02/16f Innate Immunity Flashcards
What are the three functions of the innate immune system?
1) Provide initial responses to microbes
2) Recognize and eliminate dead and damaged tissues and initiate repair processes
3) Stimulate the adaptive immune response
What the three types of barriers to microorganism entry? Give an example of each
Anatomic/mechanical - epithelial cells, cilia
Physiologic/chemical - lysozyme, low pH
Bacteriologic - normal microbiota
What is lysozyme?
Antimicrobial enzyme found in the granules of neutrophils and abundant in tears, saliva, mucous, and breastmilk
Targets Gram-positive bacteria
What are defensins?
Proteins that kill bacteria by punching holes in microbial membranes
Produced by neutrophils, NK cells, and epithelial cells
How does the innate immune system recognize threats to the host? What does it recognize?
By distinguishing self vs. non-self molecular patterns
Recognizes pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), sensed by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs)
What are some general pathogen signatures?
Viruses - abnormal surface proteins and nucleic acids
Parasites - foreign membrane phospholipids
Fungi - foreign surface carbohydrates and glycoproteins
Bacteria - lipopolysaccharide, peptidoglycans, flagellin
What are four specific classes of CELL-ASSOCIATED PRRs?
Toll-like receptors
NOD-like receptors
RIG-like receptors
C-type lectin receptors
What are Toll-like receptors? What responses do they elicit in the cell?
Integral membrane glycoprotein PRRs Activate NKkB (pro-inflammatory transcription factor) and interferon response factors
Where in the cell are Toll-like receptors found? How does their location affect what they recognize?
Cell surface and endosomal
Cell surface receptors recognize molecules present on bacterial membranes, while endosomal receptors recognize molecules present within the cell
What are NOD-like receptors? What responses do they elicit?
Cytosolic protein that sense cytoplasmic PAMPs and DAMPs
Recruit proteins that promote inflammation and generate active forms of the inflammatory cytokine IL-1
What are RIG-like receptors? What responses do they elicit?
Cytosolic sensors of viral RNA
Induce production of antiviral interferons
What are C-type lectin receptors? What responses do they elicit?
Recognize carbohydrates on the surface of various microbes
Facilitates phagocytosis of microbes and stimulates subsequent adaptive immune responses
What are four specific classes of SOLUBLE PRRs?
Complement
Collectins
Pentraxins
Germline/natural antibodies
What are collectins? What responses do they elicit?
Collagen lectins
Bind to oligosaccharide structures or lipids
Promote aggregation and opsonization, complement activation, and inhibition of microbial growth
Modulate inflammatory responses and adaptive immune responses
What are pentraxins? What responses do they elicit?
Bind various targets, particularly lipoproteins
Promote agglutination, bacterial capsular swelling, and phagocytosis
What is the complement system?
A cascade of plasma proteins that opsonize microbes, recruit phagocytes, and directly kill microbes
What are natural/germline antibodies?
Antibodies (IgM) that are produced by B cells without exposure to foreign antigens
Many are specific for oxidized lipids
What are some specific DAMPs?
Nuclear or cytosolic proteins that are released following cell injury
Proteins derived from the extracellular matrix that are produced following cell injury
ATP
Uric acid
Oxidized membrane lipids
What are four of the molecules of innate immunity that “sound the alarm” by mediating inflammation?
Cytokines
Chemokines
Lipid inflammatory mediators
Acute phase reactants
What are cytokines?
Small glyopeptides with multiple activities, that facilitate innate immune functions and assist in activating inflammation
What are the three major proinflammatory cytokines?
Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNFalpha)
Interleukin-1 (IL-1)
Interleukin-6 (IL-6)