4.2 Lymphoid Tissues Flashcards
What are primary lymphoid tissues?
The sites of lymphopoiesis
How is lymph formed?
Draining of interstitial fluid out capillaries and into lymphatic vessels
What are the 3 primary lymphatic organs?
Bone marrow
Thymus
Foetal liver
What cells are of the lymphoid lineage?
T cells, B cells and NK cells
Which part of the bone marrow does haematopoiesis occur on?
The red part
What does the yellow bone marrow do?
Contains mesenchymal stem cells that produce fat, cartilage and bone
Stores fat in adipocytes
Which cells mature in the bone marrow and which part of it?
B cells
Yellow marrow in the middle
Which cells mature in the thymus?
T cells
What is meant by thymic involution?
Shrinking of the thymus with age, leading to reduced T cell output
Functional tissue is replaced with fat
What are the three selection processes which the T cells undergo?
Positive, negative and final selection
What is positive selection?
Can the T cell receptor (CD4/CD8) signal
If not, the cell is destroyed
What is negative selection?
If T cell recognises self antigens, apoptosis is triggered
How do the T cells differentiate into T helper cells and T killer cells?
Depending on whether CD4 (helper) or CD8 (killer) has the strongest bond, the T cell will up regulate that one
How does the number of peripheral T cells change with age?
Remains the same
Peripheral T cells are maintained by division of mature T cells
Why are older people more vulnerable to new strains of pathogens?
Peripheral T cells are maintained by the division of mature T cells outside the central lymphoid organs
Results in less variety of T cells (fewer cells from new lineages)
How do T cells move from their site of production?
The thymus releases chemokines which initiates the chemotaxis of T cells from the bone marrow to the thymus
What happens to the thymus during infection?
No change
What happens to the bone marrow during infection?
Increased white cell production
What are secondary lymphoid tissues?
Sites where mature lymphocytes interact with antigens and other lymphocytes
What are some secondary lymphoid tissues?
Spleen
Lymph nodes
Appendix
Mucosal associated lymphoid tissue
What are lymph nodes?
Highly organised, encapsulated structures located at points of convergence of lymphatic vessels
What are germinal centers?
Anatomically restricted site where B cells undergo maturation and differentiation to generate high affinity antibodies
Through what vessel does lymph enter into the lymph nodes?
The afferent lymphatic vessel
Why do we have a lymphatic system?
More tissue is filtered than reabsorbed during tissue perfusion
Lymphatics return fluid to the systemic circulation
What are the functions of the spleen?
- Store of platelets
- Reacts with blood borne antigen
- Removes defective RBCs from circulation
What forms the first line of defense against infection?
Epithelial barriers
What is the significance of the location of lymphoid tissues?
They are spread around the body and interconnected via lymphatic system and blood
Thus they bring cells in close proximity to antigens