hCMB2004 Flashcards
what are the sources of infection
- pathogens - organisms that cause disease
- bacteria
- viruses
- fungi
- parasites e.g. worms and protozoa
what are the characteristics of an effective immune system
- be able to recognise and respond to any invading organism
- not over react to benign or self
- be able to direct different effector mechanisms against different pathogens
what is specific/adaptive immunity
- is induced by exposure to a particular infection
- shows a high degree of specificity
- exhibits memory
what are the features of specific immunity
- mediated by lymphocytes (B/T cells)
- clonal distributed receptors
- large repertoire:low frequency of cells specific for antigen
- response takes time to develop
- memory cells produced
what is the clonal selection theory
- removal of potentially reactive immature lymphocytes by clonal deletions
- pool of mature naive lymphocytes
- proliferation and differentiation of activated specific lymphocytes to form a clone of effector cells
what are the different types of lymphocyte receptors for antigen
- BCR expressed by B lymphocytes
- TCR expressed by T lymphocytes
what are BCRs
- membrane form of Ig binds free antigen
- is subsequently secreted when B cell is activated now known as antibody
what are TCRs
- membrane form only
- recognises peptide fragments of antigen bound to MHC expressed by APC
what is the function of antibodies
- importance shown in cases where absent
- infection with encapsulated bacteria
- activation of complement
- activation of effect cells
consequences of activation of complement
- opsonisation
- classical pathway activation and MAC
consequences of activation of effector cells
- cells that express FcR (receptor that binds Fc region of antibody)
what is the structure of antibodies
- paired variable regions (from heavy and light chains) from 2 identical antigen- binding sites
- constant regions are responsible for antibody structure and interacting with other molecules and cells of innate system –> antibody effector functions
basic structure of antibodies
- immunologlobin
- basic 4-chain structure
- 2 identical heavy and light chains, held together by covalent/non-covalent bonds
- 2 types of L chain (gamma and kappa)
what makes up antigen binding sites
- Vh
Vl
what are the 5 classes of antibodies
- IgM
- D
- A
- G
- E
what makes up the different isotopes
- different isotopes are determined by the heavy chain
- isotopes differ in their structure and functions
what are antibody domains
- analysis of amino acid sequences of H and L chains reveals homology regions
- L chain - 2 domains
- H chain - 4 or 5 domains
- each domain comprises two beta sheets
- linked by a disulphide bridge
what’s included in the immunoglobulin superfamily
- TCR
- MHC class I and II
- CD4, CD8, CD80, CD96, CTLA-4, KIR, IL-6R
how to antigens interact with antibodies
- hypervariable regions (3 in Vh and Vl
- HV1-3
- 6 hypervariable loops - antigen binding site
- complementary-determining regions
- antigen binds to aa in CDRs
- size/shape of antigen affects binding
how are antigens recognised
- epitopes recognised by antibodies may be continuous or conformations
- antibody and antigen form non-covalent interactions
- CDRs present in antibody V regions determine the specificity and the affinity of an antibody for antigen
what are the functions of TCR
- doesn’t bind free antigen
- binds/recognises processed antigen
- presented in the cleft/binding groove of MHC class I or class II molecules
what are MHCs
- major histocompatibility complex
- different expression patterns
- present peptides for different sources
- first identified fur to role in transplant rejection
what are MHC class i
- expressed on all nucleated cells
- heterodimer - alpha and beta2 chains
what are the 3 different MHC class I molecules
- HLA-A
- HLA-B
- HLA-C
what forms the peptide binding site in MHC class i
- the alpha 1 and alpha 2 domains forms to form beta-sheets structure
key points of MHC class II
- expression limited to APC
- heterodimers, alpha and beta chains similar size and both transmembrane
what are the 3 different types of MHC class ii
- HLA-DP
- HLA-DQ
- HLA-DR
what forms peptide binding sites in MHC class II
- polymorphic alpha 1 and beta 1 domains
what makes up H chains in TCR beta
- V region encoded by 3 gene segments
- V,D J (V is the biggest)
what makes up L chain in TCR alpha
- V regions encoded by 2 gene segments - V and J
what causes the rearrangement of Ig genes
- in B cells the DNA containing the Ig gene segments is deliberately broken and the gene segments are rearranged to form function Ig genes
- non-homologous end joining recombination
- each individual B cell will perform both the breakage and rearrangement randomly
how are functional immunoglobulin genes produced
- after DNA breaks, a single V and a single J gene segment are joined together to encode the v region of the light chain
- this process is random
- a random V, D and a J gene segment are joined together in single B cell to encode the V region of the heavy chains
what is the specific order of Ig rearrangement in B cell development
- H chain gene segments rearrange (D-J then V-DJ)
greater variability of H chains - then the light chain gene segments rearrange (kappa first)
