Ch 15 Specific Immunity Flashcards
Specific immunity has two subcategories, what are they?
Humoral immunity and cell mediated immunity
What is specific immunity
Ability to resist particular disease or foreign bodies. Recognition of foreign antigens and act to eliminate them in 2 ways.
Define humoral immunity
Formation of antibodies in response to antigens
Define cell mediated immunity
Direct destruction of an infected cell; “cell wars”
Define immunocompetence
Time period In fetal development when lymphocytes specialized to be reactive against 1 million or more foreign antigens. “Genetic programming”
What is acquired immunity
Immunity develops after exposure to foreign antigen; is individualized
Three characteristics of acquired immunity
Highly specific; develop memory for the future so second response is faster; tolerance (ability to distinguish self vs nonself)
What are Immunogens
Substances that induce the immune response: either antibody formation or activation of the cell mediated immunity or both. Must meet requirements of foreignness, size, shape and accessibility
What is an antigen
Large complex macromolecules; ex: proteins (strong), polysaccharides (weak). Could be capsules, viral capsids/envelopes, outer membrane molecules (LPS, flagella, etc); surface cells of fungi and helminths
What is an allergen
An antigen that stimulates an allergic response
What is a superantigen and give an example
Provokes an overwhelming response, can lead to sell shock, organ damage: toxic shock.
Ex: S. aureus
What is an epitope
Antigenic determining site; stimulate antibody formation and combine with them. “Sweet spot”
Antigenic receptors on B & T cells will recognize this and bind to them
What are haptens? Give an example
Not antigenic alone, become antigenic when bonded to a larger carrier molecule. (The combination of the two together is what becomes recognizable) Ex: penicillin
What are immunoglobulins
Group of glycoproteins present on the surface of B cell, they can be released as antibodies in blood serum and tissue fluid of mammals
_____ are found on the surface of B cells.
they become _____ when secreted.
Immunoglobulins on the surface of cells.
become antibodies when secreted.
Name the five classes of immunoglobulins
IgG, IgA, IgM, IgD, IgE
IgG
80%; Gamma globulins; circulating, cross placenta, help phagocytes activate complements, long-term memory, neutralize toxins and viruses. most important
IgA
Help with passive immunity; Second most important immunoglobulin
Describe the structure of IgG
Quaternary protein bound to a carbohydrate- glycoprotein; consists of four separate polypeptide chains
IgG consists of four chains. Describe them and their bond
2 heavy and 2 light; held together by disulfide cross bridges
Describe the constant region of the IgG structure
Does not vary between antibodies of the same class
Describe the variable region of the IgG structure
Antigenic combining sites, specific for the antigen
Humans can make antibodies against 100 million different antigens but they do not have that many genes to code for them. How do they have the genetic ability?
They are able to rearrange genetic components to create an infinite variety
Specific immunity involves which two types of lymphocytes
T cells and B cells