Adaptive Immunity Flashcards
what role does the liver have in acute inflammation?
synthesis of acute phase proteins
what role does bone marrow have in acute inflammation?
production and mobilisation of neutrophils (neutrophilia is hallmark of acute inflammation)
what is the acute phase response?
systematic response involving changes in plasma concentrations of specific proteins in response to inflammation
=it’s driven by pro-inflammatory mediators released by activated macrophages
= mediated by liver hepatocytes which produce a variety of acute phase proteins
what are some acute phase proteins?
-C3 and MBL (complement system proteins)
-C reactive protein (CRP)
what is CRP function?
C reactive protein = a major acute phase protein in humans
-primes certain bacteria for destruction by complement system & phagocytes (functions as an opsonin so enhances phagocytosis)
-has a prognostic role (can monitor how sick a patient it by severity & duration of inflammation) = used as marker for inflammation
what is the complement system?
made up of a large number of distinct plasma proteins that react with one another to opsonize pathogens and induce a series of inflammatory responses that help to fight infection.
in healthy systems - what levels of complement proteins are found?
LOW levels of INACTIVE complement proteins found in extracellular fluids
what happens when complement system activated?
creates a cascade of chemical reactions that promote:
-opsonization of pathogens
- direct pathogen killing
- acute inflammation
- leukocyte recruitment
what are the 3 pathways of complement system?
- classical pathway
- alternative pathway
- mannose binding lectin pathway
*don’t yet need to know (much later)
how does C3 get cleaved to C3a and C3b in mannose lecting binding pathway?
-instead of antibody/antigen trigger, presence of mannose lectin binding protein
-mannose lectin binding protein undergoes conformational change and eventually makes c3 convertase which cleaves c3 to c3a and c3b
what is problem with C3 convertase?
cleaves thousands of C3 to C3a and C3b per second and if loads of C3b keeps being produced then eventually could kill human cell as human cells only have finite number of inhibitors to tell C3b to not kill them
(C3b just binds and kills the surface of cell it’s bound to so if human cell - it needs to say “don’t killl me”)
how is C3b stabilised?
by binding to surface of cell & then killing if bacterial cells
how is C3b involved in amplification loop/step?
C3b is always floating and just binding to bacterial cell surface it comes across so other factors can help stabilise it and make C3 convertase to keep loop going
how is MAC formed?
Membrane Attack Complex
-C3b binds back next to C3 convertase to form C5 convertase which cleaves C5-> C5a and C5b
-C5b, C6, C7, C8 join together and start to penetrate through pathogen membrane
-C9 joins forming MAC which creates channel into membrane (which allows fluid & killer cells to go in) and can destroy pathogens (especially gram- bacteria)
what can C3a and C5a also do?
they can amplify acute inflammatory responses
(they’re chemotaxis)
what is C3b?
an opsonin molecules = makes phagocytosis more efficient as opsonin makes more attractive and easier to pick up (think as it like pathogen slippy before opsonin)
what is involved in innate immune system response?
- acute inflammation
-macrophages
-mast cells
-natural killer cells
-neutrophils
-complement system
what is involved in acquired immune system response?
- B cells
-T cells - antibodies
what are B cells?
- Responsible for humoral immune responses
- Produce antiBodies that attack pathogens circulating in the blood and lymph
- Key role in defense against extracellular pathogens
(they release antibodies)
what are T cells?
- Responsible for cellular immune responses
- Key role in defense against intracellular pathogens
(have 2 types)
what are 2 types of lymphocytes?
B & T cells
what are the 2 types of T cells?
CD4+ T cells = Key regulators of the entire immune system (helper cells as help other immune cells)
CD8+ T cells = Kill virally infected body cells (cytotoxic cells as kill)
what are lymphocytes activated by?
antigens - as they develop they’re tested and if they’re too reactive to self-antigens they’re (usually!) destroyed as they’re supposed to distinguish between self and non-self antigens
what is non specific recognition?
-limited number of PAMPs. which are common to many different pathogens
- only a small number of different PRRs are required to stimulate the innate immune system
(PRRs detect PAMPs)
what is specific recognition?
- millions of different antigens - unique to individual pathogenic species
- individual T & B cells only express 1 specific antigen receptor which binds to only 1 specific antigenic epitope
what is BCR?
B-cell receptor = an antibody
- different antibodies have different variable regions that each bind to 1 specific antigenic epitope as well as conserved constant regions
what is the structure of the BCR?
complex of 4 polypeptide chains (2x light chains and 2x heavy chains)
how many copies (roughly) of 1 specific antibody does each B cell produce?
50 000 copies
what are 2 forms B cell antibodies can be expressed?
- membrane bound
- soluble
what is the only type of antigen T cells can recognise?
peptide antigens (rather than carbohydrate or lipid)
antigen receptor can only bind to really short protein
- also only recognises them when presented on MHC molecules (like platter)
what is the hypervariable region?
region formed by tips of alpha/beta TCR chains that form antigen binding variable region and unique to each T cell
what does MHC stand for? what else can it be referred to as?
Major Histocompatibility Complex
- can also be referred to as HLA (Human Leucocyte Antigens) in humans
what is MHC function?
to display peptide antigens to T cells (can present many different peptides to T cells)
what is class 1 MHC?
present peptides to CD8+ T cells (killer cells) - important for activating CD8+ T cells
= present on all nucleated cells
what is class 2 MHC?
present peptides to CD4+ T cells (helper cells)
=expressed only on professional antigen presenting cells (APC) like dendritic cells & macrophages etc
where do B & T cells encounter antigens?
secondary lymphoid tissue like lymph node
where are T & B cells produced?
in primary lymphoid tissue like bone marrow & spleen
what is route of B&T cells?
Mature, quiescent (inactive), antigen-specific T cells and B cells constantly re-circulate between the different blood, secondary lymphoid tissues and lymphatic vessels
what do stromal cells do?
capture opsonized cells and hold them there for a very long time
-> which means even if a B cell that comes past doesn’t have specific antigen receptor then it doesn’t matter because opsonized cell will be held in place until right one comes along