- if kappa rearrangement is unsuccessful, then gamma gene segments rearrange
which chromosome are the different loci present
- H chain locus - chromosome 14
- kappa chain locus - chromosome 2
- lambda chain locus - chromosome 22
what are the stages in the recombination process
- Ig gene segment rearrangement is guided by special sequences flanking each of the V,D and J gene segments = recombination signal sequences
- rearrangement involves a complex of enzymes - V(D)J recombinase
- recombination activating gene
what are recombination activating genes
- RAG1 and RAG2 genes encode lymphoid specific components of the recombinase
- mutations in RAG genes results in immunodeficiency
what is allelic exclusion
- in each individual B cell, only one rearranged H chain gene from one chromosome is expressed
- only one rearranged L chain from one chromosome is expressed by each individual B cells
- light chain isotope exclusion
- these mechanisms ensure that each individual B cell produces just one randomly generated BCR that is different from the BCR made but every B cell
what is light chain isotope exclusion
- each B cell expresses either a rearranged kappa an lambda
- light chain; never both
what is combinatorial diversity
- different V,D, J segments recombine to produce different seuqneces
what are the mechanisms for generation of antibody diversity
- there are multiple gene segments for each chain
- combinatorial diversity
- combinations of heavy and light chains
- junctional diversity increases further
- somatic hypermutations
how is junctional diversity increased further
- imprecise joining (small differences in sequences where V-D and D-J segments join)
- N regions (random addition of nucleotides at junctions of V-D and D-J by terminal transferase
what are somatic hypermutations
- mutation frequency in antibody V genes is orders of magnitude higher than seen in all other areas of the genome
- SHM occurs in germinal centres as B cells recognises antigen and proliferate
how do SHM occur
- performed by the enzymes, activation-induced deaminase
- AID acts on DNA to de-aminate cytosine to uracil
- uracil is then recognised by error prone DNA repair pathways leading to mutations
membrane vs secreted antibody
- following Ag recognition as each B cell differentiates, it will start to secrete its unique BCR as an antibodd
- the secreted form made by each B cell has an alternative constant region that lacks transmembrane regions. as the original re-arranged VDJ regions are not altered, the secreted antibody has the same antigen specificity as the membrane BCR
- the membrane and secreted forms are produced by alternative RNA processing
what is class switching
- at the heavy chain locus, the Cmuw segment is physically closest to the V, D and J gene segments and so IgM is the first class expressed by each developing b cell
- Cdelrta is next to Cmuw - hence IgD can be co-expressed with IgM by differential processing of the RNA from the two C region genes
what is required for switching to other classes
- requires further DNA recombination - guided by switch regions
- this process also involves the enzyme AID pathogen –> cytokine –> switch
why does class switching occur
- as a result of the cytokine that may be present in this environment
where are T cells developed
- thymus
TCR VS BCR
- TCR is never secreted
- no SHM occurs in TCR genes
- TCR generation is very similar to the DNA rearrangement process seen in BCR generation
where are MHC class I expressed
- all nucleated cells
where are MHC class ii expressed
- on particular cell types e.g. B cells, macrophages, dendritic cells (antigen presenting cells)
how are MHC molecules polymorphic
- many alleles
- a single individual will have up to 12 different MHC molecules (if there are heterozygous for all 6 MHC loci
what is co-dominant expression of MHC molecules
- 3 MHC class I molecules
- of heterozygous at each loci, one person can express six different class I molecules
similarly for class II - polymorphism and polygeny
what is the importance of high levels of MHC polymorphism
- allows the binding of a vast range of peptides that can be presented to T cells, provides a clear evolutionary advantage to the population as can respond to almost unlimited number of different pathogens
what are the downsides of high polymorphic MHC
- increases risk of immune mediated disease e.g. autoimmune diseases
- also reduced pool of available donor organs for transplantation - as MHC alleles should match for best outcome
how do peptides end up on the surface of cells bound to MHC molecules
- peptides derived from protein antigens synthesised inside a cell are usually presented by class I MHC molecules
- peptides derived from protein antigen taken up from the outside of the cell are usually presented by class II MHC molecules
how are antigens presented by MHC class I molecules
- intracellular antigen
- antigen processing to peptide in proteasome
- peptide transport into endoplasmic reticulum
peptide binding by MHC class I - MHC class I present peptide at cell surface
how are antigens processed by MHC class I
- antigen synthesised in cytoplasm
- protein cleaved to peptides by proteasome
- peptides transported to endoplasmic reticulum by TAP transporters
