Immunology Flashcards
(143 cards)
What is innate immunity?
- Instinctive,
- non-specific,
- does not depend on lymphocytes,
- present from birth
- Cells involved: Neutrophils, macrophage, basophils, eosinophils, mast cells, natural killer cells
What is adaptive immunity?
- Specific,
- Acquired immunity
- requires lymphocytes
- antibodies
- Cells involved: T helper cells, cytotoxic T cells, B cells
- quick response on second encounter
What are the 3 modes of action for complement factors?
- Direct Lysis
- Attract more leukocytes to site of infection
- Coat invading organism
What are the 5 classes of antibodies?
IgG
IgA
IgM
IgD
IgE
What are cytokines? And types?
Proteins secreted by immune and non-immune cells
- Interferons
- Interleukins
- Colony stimulating factors
- Tumour necrosis factors
- Chemokines
What are interferons (IFN)?
Induce a state of antiviral resistance in uninfected cells
What are Interleukins (IL)?
- Produced by many cells, over 30 types
- Can be pro-inflammatory (IL 1) or anti-inflammatory (IL 10)
- Can cause cells to divide, to differentiate and to secrete factors
What are colony stimulating factors?
Involved in directing division and differentiation of bone marrow stem cells
(precursors of leukocytes - drive production of WBCs)
What is the role of tumour necrosis factors?
Mediate inflammation and cytotoxic reactions
- pro inflammatory
What is the role of chemokine?
Leukocyte chemoattractants
- attract appropriate leukocytes to sites of infection/inflammation
- direct from the blood stream into tissues or lymph organs
What is innate immunity composed of?
- Physical and chemical barriers
- Phagocytic cells (macrophage and neutrophils)
- Blood proteins (complement, acute phase)
What are the roles of complement factors?
Once activated they can:
1. Lyse microbes directly (Membrane attacking centre MAC)
2. Chemotaxis
3. Opsonisation (enables pathogens to be engulfed more easily)
Why do we need adaptive immunity?
- microbes evade innate immunity
- intracellular viruses and bacteria ‘hide’ from innate immunity
- need memory to specific antigen (faster response)
What must the immune system do in order to be effective?
The immune system has discriminate self from non-self
Give examples of physical and chemical barriers used in innate immunity?
Skin, mucociliary escalator, gastric acid, hairs, lysozymes etc.
How does cell mediated immunity work?
interlay between:
- antigen presenting cells
- and T cells
Requires intimate cell to cell contact
- to control Ab responses via contact with B cells
- to directly recognise and kill viral infected cells
What is the major histocompatibility complex (MHC)?
A group of genes that code for proteins found on the surfaces of cells that help the immune system recognise foreign substances.
- the 2 ways that antigens are presented on the cell surface
How are antigens presented by MHC1?
- Endogenous antigens are broken by proteosome into peptides
- Peptides delivered into endoplasmic reticulum by a TAP transporter
- TAP interacts with MHC1 molecule
- MHC1 permanently binds to one of the peptides
- TAP transporter and helper proteins dissociate
- Antigen loaded MHCI migrates through Golgi apparatus to cell surface
- MHCI released onto cell surface to be recognised by CD8 T cells
occurs in all nucleated cells
How are antigens presented by MHCII?
- Exogenous cells are taken up by cells with endocytic activity
- Taken into endosome
- MHCII already bound to small molecule
- Helper proteins help exchange small molecule for an antigen
- Vesicle containing MHCII travels to cell surface
- Antigen now recognised by CD4 T helper cells
(Help B cells make antibodies to extracellular pathogen. can help directly kill)
Give 3 functions of antibodies?
- Neutralsie toxin by binding to it
- Increase opsonisation (process by which pathogens are marked for phagocytosis)
- Activate complement
Link between innate and adaptive immunity
What is the structure of an antibody?
- Antigen recognition
- Fab regions (V of Y shape): variable in sequence
- bind different antigens specifically
Joined by ‘hinge region’
- Antigen elimination
- Fc region (stem of Y) - constant in sequence
- Binds to complement
- Fc receptors on phagocytes
What does variable and constant antibody regions do?
Variable
- antigen recognition
- Bind antigen
- differ between antibodies with different specificities
Constant
- determines mechanism used to destroy antigen
- same for antibodies of a given H chain class or L chain type
Constant and variable regions are encoded by separate exons
What is the role of IgG?
- most abundant in BLOOD
- main class in serum and tissues
- important in secondary response
- can cross placenta
What is the role of IgM?
- Important in primary response
- Mainly found in blood (too big to cross epithelium)