Cell types, repair and inflammation Flashcards
What are ubiquitous long-lived cells that produce the interstitial ground substance (extracellular matrix) of supporting tissue throughout the body?
fibroblasts
What is the main fiber of extracellular matrix (comprising an estimated 25% of the total protein in the body)?
collagen
What are the key cellular players in the process of tissue repair?
Fibroblasts
In addition to creating extracellular matrix, fibroblasts can differentiate into what?
specialized connective tissue cells (osteocytes, chondrocytes, adipocytes), but not epithelial cells
Describe how fibroblasts produce scar tissue (how is it made/functional capacity)
- The fibrous tissue they produce to replace dead tissue is a scar.
- Scar tissue is generally strong and good at holding things together
- scars lack the specialized functional capacity of the tissue that it replaces.
- Scars are generally smaller than the tissue they replace
T/F Wounds contract during the process of healing.
true
What are the effector cells of wound contraction?
Myofibroblasts
T/F Scars lack the specialized function of tissues they replace and are smaller than the tissues they replace.
true
in a site of repair, what are large, metabolically active cells?
active fibroblasts
What are the general shapes of fibroblasts?
- generally spindle shaped,
- elongated, with tapering ends,
- usually sharply pointed,
- sometimes bifurcated,
- sometimes resembling a swallow tail
- can be stellate (star shaped)
Describe the nuclei and cytoplasm characteristics of fibroblasts
nuclei are large, with prominent nucleoli.
cytoplasm tends to be basophilic because it has lots of RNA
Fibroblasts are recruited to and activated at sites of repair by what hormones? What secretes them?
- transforming growth factor-beta (better known as TGF-beta),
- fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2)
- platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)
secreted by inflammatory cells, especially macrophages.
What are inactive fibroblasts? Why are they important?
fibrocytes
retired fibroblasts are stable cells
always in reserve and capable to be called up to serve in active duty of repair
What are polymorphonuclear leukocytes (“polys”, “PMNs”, “segs”) are first responder phagocytes?
neutrophils
What are the predominant type of white blood cells in the innate immune system response to infection?
neutrophils
What are the predominant white blood cell type in acute inflammation?
neutrophils
Acute inflammation is essentially neutrophilic inflammation
In addition to responding to infection, polymorphonuclear leukocytes respond to what?
Partly because they respond to necrosis, neutrophils can be part of what?
chronic inflammation
T/F neutrophils have acute-on-chronic inflammation or chronic suppurative (pus-producing) inflammation.
How long do neutrophils live at the site of inflammation?
What are the majority of leukocytes measured in the blood?
1-2 days
neutrophils
Corticosteroids cause what wrt to neutrophils?
- demargination of neutrophils
- increase the number of neutrophils measured [up to double]
(make you think a patient has infection if you don’t know they are on steroids).
Increased number of (segmented) neutrophils in the blood is called what?
a neutrophilia
T/F neutrophils are granulocytes
How can you tell the difference between neutrophils and other granulocytes?
Neutrophils have neutral granules (neither red nor blue), hence the name.
other granules that are red or blue in routinely stained tissue sections or peripheral blood smears
What are moderate sized cells with a moderate amount of cytoplasm?
neutrophils
Describe the shape/size of neutrophils
moderate sized cells with a moderate amount of cytoplasm.
variably shaped nuclei, segmented into 2 to 5 lobes connected by thin filaments
Neutrophils with nuclei segmented into 6 or more lobes are hypersegmented.
Hypersegmented neutrophils are associated with what?
megaloblastic anemia due to vitamin B12 or folate deficiency
What are immature (adolescent) neutrophils, normally <5% of blood leukocytes?
Bands
Bands are a much higher percentage of the neutrophilic granulocytes where?
in the bone marrow
T/F Bands are not quite fully mature, but they are capable of phagocytosis.
true
When can bands be counted?
When the absolute neutrophil count of infection-fighting cells in the bloodstream is calculated
When a person has a severe infection, the bone marrow releases what into the blood? What is this referred to?
bands into the blood in increasing numbers
bandemia
Really severe infection can cause the bone marrow to release even less mature cells than bands, even though they are ineffective phagocytes. What is this referred to?
increased numbers of immature leukocytes in the blood is referred to as a left shift
T/F Corticosteroids cause left shift or bandemia
False, they do not cause a left shift or bandemia
An abnormally increased percent of neutrophils can be indicative of infection, even when the total number of leukocytes is normal. What is this called?
left shift
neutrophilia w/o leukocytosis
The earliest bone marrow precursor cells of granulocytes in general and neutrophils in particular have what type of nuclei?
How does this change during maturity?
round-oval nuclei
the nuclei of these precursor cells become flattened on one side and have an indentation
Describe how bands are formed
- As they mature, nuclei of these precursor cells become flattened on one side.
- flattening becomes an indentation.
- indentation becomes deeper and deeper until the portions of the nucleus on either side of it are partially segmented.
- it is a band (imagine the indentation having become a full circumference constricting band, hence the name).
Bands are approximately the same size as fully mature segmented neutrophils. Why is this a problem?
automated (machine-generated) counts of the types of leukocytes in a blood sample are based on the sizes of the cells
only way to know the proportion of bands is a labor-intensive counting by a trained human with a microscope (a “manual differential” white blood cell count