Antibodies, Complement, and T Cell Pathogen Recognition Flashcards
What are antibodies also known as?
Immunoglobulins, Ig
What kind of molecules are antibodies?
Proteins
What is the molecular weight of antibodies?
150,000-900,000 kd
What are antibodies derived from?
The immunoglobulin supergene
What do the two ends of the Ig do?
- One end binds to antigens
- The other end is crystallisable, and is responsible for effector functions
What is the end of the Ig that binds to antigens called?
The Fab region
The Fragment of the Molecule that is antigen binding
What is the crystallisable end of the antibody called?
Fc
Are Fc domains constant or variable?
Constant
Are Fab regions constant or variable?
Extremely variable between individual Ig’s
What is true of the progeny of a single clone of B cells?
They are identical
What does the basic, monomeric, Ig molecule have?
- Two light chains
- Two heavy chains
What happens to the heavy and light chains in an Ig molecule?
Intrachain S-S links divide H-L chains into domains that are seperately folded
How many H chain domains does an IgG molecule have?
3
CH1, CH2, and CH3
What is found between CH1 and CH2 in an IgG molecule?
Many cystine and proline residues
What is the region containing the residues between CH1 and CH2 in IgG known as?
The hinge region
What does the hinge region do?
Confers flexibility to the Fab arms
Label this diagram of an IgG antibody
How many classes, or isotypes, of antibodies are there?
5
What are the classes of antibodies categoried by?
Differences exisiting in their H-chain constant regions
How many classes of light chains are there?
2
What are classes of light chains?
- Lambda
- Kappa
What does an individual Ig molecule include?
Referring to light chains
Only L chains (both identical) of one class
Though we all possess Ig molecules, which are made of either
What are the classes of Ig?
- IgM
- IgG
- IgA
- IgE
- IgD
What structure is IgM?
Pentameter
What is the H chain of IgM have?
µ
What is the L chain of IgM have?
λ or κ
What are the subclasses of IgM?
None
What are the functions of IgM?
- Agglutination
- Complement activation
- Primary response
What is the site of IgM?
Blood
What is the structure of IgG?
Monomer
What is the H chain of IgG?
γ
What is the L chain of IgG?
λ or κ
What are the subclasses of IgG?
1-4
What are the functions of IgG?
- Opsonisation
- Complement activation
- Neutralisation
- ADCC (NK cells)
- Transplacental
- Secondary response
What is the site of IgG?
- Blood
- Tissues
What is the structure of IgA?
Monomer or dimer
What is the H chain of IgA?
α
What is the L chain of IgA?
γ or κ
What are the subclasses of IgA?
1-2
What are the functions of IgA?
- Secretory
- Neutralisation of microbes and toxins
What is the site of IgA?
- Mucosa
- Blood
- Breast milk
What is the structure of IgE?
Monomer
What is the H chain of IgE?
ε
What is the L chain of IgE?
γ or κ
What are the subclasses of IgE?
None
What are the functions of IgE?
- Mast cell degranulation
- ADCC (Eosinophils)
What is the site of IgE?
- Muscosa
- Tissues
- Parasites
What is the structure of IgD?
Monomer
What is the H chain of IgD?
δ
What is the L chain of IgD?
λ or κ
What are the subclasses of IgD?
None
What is the function of IgD?
B cell antigen receptor
What is the site of IgD?
B cell membrane
Draw a diagram showing an IgG antibody
- Red - disulphide links*
- Green - light chains*
- Blue - heavy chains*
In what form does IgM exist?
Monomeric or pentameric
Draw a diagram showing an IgM antibody
- Red - disulphide links*
- Green - light chains*
- Blue - heavy chains*
In what form does IgA exist?
Monomeric or dimeric
Draw a diagram showing an IgA antibody
- Red - disulphide links*
- Green - light chains*
- Blue - heavy chains*
What is the linkage between monomers in IgM and IgA?
Via a J chain
Where is IgA the principle Ig?
In secretions, e.g. GI, respiratory, and genital-urinary mucus
How does IgA protect the organism?
By gaining attachment to mucous membranes, but is also found in the blood
What happens as the IgA molecule passes into an epithelial cell from the blood stream?
It receives an additional structure termed the secretory component
What does the secretory component of IgA do?
Transports the IgA through the cell, and remains attached to it at the mucosal surface.
In what ways are antibody specificities determined?
- Combinational diversity
- Junctional diversity
- Somatic hypermutation
What happens in each B cell?
With respect to the gene encoding
The genes that encode for antibodies are recombined from several alternative segments, giving millions of possible combinations
What is the ability of B cell genes to encode for antibodies in different combinations called?
Combinatorial diversity
How many possible combinations are there for the variable region of κ light chains?
Include the number of alternative V and J gene segments
- 40 alternative V gene segments*
- 5 alternative J gene segments*
40 x 5 = 200 variations
How many possible combinations are there for the variable region of λ light chains?
Include the number of alternative V and J gene segments
- 29 alternative V gene segments*
- 4 alternate J gene segments*
29 x 4 = 116 variations
How many possible combinations are there for the variable region of heavy chains?
Include the number of alternative V, D and J gene segments
- 51 alternate V gene segments*
- 27 alternate D gene segments*
- 6 alternate J gene segments*
51 x 27 x 6 = 8262 variations
What is the total number of antibody variations?
Since the variable regions of light and heavy chains contribute independantly to specificity;
(200 + 116) x 8,262 = 2.5 x 106
<em>In practice, there are fewer than this, since not all V gene segments are utilised with equal frequency, and not all variable heavy and light regions will pair successfully </em>
How does junctional diversity arise?
In the third hypervariable region, nucleotides are enzymatically inserted, altering the resultant specificity
What is the third hypervariable region?
- V-J for light chains
- D-J for heavy chains