Chapter 1 Vocab

Question 1

Immune system

Answer 1

The immune system is a complex network of organs, cells and proteins that defends the body against infection, whilst protecting the body’s own cells.

Question 2

Vaccination

Answer 2

treatment with a vaccine to produce immunity to a particular infectious disease or pathogen.

Question 3

Pathogen

Answer 3

Pathogens are microorganisms that cause disease. They can be known infectious agents or ones that normally colonize the body.

Question 4

Opportunistic pathogen

Answer 4

Opportunistic pathogens are microbial species that do not normally cause disease, but if they infect an immunocompromised person or infect the wrong tissue, they cause disease.

Question 5

Commensal species

Answer 5

Species of microorganisms that are benign and beneficial to humans. Humans and commensal species have co-evolved to take advantage of beneficial relationships.

They aid in human nutrition by helping with digestion and making vitamins.

They also block colonization by pathogenic organisms.

Question 6

Emerging pathogen

Answer 6

Pathogens that infect hosts organisms outside their normal host range which often leads to a high mortality rate.

Question 7

Barrier defenses

Answer 7

Non-specific defenses such as skin and epithelial cells that prevent access to internal tissues.

Question 8

Mucosal surfaces

Answer 8

Mucosal surfaces are those that produce mucus and are in the linings of the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and urogenital tracts.

Question 9

Innate immunity

Answer 9

The immunity you are born with and that is common across organisms. It is non-specific and acts in minutes to hours. While it cannot recognize particular pathogens by species, it can recognize the type (ex. bacteria)

Question 10

Inflammation

Answer 10

a localized physical condition in which part of the body becomes reddened, swollen, hot, and often painful, especially as a reaction to injury or infection.

Question 11

Adaptive immunity

Answer 11

The subsystem of the immune system that is slower acting (days to weeks) but pathogen specific (recognizes species).

Question 12

Immunological memory

Answer 12

After the resolution of an infection, some cells such as lymphocytes can become “memory cells” that can be rapidly activated in response to subsequent infection by the same pathogen.

Question 13

Primary response

Answer 13

The primary response from an initial infection. It takes 1-2 weeks to occur and is responsible for the formation of memory immune cells.

Question 14

Secondary response

Answer 14

A response by the immune system to a subsequent infection from a pathogen that the host has already encountered. It is faster due to the presence of memory cells.

Question 15

Hematopoiesis

Answer 15

Hematopoiesis is the process by which cells of the innate and adaptive immune system are produced in the bone marrow.

Question 16

Hematopoietic stem cell

Answer 16

They are cells that give rise to all of the different types of immune cells.

Question 17

Myeloid cell

Answer 17

Myeloid cells are those that make up the innate immune response.

ex. neutrophils, macrophages, dendritic cells, mast cells

Question 18

Granulocyte

Answer 18

rapidly mobilized white blood cells that home in to the site of infection. They are short lived and die at the infection site to form pus.

ex. eosinophils, neutrophils, basophils

Question 19

Macrophage

Answer 19

Macrophages engulf and degrade neutrophils after they die. They also phagocytize microbes and activate T cells.

Question 20

Megakaryocyte

Answer 20

Megakaryocytes work in platelet formation and wound repair.

Question 21

Erythrocyte

Answer 21

Erythrocytes are red blood cells, they transport oxygen.

Question 22

Dendritic cells

Answer 22

Dendritic cells are derived from myeloid and lymphoid progenitors. They work in both innate and adaptive responses. Their main function is to activate adaptive immune response and respond to PAMPS. They also activate T cells.

Question 23

Lymphoid cell

Answer 23

Cells that generate the adaptive immune response.

ex. B cells, T cells, NK cells

Question 24

B cells

Answer 24

B cells create antibodies to attack pathogens

Question 25

T cells

Answer 25

T cells destroy bodily cells that have been taken over by pathogens or help activate B cells.

Question 26

NK cells

Answer 26

NK cells kill cells infected with pathogens.

Question 27

Primary lymphoid organ

Answer 27

Primary lymphoid organs are the regions that create lymphocytes.

They include the bone marrow (makes B cells) and thymus (makes T cells).

Question 28

Secondary lymphoid organ

Answer 28

The secondary lymphoid organs are the sites of immune response.

They include the lymphatic system, spleen, and lymph nodes.

Question 29

Lymphatic vessels

Answer 29

Lymphatic vessels are tube-like structures that carry fluid (called lymph) away from the tissues to deliver it back into the blood’s circulation. Unlike blood vessels that circulate blood in a continuous, closed-loop system, lymphatics carry fluid in one direction.

Question 30

Lymph node

Answer 30

Lymph nodes are specialized organs where adaptive immune responses are initiated. Draining lymph nodes are those closest to an arriving infectious pathogen.

Question 31

GALT, MALT, BALT

Answer 31

GALT: gut associated lymphoid tissues (tonsils, adenoids, appendix, and Peyer’s patches)

BALT: bronchial associated lymphoid tissue

MALT: mucosal associated lymphoid tissue

Question 32

Spleen

Answer 32

A secondary lymphoid organ that filters blood and acts in response to infections of the blood.