoglobulins. These antibodies are secreted by B lymphocytes, or B cells, after their maturation in the bone marrow. The humoral immunity is part of the adaptive immune system and is primarily responsible for fighting pathogens in extracellular spaces.
Antibodies recognize and bind to specific antigens present on pathogens through variable domains. This binding can have several effects: it can neutralize the pathogen, mark it for destruction by other cells like phagocytes, or activate the complement system which leads to a series of reactions that help fight the infection.
There are five classes of antibodies, each with different mechanisms of action and production sites. However, the specificity of an antibody is not determined by its class but by the variable domains that bind to the antigen. This specificity is key in ensuring that the humoral immune response effectively targets and neutralizes the specific pathogens present in the body.