Chapter 1. Basic Concepts in Immunology

Question 1

Do all leukocytes originate in the bone marrow?

Answer 1

No. Some originate from the fetal liver or yolk salk, e.g. brain microglia

Question 2

Which cells do all blood cells derive from, what are they also known as and why?

Answer 2

Hematopoietic stem cells, also known as pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells, because they give rise to all blood cell types

Question 3

What are the main early discoveries in immunology?

Answer 3

• Ancient Greece - the notion of immunity
• 1400 - variolation practiced in Middle East and China
• 1796 - Jenner’s vaccination demonstrates effect upon the exposure to the pathogen
• End of 19th century - Koch attributed diseases to specific microorganisms
• 1880 - Louis Pasteur invented chicken cholera vaccine and rabies vaccine
• Early 1890s - Emil von Behring and Shibasaburo Kitasato discovered immunized serum properties
• 1899 - Jule Border discovered complement
• Elie Mechnikov discovered macrophages
• Paul Erlich developed antiserum therapy for diphtheria and tetanus. Both shared Noble Prize in 1908
• 1979 WHO declared the eradication of smallpox

Question 4

What is another name for granulocytes?

Answer 4

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes

Question 5

When do dendritic cells mature?

Answer 5

After encountering a pathogen

Question 6

What sets B- and T-lymphocytes apart from other lymphocytes?

Answer 6

Antigen-specific receptors

Question 7

What are the three strategies to deal with pathogens?

Answer 7

Avoidance, resistance, tolerance

Question 8

Name some intracellular bacteria

Answer 8

Rickettsia, Listeria

Question 9

Draw the scheme of HSC derivatives

Answer 9

-

Question 10

How can helminths damage tissues?

Answer 10

By creating cysts which induce damaging cells response

Question 11

What immune system effector mechanisms are also known as?

Answer 11

Mediators

Question 12

Where does complement operate?

Answer 12

Blood and interstitial tissues

Question 13

Name inflammatory inducers

Answer 13

ATP, urate crystals, lipopolysaccharides, viral proteins

Question 14

Name sensory cells that detect inflammatory inducers and explain, how they detect them

Answer 14

Macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells. Via innate receptors.

Question 15

What are the mediators produced by macrophages in response to inflammatory inducers and what is their purpose?

Answer 15

Reactive oxygen species; killing bacteria.

Question 16

What are the mediators produced by dendritic cells in response to inflammatory inducers and what is their purpose?

Answer 16

Cytokines, they induce the production of antimicrobial proteins in epithelial cells and further propagation of the signal by ILCs

Question 17

Which cells can present antigens to T-lymphocytes?

Answer 17

Dendritic cells and macrophages

Question 18

Which cells destroy pathogens in their intracellular vesicles?

Answer 18

Macrophages and neutrophils

Question 19

Which of these are long-lived or short-lived (macrophages, granulocytes)?

Answer 19

Macrophages are long-lived, granulocytes are short-lived

Question 20

What is contained in the granules of eosinophils, basophils and mast cells?

Answer 20

Eosinophils and basophils: enzymes, toxic proteins;

Mast cells: proteases, histamine

Question 21

Which cells participate in allergic reactions?

Answer 21

Eosinophils, basophils and mast cells

Question 22

Which cells perform extensive macropinocytosis?

Answer 22

Dendritic cells

Question 23

What do pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) recognize?

Answer 23

Pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs)

Question 24

What is the difference between cytokines and chemokines?

Answer 24

Chemokines function as chemoattractans

Question 25

What are the functions of chemokines?

Answer 25

Attracting phagocytes to sites of infection, organising cells in lymphoid tissues into discrete regions

Question 26

What are the 4 features of inflammation?

Answer 26

Heat, pain, redness and swelling