8: Immunology of autoimmune disease Flashcards
What is autoimmunity?
Immune response against self cells
Which immune cells mediate autoimmune reactions?
Lymphocytes (B cells and T cells)
In autoimmune disease, B cells produce ___ and T cells are ___-___.
autoantibodies , self-reactive
Autoantibodies and auto-reactive T cells cause tissue ___ and the process of __ __.
damage
chronic inflammation
Who is more commonly affected by autoimmune disease?
Women
What is a large factor involved in autoimmune disease?
Genetics
What is self tolerance?
Usually, body can function with a small number of self-reactive immune components
In autoimmune disease, self tolerance ___ ___.
breaks down
Which genes can be responsible for autoimmune disease?
HLA genes - MHC1 and MHC2, revise
Although they aren’t common, single gene mutations can cause autoimmune disease. What is an example?
IPEX syndrome
Mutation in which gene causes IPEX syndrome?
FOXP3
Does everyone have a small number of autoreactive T cells and B cells?
yeah
dunno how else to word that one
What are some tolerance mechanisms the immune system has towards autoreactive cells?
Central tolerance - immune system kills them
Which cells inactivate autoreactive cells outside lymphoid tissue?
What is this process called?
Regulatory T cells
Peripheral tolerance
MHC molecules allow for ___ ___.
antigen presentation
Which cells release anti-inflammatory cytokines to inactivate self-reactive cells outside the lymphoid tissues?
Regulatory T cells
What does the FOXP3 gene control?
Activity of regulatory T cells
so you can see why mutations cause autoimmune disease
Most autoimmune diseases are caused by (one / several) mutations.
several
Alleles of which gene are associated with a variety of autoimmune diseases?
HLA
human leukocyte antigen
All antigen-presenting cells express MHC Class _.
All nucleated cells express MHC Class _.
antigen-presenting cells: MHC Class II
all cells: MHC Class I
Why is HLA so polymorphic?
There are 15 HLA genes on both the maternal and paternal chromosomes - 30 in total
and each is highly polymorphic
Which genes are unique to males and females and are associated with autoimmune disease?
Sex genes
so to summarise some diseases are monomorphic (FOXP3 and IPEX syndrome) but most are polymoprhic (HLA, sex genes and a shitload of other ones)
Apart from genetics, what else affects your risk of autoimmune disease?
Environment
