Immunology 1

Question 1

why is immunology complex?

Answer 1

Vital – 100% essential for life!
Potent- can kill in seconds
Multiple elements and systems
-replicated elements and systems
-interconnected elements and systems
Variation in humans
Variation in microbial pathogens

Question 2

why is it important to be aware of the complexity of immunology?

Answer 2

Manipulating immune system can have severe side effects
Multiple therapeutics may be needed to treat a single disease
A single therapeutic can have variable efficacy
Some conditions are difficult to treat
Explains gulf between management and cure

Question 3

what is an immune system?

Answer 3

All parts of the organism that combat infection

Question 4

what are the 2 parts of immune system?

Answer 4

Innate immunity (most important)
Adaptive immunity (most complicated)

Question 5

what are the 5 diseases categories
EXAM

Answer 5

Infection, Hypersensitivity, Autoimmunity, Transplantation, Cancer

Question 6

Divide up therapeutics:

Answer 6

Activate vs inhibit
Cure vs block vs soothe

Question 7

what are the 5 concepts of immunology?

Answer 7

Innate, Adaptive, Antigen Specificity, Lymphocytes, Effector Mechanisms

Question 8

explain the concept innate?

Answer 8

Evolved defences against all microbes
Barriers- skin, acid
Sequestration of nutrients
Antimicrobials- lysozyme
Tissue and cellular injury: acute inflammation
Antiviral responses- interferon
Specific innate microbial recognition – born with it

Question 9

what is innate response to cellular and tissue injury

Answer 9

acute inflammation
Innate response to cellular and tissue injury
Pain, Heat, Redness, Swelling

Question 10

what an acute inflammation be triggered by?

Answer 10

Triggered by tissue or cellular injury

Very many mediators including: Complement, Clotting, Kinin system, Histamine, Eicosanoid pathway

Question 11

Acute imflammation
Innate response to cellular and tissue injury
LINKED TO BUT SEPARATE FROM IMMUNE SYSTEM
Can be CONFUSING- many components involved in BOTH tissue repair and healing
AND immune response to pathogens/infection

Question 12

how is innate microbial recognition work

Answer 12

Key: mammals have unique biochemical makeup; microbes look fundamentally ‘different

Classic example:
LPS, endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide

Bacterial cell wall component
(gram negatives e.g. E. coli)

Question 13

explain the concept adaptive ?

Answer 13

Learned response to ‘antigens’
Memory
Characterised by Lymphocyte responses
Expansion of specific T and B cells
Production of antibodies

Question 14

what is the difference between adaptive and innate immunity?

Answer 14

Innate :
Recognition/ specificity: Microbes, injury, At any time, Always the same
When learnt: evolutionary time
how : many mechanisms

Adaptive
Recognition/ specificity: Anything: “ANTI GEN, Only after “priming” , Memory of encounter
When learnt: Lifetime of individual- does not pass on
how : antigen recognition

Question 15

antigen specificity:
What can the adaptive immune system learn to recognise?

Answer 15

anything (almost)
structures (antibodies) - 2 binding sites
peptides more than 8 or 8 amino acids (T cell receptor)
Read and recognize peptides (broken down protein)

Question 16

what are Structural antigens are recognised by

Answer 16

antibodies

Variable region binds to antigen via mixture of hydrophobic/hydrophilic, electrostatic, hydogen bonding, van-der-waals interactions

Binding high-affinity and stable - strongest
Not always specific! Some binding sites shared

Question 17

Peptide antigens are recognised by what receptors

Answer 17

the T cell receptor

Proteins are made up of many overlapping peptides For 8mer, theoretically 208 different ones!
Peptide is ‘sandwiched’ between MHC molecule and T cell receptor

Question 18

what is the role of lympocyte and examples

Answer 18

Lymphocytes have to enable the adaptive immune system to:
recognise any antigen
‘learn to respond’ and ‘remember’
kill microbes

B cells (make antibody)
T cells (respond to peptides)
Live in blood, lymph nodes, bone marrow
Both have random, clonal antigen receptors

Question 19

what is the role of b cells

Answer 19

make antibodies

Question 20

what is the role of T cells

Answer 20

responds to peptide

Question 21

how does B cell recognise antigen?

Answer 21

Directly bind antigen via antibody molecule on surface of cell

Question 22

how does T cell recognise antigen?

Answer 22

Bind antigen peptide on MHC molecule bound on surface of dendritic cell (DC)

Question 23

what are the three life stages of lympocytes?

Answer 23

Generation, selection
Enabling the body to recognise anything

2 Priming, replication, clonal expansion
Learning what to respond to - and remembering

3 Effector function
Recognising and killing microbes

Question 24

explain generation of lymphocytes

Answer 24

Lymphocytes –like other blood cells - are derived from bone marrow cells but they are totally unique – their genome is randomly rearranged to give each cell a single antigen receptor
But after rearranging, lymphocytes are selected for safe and effective function – “tolerance”

Question 25

innate signals control what responses

Answer 25

adaptive

Question 26

what is the effector mechanism

Answer 26

Types of antibody Binding and blocking Histamine Phagocytosis

Question 27

what are the types of T cell and their role

Answer 27

Killers: Direct killing of virally infected cells Helpers: Cytokine release and inflammation Helpers: Control B cell antibody responses

Question 28

what are the antibodies which is responsible for activating and blocking

Answer 28

Toxins can be bound and inactivated by antibodies can directly block viral infection Antigen bound by IgG and IgM activates ‘complement’ which can punch holes in cell walls

Question 29

types of antibodies - histamine

Answer 29

Mast cells are ‘sentinels’ coated with IgE Antigen recognition triggers histamine release Macrophages are coated with receptors for IgG and rapidly phagocytose antibody bound to antigen

Question 30

type of T lymphocyte

Answer 30

CD8 Killers: Direct killing of virally infected cells CD4 Helpers: Trigger inflammation

Question 31

Central role for CD4 helper T lymphocytes

Answer 31

1 Antigen bound by B cell antibody 2 B cell presents peptide derived from antigen 3 Peptide recognition by CD4 helper on B lymphocyte triggers activation signals to B cell 4 High levels of antibody against same antigen that peptide was derived from

Question 32

what is AIDS caused due to

Answer 32

AIDS is caused by destruction of all CD4 T cells by HIV

Question 33

what are the interventions for transplantation

Answer 33

Transplantation Glucocorticoids Antiproliferatives Calcineurin inhibitors Other immunosuppressants

Question 34

what are the interventions for autoimmunity

Answer 34

Analgesics Glucocorticoids Antiproliferatives Calcineurin inhibitors Other immunosupressants + Symptom management

Question 35

interventions for Activating the immune system

Answer 35

Vaccines Immune stimulators

Question 36

what are the interventions for cancer

Answer 36

Cancer Checkpoint inhibitors Cancer vaccines T cell immunotherapy

Question 37

what are the interventions for Controlling hypersensitivity reactions

Answer 37

Antihistamines Glucocorticoids + Symptom management