introduction to immunology

Question 1

systems of the immune system

Answer 1

lymphatic system
blood

Question 2

organs of the immune system

Answer 2

lymph nodes
spleen
bone marrow
thymus

Question 3

cells of the immune system

Answer 3

dendritic cells
t cells
macrophages
eosinophils
b cells
NK cells
etc

Question 4

molecules of the immune system

Answer 4

antibodies
complement
cytokines/chemokines

Question 5

what mediates immune response

Answer 5

molecules, cells and tissues

Question 6

what is complement

Answer 6

system of soluble serum proteins

Question 7

what are cytokines

Answer 7

immune messenger hormones

Question 8

what are chemokines

Answer 8

cytokines which specialise in making cells move

Question 9

what are antibodies

Answer 9

secreted molecules which bind pathogens

Question 10

what are leukocytes

Answer 10

all immune cells (innate and adaptive)
white blood cells

Question 11

what are innate cells

Answer 11

macrophages
dendritic cells
neutrophils
eosinophils
basophils
mast cells

Question 12

what are adaptive cells

Answer 12

t cells
b cells
lymphocytes

Question 13

what are the tissues of the immune system

Answer 13

lymphatics
lymph nodes
spleen
thymus
bone marrow

Question 14

where are immune cells made

Answer 14

in the bone marrow and the thymus

Question 15

where do adaptive immune cells spend most time

Answer 15

in the lymph nodes and spleen, where immune responses are initiated

Question 16

where are immune responses initiated

Answer 16

the lymph nodes and spleen

Question 17

the do lymphatics provide drainage for

Answer 17

the periphery

Question 18

what do lymphatics drain into

Answer 18

the blood via the thoracic duct

Question 19

what are lymph nodes

Answer 19

highly organised accumulations of immune cells at lymphatic junctions

Question 20

what is swelling of the lymphatics during infection called

Answer 20

lymphadenopathy

Question 21

what do virally infected cells release

Answer 21

IFN⍺ and IFNβ

Question 22

what do IFNa and IFNb induce

Answer 22

an antiviral state in neighbouring cells
- upregulate antiviral proteins (including more IFNs) and antigen presentation
- downregulate everything else by degrading mRNA and inhibiting protein translation factors (suppress viral proliferation)

Question 23

what is synthetic IFNa administration highly effective in

Answer 23

hep B virus infection

Question 24

pros of an immune system

Answer 24

protects against infection - immunity to reinfection - vaccination response
kills mutated/tumour cells - higher risks of cancer after transplants due to immunosuppression

Question 25

cons of an immune system

Answer 25

energetically expensive causes diseases - allergy - autoimmunity - inflammatory diseases

Question 26

what is a pathogen

Answer 26

a bacterium, virus or other microorganism that can cause disease

Question 27

concept of danger

Answer 27

signals indicating there is harm to the body, and/or that infectious agents are present

Question 28

concept of self/non-self

Answer 28

the immune system can recognise your own proteins (self) and knows not to attack anything it doesnt recognise (non self) it will kill

Question 29

what is danger recognised by

Answer 29

innate immune response

Question 30

what is self/non-self recognised by

Answer 30

adaptive immune response

Question 31

what are the 2 types of danger signal

Answer 31

PAMPs - pathogen associated molecular patterns DAMPs - damage associated molecular patterns

Question 32

PAMPs

Answer 32

types of molecule only produced by infectious agents and not host tissue - critical for survival/virulence

Question 33

DAMPs

Answer 33

molecules released from injured cells

Question 34

apoptosis

Answer 34

programmed cell death caspases are activated lead to fragmentation of DNA, 'blebbing' of membrane and phagocytosis non-inflammatory

Question 35

necrosis

Answer 35

uncontrolled cell death cell ruptures, contents are released highly inflammatory - DAMPs e.g. for mechanical damage or from a pathogen bursting out a cell

Question 36

pattern recognition receptors (PRR)

Answer 36

recognise PAMPs and DAMPs examples include toll-like receptors

Question 37

how does the adaptive immune system determine what is self

Answer 37

during development, it samples everything in it's environment

Question 38

types of t cell

Answer 38

cd4+ t helper cells cd8+ cytotoxic t lymphocyte

Question 39

innate response type

Answer 39

rapid, generic response

Question 40

adaptive response type

Answer 40

slow, highly specific

Question 41

corticosteroids

Answer 41

powerful anti-inflammatory drugs that inhibit recruitment of inflammatory cells into tissues and inhibit survival of inflammatory cells

Question 42

corticosteroids and covid 19

Answer 42

treatment with dexamethasone reduces mortality of hospitalised patients with acute respiratory failure systemic corticosteroids should be used in patients with severe/critical covid 19 (but not in patients with non-severe covid 19)

Question 43

interleukin 6

Answer 43

a pro-inflammatory cytokine targeted in the treatment of numerous inflammatory diseases (eg RA)

Question 44

interleukin 6 and covid 19

Answer 44

treatment with tocilizumab or sarilumab (antibodies that block the interleukin 6 receptor) improve 6 month survival and QoL in critically ill tocilizumab is a treatment option for adults hospitalised with covid 19

Question 45

how long to get a good primary response

Answer 45

around a week innate immunity tries to deal with infection until then

Question 46

why are responses tailored to type of infection

Answer 46

different mechanisms required for viral vs bacterial vs parasitic infections

Question 47

what is vaccination and how does it work

Answer 47

method for inducing a big immune response to a pathogen does away with need for a primary infection gets effective secondary response giving immunity uses inactivated pathogen, or a subunit of the pathogen - no infection