Humoral immunity and the generation of antibody diversity Flashcards
What are the characteristics of an adaptive immune response?
triggered by exposure to microbes lag time (exposure to response) combat pathogen memory fast at eliminating better with repeated exposure
What is the structure of an antibody?
tetrameric protein (made of immunoglobin proteins)
How many chains do the antibodies have?
2 light and 2 heavy
light can either be Lambda or Kappa
What are the chains held together by?
disulphide bonds= non covalent
What region does EACH chain have?
variable and constant
What happens in the variable region?
amino acid sequence varies from one antibody to another
this variable region binds antigen
this is called the Fab region
What happens in the constant region?
responsible for effector functions such as activating complements and binding to phagocytes
phagocytes have Fc receptors which allow them to recognize organisms that have been opsonized by immunoglobulins
What receptors do phagocytes have?
Fc= bind to the constant region of the antibody
The variable region has 3 complementary determining regions. What are they?
CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3, of which CDR3 is the most variable of these regions
in the 3D structure of the antibody, these CDR regions are adjacent to each other where they will bind the antigens
the rest of the variable region is just a framework which allows the CDRs to face the antigen
How many specificities of antibodies does a human have?
Abs are very diverse (humans have q>107 specificities)
There are 5 types of heavy chains - what are they?
5 types of heavy chains: mu, gamma, alpha, delta, ellipsion (lol i think?)
What are antibody classes?
IgG (), IgM (), IgA (), IgD (), IgE ()
What are subclasses of antibodies?
IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4; IgA1; IgA2
How much does a light chain weigh?
light chains = 24kDa
How much oes a heavy chain weigh?
heavy chains = 50-70kDa
Does the body design a specific antibody to bind to a specific antigen?
no it cant
Why does the body not produce speicific antibody to specific antigen? What does it do instead?
body generates over a 100,000,000 different B cells each making a random Ig
these naïve B cells sit in the lymph nodes doing not very much
during an infection, a small number of B cells by chance will happen to have an Ig that can bind to the foreign antigen
these B cells are activated and begin to multiple, this is called clonal selection
What does clonal selection require?
requires direct involvement of CD4+ T helper cells which release cytokines to activate the cell
How are so many different Ig genes generated?
in fact no complete Ig gene is inherited
only bits of genes are inherited= CALLED gene segments
By arranging these gene segments in different combinations, many different Ig sequences can be generated
What kind of DNA does the germline Kappa chain have?
one constant region C
5 short segments called the joining segments J
35 segments called variable region segments V
C region and J region are close
V is far from C and J
Where are the endonuclease enzymes located?
in front of V
behind J
What does RAG recombinase do?
V segment and one J segment are brought together via their recognition sequences
RAG recombinase identifies their recognition sequences and cuts and removes the DNA in between these two areas
After RAG recombinase has worked, there are 2 segments left that join together. What bond joins them?
hairpin= weak bond
What does exonuclease enzyme do?
this hair pin, and in doing so will mess around (add P nucleotides) with the two ends of the segments
What does terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) enzyme do?
randomly adds a few nucleotides to the free ends before they are ligated together
How does TdT work?
it is worth noting that this is not done via a template, but is done entirely by adding random nucleotides at the end-these added nucleotides are called N nucleotides
What are the uses of Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)?
generates immunoglobulins
makes T cell receptor in the body
marker for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
useful enzyme in genetic engineering and recombinant DNA work
In a kappa light chain, what is the constant region coded for by?
by the C segment of the kappa light chain gene
What is the variable region in a kappa chain coded for by?
V segment of the kappa light chain gene
What is CD3 coded by?
CDR3 which is the most variable region ofthe light chain is coded for by the junction between the V and the J segments
What is the heavy chain made up of?
1 constant C segment
45 variable V segments
6 joining J segments
20 diversity D segments
J and C close
lot of DNA between J and D