what are proteasome
- proteasome functions in all cells - cytoplasmic protein turnover
- proteasome in cells receiving inflammatory cytokines signals are modified to produce altered peptides
- TAP is a component of a multi-protein assembly, the peptide loading complex - also induces tapas in and calreticulin
function of proteasome
- cytosolic proteins are degraded to peptide fragments by the proteasome a large multicatalytic proteases
how are antigens processed by MHC class II molecules
- antigen endocytosed into intracellular vesicles inside the cell
- protein cleaved to peptides by acid proteases in vesicles
- vesicles fuse with vesicles containing MHC class II molecules
- peptides bind MHC class II molecules
- MHC II then transported inside vesicles to cell surface
how is CLIP created
- invariant chain forms a complex with MHC class II molecules, blocking the binding of peptides and misfiled proteins
- II is cleaved in an acidified endoscope, leaving a short peptide fragment, CLIP, still bound to MHC class II
- endocytosed antigens are degraded to peptides in endoscopes, but the CLIP peptide blocks the binding of peptides to MHC class II molecules
- HLA-DM binds to the MHC class II molecules, releasing CLIP and allowing other peptides to bind. the MHC class II molecule then travels to the cell surface
what happens to CLIP at the cell surface
- MHC class II molecules bind to invariant chain in the ER
- this prevents peptides binding in the groove
- in endocytic pathway lysosomal enzymes degrade this leaving CLIP peptide associated with binding groove
- peptides from antigen displace CLIP when they bind
- HLA-DM a class II like molecule, is required for loading of peptides into the groove
what happens to MHC class I and II in normal healthy cells
- MHC I and II will bind and present peptides from self protein
what accessory molecules are involved in antigen processing and presentation
- TAP and LMP ( class I pathway)
- HLA-DM (class II pathway)
what are antigen presenting cells
- specialised cell types that express MHC class II molecules
- take up and present extracellular Ag to activate helper CD4+ T cells
- e.g. macrophages, dendritic cells, B cells
what happens to viruses in MHC class I
- as all nucleated cells express MHC class I molecules, any cell infected by a virus can present viral peptides on MHC class I molecules and be recognised and killed by cytotoxic CD8+ T cells
how are B cells developed
- develop from haematopoietic stem cells in bone marrow that express PAX5 transcription factor
- involves rearrangement and expression og ig genes
- expression of lymphocyte, and the B cell specific markers e.g. CD45 then CD19
- removal of self-reactive cells
how doB cell precurors rearrange its immunoglobulin genes
- generation of B cell receptors in the bone marrow
- adhesion molecules, close relationship between storm cells, negative selection of those that are auto reactive
how are immature B cells produced
- H chain genes rearrange first moves to cell surface with Igalpha and Igbeta and expressed with surrogate light chain
- then light chains rearrange, and displace V preB and lambda5 chains –> IgM BCR
- immature B cells
how are pre B cell receptors formed
- early pro B cell - Vh to DJh rearrangements occur
- large pre B cell - stop heavy chain gene rearrangement
- immature B cells - stop light chain gene rearrangement
- mature B cells
how are Ig genes rearranged during B cell development
- stem cell
- early pro B cell
- late pro B cell
- large pre B cell
- small pre b cell
- immature B cell
- mature B cells
what is the function of pre-BCR
- delivers signal to pre B cell that H chain looks functional
how is a signal from pre-BCR produced
- turns off RAG 1 RAG2 genes
- cell division
- surrogate light chain expression stops
- RAG1 and RAG2 turned on again
- L chain rearrangement starts
- RAG genes needed for gene rearrangement
what rearrangement happens in early pro B cells
- H chain gene rearrangement
- D-J rearrangements on both chromosomes
what rearrangements happen on late pro B cell
- H chain gene rearrangement
- V-DJ rearrangement on first chromosome
- V-DJ rearranagement on second chromosome
- cell loss
what rearrangements happen in immature B cells
- rearranagement ceases
- cell expresses muw:kappa
- cell expresses muw:lambda
which type of light chain will B cells express more of
- as kappa light chain genes rearrange before lambda genes, more B cells will express kappa and lambda light chains
how are repeated rearrangements possible at the light chain loci
- importance of signalling of pre B cell BTK involved, if not present GT no mature B cells being produced
how are immature B cells tolerant
- bind multivalent self antigen undergo clonal deletion or receptor editing
- bind soluble self-antigen –> cell becomes unresponsive
- binding of self-antigen by immature B cells leads to death or inactivation
how are T cells developed
- originate from bone marrow stem cells
- rearrange receptor genes (once in thymus)
- express pre T receptor
- elimination of self-reactive T cells by negative selection
how are alpha/beta T cells developed
- in the thymocytes:
- rearrange TCR genes and express TCR
- acquire other markers e.g CD3, CD4, CD8
- undergo positive and negative selection