Adaptive Immunity Flashcards
What is adaptive immunity?
Acquired by experience - you trigger it upon exposure
It is specific for an antigen
It takes a number of days to respond to exposure of a pathogen but subsequent responses are greater in amplitude and more rapid: MEMORY
What is the overall process of adaptive immunity?
Establishment of infection, induction of adaptive response, adaptive immune response and immunological memory
How can we understand the importance of adaptive immunity?
Looking at HIV
HIV infects CD4 receptors of T-cells
Once the T-cells deplete below a critical level, this leads to AIDs
Due to the weak immune system, you become susceptible to oppotunistic infections
What is an antigen?
A protein that causes an immune response in the adaptive immune system
T-cell receptor (TCR) and B-cell receptor (BCR) – both specific for only ONE antigenic determinant
What are some properties of B lymphocytes?
Produce antibodies
Humoral immunity
Matures in the bone marrow
Triggered by antigen to differentiate into plasma cells and memory B-cells
Combat bacterial and some viral infections
What are some properties of T lymphocytes?
Cell mediated immunity
Starts in the bone marrow then moves to the thymus gland to mature
Combat viruses, fungi, intracellular bacteria and cancerous cells
What does immunological memory lead to?
More responder cells available
More efficient antigen recognition/activation
Rapid and effective migration to tissues and lymph nodes
Longer lasting
What are the primary and secondary lymphoid tissues?
Primary lymphoid organs:
Bone marrow and Thymus
Secondary lymphoid organs:
Lymph nodes, spleen and mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT)
What are the two stages of differenciation of lymphocytes?
Antigen independent - occurs in the primary lymphoid tissues
Involves the acquisition of an antigen receptor
When T-cells and B-cells leave these tissues they can now respond to antigen
Antigen dependent - occurs in the secondary lymphoid tissues
Corresponds to an antigen-specific response
Describe antigen recognition by T-lymphocytes?
It has a T-cell receptor to recognise the antigen (peptide epitope)
T-cells only recognise epitopes of antigens presented to them by Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules on the surface of other cells
Antigens presented by MHC molecules are recognised by the T-cell receptor (TCR)
What is the issue with the epitope of an antigen?
It is often buried within the antigen, so the antigen mut be broken down into peptide fragments
This allows the epitope to bind to a MHC molcule
The T-cell receptor can then bind to the complex of MHC and the epitope peptide
What type of T-cell needs to be discarded?
T-cells that recognise self-antigen as we want to avoid autoimmunity
Describe antigen-independent differentiation of T-cells?
Progenitor cells from the bone marrow begin to migrate to the thymus in the eight or ninth week of gestation in humans
Thymocytes (developing T-cells in the thymus) proliferate in the outer layer of the cortex and differentiate into distinct sub-populations of mature T-cells in the inner layer of the cortex
Mature T-cells can then migrate to the secondary lymphoid tissues
What is a disorder of T-cells?
DiGeorge syndrome is a developmental defect in which the thymus does not form. Subjects with this disorder have B-cells, but few T-cells
What happens to T-cells after antigen-independent differenciation?
The T-cells need T-cell receptors
T-cells are selected for those that have T-cell receptors (TCRs) that can bind to MHC molecules (positive selection)
T-cells are then eliminated when their TCRs recognise self-antigens (negative selection)
Carried out by dendritic cells
Leads to central tolerance
What happens in the secondary lymph nodes?
Adaptive immunity is initiated
The fluid is drained at an area of infection before being passed around the lymphatic system in order to reach the T-cells
What are the types of adaptive immunity?
Humoral - CD4 helper T-cells and B-cells: Antibodies against extracellular pathogens & their products
Cellular - CD4 helper T-cell and CD8 cytotoxic T-cell: Kill host cells infected with intracellular pathogens
Describe CD4 T-cells?
They are helper cells
CD4 is a membrane glycoprotein and is present in the majority of T-cells
They play a central role in coordination of the immune response
There are 5 different types of CD4 T-cells, that interact with different innate cells
Describe CD8 cytotoxic T-lymphocytes?
They recognise and bind to a virus infected cell
It programs the target for death, inducing DNA fragmentation
It keeps migrating to a new target until it dies via apoptosis
Give an overview of how naive T-cells interact with dendritic cells?
Naïve T-cells are concentrated in the secondary lymphoid tissue
Secondary lymphoid tissues act as a site for antigens (presented by via dendritic cells) to encounter T-cells specific for that antigen
Naïve T-cells that encounter an antigen remain in the lymph tissue and proliferate
How are antigens presented to T-cells?
By an antigen presenting cell (APCs)
Antigenic peptides are displayed by MHC molcecules on the APC
These peptides are recognised by the T-cell receptor (TCR)
What are the two types of dendritic cells? What is their purpose?
Immature:
Found in the tissues and concentrated in the skin and mucosa
Constantly sampling their environment
Capture antigens for presentation to T-cells
Mature:
Present captured antigens on MHC molecules to T-cells in the secondary lymphoid tissues
Only cells that can present antigen to naïve CD4 + and CD8+ T cells
Purpose:
They take antigens from sites of infection to lymph nodes
How do we activated naive T-cells?
Mature Dendritic cells deliver antigenic specific stimulation Antigenic peptides presented on MHC class I and II molecules T-cell receptors bind the peptide/MHC complex
Mature Dendritic cells also deliver co-stimulation
B7 is co-stimulatory molecule expressed on mature, but not immature dendritic cell
B7 on dendritic cell binds to CD28 on naïve T- cells
B7 binding provides a second signal that is required to activate naïve T-cells
What can happen in the absence of co-stimulation?
An antigen in the absence of co-stimulation can result in T-cells becoming anergic (unresponsive) - this stops cells responding to antigens in the absence of an infection
