I1 - intro to immunology

Question 1

what are the 2 major systems of immunity?

Answer 1

innate and adaptive

Question 2

describe innate immunity

Answer 2

present at birth, responds rapidly, has no specificity, has no memory

Question 3

what are the 3 barriers involved in innate immunity?

Answer 3

physical, chemical, biological

Question 4

example of a physical barrier in innate immunity?

Answer 4

impermeable outer surface

Question 5

example of a chemical barrier in innate immunity?

Answer 5

acidity of stomach

Question 6

example of biological barrier in innate immunity?

Answer 6

competition with commensal bacteria

Question 7

name the 3 types of phagocytic cells in innate immunity?

Answer 7

macrophages, monocytes, neutrophils

Question 8

function of NK cells?

Answer 8

kill tumour cells and virally-infected cells

Question 9

function of eosinophils?

Answer 9

attack and kill parasites

Question 10

describe adaptive immunity

Answer 10

slow to start, highly specific, has memory, regognises self and non-self components

Question 11

what are the 2 key components in adaptive immunity?

Answer 11

humoral and cellular components

Question 12

describe humoral immunity

Answer 12

antibodies, specific proteins produced against pathogens, produced by B-lymphocytes.

Question 13

describe cellular immunity

Answer 13

b lymphocytes, t lymphocytes, helper T cells, hypotoxic T cells

Question 14

what does adaptive immunity provide?

Answer 14

an immunological memory

Question 15

what are the two roles of the immune system?

Answer 15

recognition function = recognising foreign invader

effector function = removing foreign invader

Question 16

what usually is this invader?

Answer 16

an anitgen

Question 17

what is an antigen?

Answer 17

an antigen is any substance which elicits an immune response

Question 18

define an epitope

Answer 18

the part of an antigen to which the antibody attaches itself. aka = antigenic determinant

Question 19

What are the 2 ways in which epitopes/antigenic determinants are recognised?

Answer 19

antibodies (humoral) and T cells (cellular)

Question 20

key message about antigens?

Answer 20

they are foreign!!

Question 21

types of antigens?

Answer 21

carbohydrate, lipid, drugs, inorganic molecules, nucleic acids, proteins