Block E Lecture 3: Chronic Inflammation and Autoimmunity Flashcards
What happens if the inflammatory response persists even after clearing the antigen?
Chronic inflammation and systemic effects
(Slide 3)
What is chronic inflammation?
A pathological condition (disease or disorder) involving persistent, increased expression of inflammatory cytokines
(Slide 4)
What is an example of chronic inflammation?
Type II diabetes
(Slide 4)
What 4 conditions does Type II diabetes exacerbate (make worse)?
Heart disease
Alzheimer’s
Autoimmunity
Cancer
(Slide 4)
What 2 categories can causes of chronic inflammation be divided into?
Infectious and non-infectious causes
(Slide 4)
What is an infectious cause of chronic inflammation?
Chronic infections - pathogens not being cleared hiding or evading the immune system, continuously triggering inflammation
(Slide 5)
What is an example of a non-infectious cause of chronic inflmmation?
Obesity - visceral fat cells can be stimulated to produce inflammatory cytokines
(Slide 5)
What 4 factors do the consequences of chronic inflammation vary depending on?
Tissue of origin
Sex
Age
Health status
(Slide 6)
What 3 cytokines show increased levels in chronic inflammation?
IL-1, IL-6and TNF-α
(Slide 6)
What can inflammatory cytokines IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α contribute to?
Insulin resistance (Causing Type II diabetes)
(Slide 6)
What 4 things can inflammatory cytokines IL-1, IL-4 and TNF-α induce in chronic inflammation?
Scar tissue
Organ dysfunction
Cell proliferation
Angiogenesis (the formation of new blood cells)
(Slide 6)
What is self-tolerance?
The process of defining ourselves from foreign cells / antigens / allergens
(Slide 8)
What antigens other than self are tolerated by the body?
Benign and beneficial ones
(Slide 8)
What does the immune system do on top of ignoring self-antigens?
Recognises and protects self-components and beneficial commensals (microbes)
(Slide 9)
What were T-regulatory cells (Tregs) formally known as?
Suppressor T-cells - useful to know for old papers
(Slide 9)
Where does central tolerance occur?
Primary lymphoid organs - Thymus for T-cells, bone marrow for B-cells
(Slide 10)
Where are Tregs formed?
The thymus
(Slide 11)
Do surviving T cells from central tolerance recognise self-antigens?
No
(Slide 11)
Do surviving regulatory T cells (Tregs) from central tolerance recognise self-antigens?
Yes
(Slide 11)
What is positive selection of T cells?
T-cells undergo selection in the thymus to ensure they can recognise and respond to antigens presented by MHC receptors. T cells that cannot interact with self-MHC molecules undergo apoptosis and those that interact successfully receive signals for survival
(Slide 11)
What is negative selection of T cells?
The elimination or inactivation of T cells that strongly recognise MHC receptors, preventing autoimmunity from self-reactive T cells
(Slide 12)
What is clonal selection?
The activation and differentiation of effector lymphocytes that recognise the foreign antigen
(Slide 12)
What 3 expression are Tregs identified by?
FOXP3, CTLA-4 and CD25
(Slide 13)
What do Tregs do?
Suppress or “regulate” autoimmune responses to self-antigens in the periphery
(Slide 13)
Are the majority of Tregs CD8+ or CD4+?
CD4+
(Slide 13)
What is one way used by Treg cells to inhibit APCs?
Their CTLA-4 physically interacts with CD80/CD86 (B7-1/B7-2), preventing the interaction between these co-stimulatory molecules and CD28 on conventional T cells. This inhibits the activation of effector T cells
(Slide 14)
How can activation of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) by Treg cells create an immune-inhibitory environment?
As they convert tryptophan to kynurenine
(Slide 14)
What does IL-2 do?
It stimulates proliferation and growth of helper and cytotoxic T cells
(Slide 14)
How do Tregs absorb local IL-2?
Via CD25
(Slide 14)