immunology Flashcards
(262 cards)
what are the key things that the immune system need to be able to discriminate between
self and non self
how do we develop allergies
when the immune system acts on thing that it shouldn’t - it is oversensitive to something that isn’t actually harmful
give a very brief overview of the initial response to infection
- activation of local innate immune cells
- increased permeability of local blood vessels
- migration into tissues of more immune cells and plasma proteins
what are macrophages, dendritic cells and mast cell
- they are all derived from haematopoietic cells
- they are all leukocytes and cause the blood vessels to become sticky and dilate, each has a different effect
- they are all part of the innate immune system and generate an inflammatory response
where in the body and macrophages, dendritic cells and mast cells found
in all parts of the body
what are the first cells that get recruited in the innate immune response
neutrophils followed by monocytes
what do neutrophils and monocytes do in the innate immune response
they stick to the blood vessel wall and migrate through the gaps to the infection site causing an acute inflammatory response
what did Charles janeway predict
the presence of host receptors that recognise conserved patterns on pathogenic molecules - the immune system must do more than differentiate between self and non self
he thought these receptors would probably be germline encoded
what are PAMPs
they are pathogen associated molecular patterns and are what make microbes look different to host cells and this is how the immune system recognises them
what are viral PAMPs
viral surface nucleic acid glycoproteins which are sensed by pattern recognition receptor proteins
what are bacterial PAMPs
bacterial cell wall components are sensed by pattern recognition receptor proteins
what are fungal PAMPs
polysaccharides in the fungal cell wall are recognised by pattern recognition receptors
what are protozoa PAMPs
glycolipids are sensed by pattern recognition receptor proteins
what did polly matzinger propose
the immune system senses damage or danger rather than just non self because some microbes are dangerous and some are not so there would need to be a way to discriminate
what are DAMPs
danger associated molecular patterns
trigger the immune system to respond too danger
what are the differences between host and microbial DNA
there are differences in structure and location
host - located in the nucleus and is ds
microbe - often have nucleic acids that are found in other parts of the cell and some have ss DNA
how can sense cell death from protein abundance
nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins are released from cells when they undergo trauma or death so usually these are present in very low abundance in the extracellular environment so they can be used as a way of sensing death
how can metabolites be used for sensing cell death
extracellular ATP is usually in extremely low abundance and rises due to cell death or damaged tissue which again acts as a signal that the immune system might have to respond
the adaptive immune system attempts to prevent …………………………
re-infection
what are the steps in information transfer from pathogen to adaptive immunity
pathogen - causes some sort of damage or disturbance to host tissue
innate response - activation of dendritic cells, mast cells and macrophages which induce a local inflammatory response which attracts other cells
adaptive immunity - appropriate specific response to pathogen antigens
what gives rise to leukocytes
haematopoietic cells
describe the transfer of information from the innate to the adaptive immune response
- some cells will migrate out of the infection sit and drain into the surrounding lymph nodes
- dendritic cells can carry the pathogenic antigens to the local immune system in adaptive immunity
- adaptive immunity is driven by B cell and T cell activation and is highly specific to defined antigens
what do CD4+ T cells do
they produce soluble mediators called cytokines which direct activation of different parts of the immune system
- they can activate B cells to make antibodies to clear the pathogen
- they can increase the proliferation of killer CD8+ T cells which can kill infected cells
how does adaptive immunity provide protection to reinfection
by providing immunological memory