Immunology Flashcards
(446 cards)
How can pathogens enter the body?
Eyes, mouth, nose, urogenital tract, rectum and damaged skin
Immune system definition?
The collection of organs, tissues, cells and cell products whose role it is to differentiate self from non-self
Four key processes of the immune system?
Prevention
Recognition
Elimination
Memory
What are the three lines of defence?
Barriers
Innate
Adaptive
How does the skin provide a barrier to pathogens?
The tough outer layer of cells that produce keratin
The oleic acid on the skin can kill some bacteria
The skin (also tears and saliva) can secrete lysozymes to break down the outer wall of some bacteria
How do mucosal membranes provide a barrier to pathogens?
Secrete mucus to trap small particles and pathogens
Some have cilia to sweep mucus and particles out
How long does the innate immune system take to respond?
Around 12 hours
What activates the innate immune system?
Cells recognising common generic components of pathogens
What is the distinguishing feature of the innate immune system?
Inflammation
What are pattern recognition receptors?
They bind to pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPs)
An example of a pattern recognition receptor?
Toll-like receptors
What happens when a DAMP/PAMP binds to a toll-like receptor?
The receptor activates a cascade signalling pathway resulting in recruitment of other immune cells and inflammatory pathways
How many types of toll-like receptors are in humans?
10
Toll-like receptor structure?
An extracellular domain which is involved in recognition of microbial products
An another domain in the cytoplasm that recruits the different signalling molecules that activate the transcription of genes involved in inflammation and antimicrobial defences
What do toll-like receptors 1, 2, 4 and 6 recognise?
Bacterial lipids
What do toll-like receptors 3, 7 and 8 recognise?
Viral RNA
What does toll-like receptor 9 recognise?
Bacterial DNA
What do toll-like receptors 5 and 10 recognise?
Bacterial or parasitic proteins
Cells involved in the innate immune system?
Mast cells
Dendritic cells
Macrophages
Natural killer cells
Complement proteins
Basophils
Eosinophils
Neutrophils
What is usually the first cell on the site of infection?
Macrophage
What are granulocytes?
Phagocytic cells with granules inside
Types of granulocytes?
Neutrophils
Eosinophils
Basophils
Natural killer cells
What is the most common type of granulocyte?
Neutrophils
What does the nucleus of a neutrophil look like?
Multilobed