Immune 1 Flashcards
What is immunity?
protection against infections
What is the immune system?
collection of cells and molecules that are responsible for defending the body against pathogens
What is a pathogen?
organism that causes disease
What is the goal of the immune system?
- Prevent foreign substances from entering the body
- Establish immunocompetence: ability of the body to produce a robust immune response following exposure to disease-producing agents
What are the characteristics of innate immunity?
- Mediates initial protection against infections
- Nonspecific defense
- Rapidly eliminate microbes that enter host tissues
- Eliminate damaged and necrotic cells
What are the different types of nonspecific defenses for the innate immunity?
- Physical barriers: skin, mucus membrane, nasal hairs, respiratory tract cilia
- Chemical barriers: skin pH, mucous secretions, gastric acids, tears, sweat, saliva
- Effector cells: macrophages, neutrophils, NK cells
What are the main cells of the innate immune system?
macrophages, neutrophils, NK cells, dendritic cells
What are the main ways that the epithelium acts as part of innate immunity?
- physical barrier to infection
- killing of microbes by locally produced antibiotics
- killing of microbes and infected cells by intraepithelial lymphocytes
What are pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPS)?
Recognize general microbial pattens through pattern recognition receptors
What part of the immune system has PAMPS and DAMPS?
innate
What are damage associated molecular patters (DAMPS)?
Recognize molecules released from damaged or necrotic host cells
What is the first cell type to respond to most infections (bacterial and fungal)?
neutrophils
What type of cell usually activates neutrophils?
macrophage
What are the features of neutrophils?
- Short-lived
- Ingest and degrade dead cells, debris, tumor cells, pathogens, foreign material through phagocytosis
Neutrophil
What are the features of dendritic cells?
- Thin, membranous cytoplasmic processes
- Present antigens to T cells
- Abundant near epithelium, mucus membranes
- Help shape adaptive immune response
What is the job of a dendritic cell?
- Present antigens to T cells
dendritic cells
What are the features of a macrophage?
- Survive in extravascular tissue for long periods
- Ingest and degrade dead cells, debris, tumor cells, pathogens, foreign material through phagocytosis
- May present antigens to T cells
- Release cytokines to activate other immune cells
What is the lifespan of a macrophage?
- Survive in extravascular tissue for long periods
(months or years)
What is the lifespan of a neutrophil?
short-lived
What are the types of professional antigen presenting cells?
- dendritic cells
- macrophages
- B cells
What are the features of the natural killers cells?
- Capable of rapidly attacking and killing infected cells
- Induce cell apoptosis
- Release cytokines to activate other immune cells
How can a natural killer do its job?
- directly kill an infected cell (especially virus)
- stimulate a macrophage with phagocytosed microbes to kill itself
What is the complement system?
Collection of circulating and membrane-associated proteins important in the defense against microbes
What is the classical pathway?
activated by antibodies that bind to microbes or other antigens → component of adaptive immunity (humoral)
What is the alternate pathway?
activated when complement proteins are activated on microbial surfaces → component of innate immunity
What is the lectin pathway?
activated by mannose binding lectin binds to surface glycoproteins on microbes → component of innate immunity
What is the lectin pathway activated by?
mannose binding lectin binding to surface glycoproteins on microbes
What is the alternate pathway activated by?
complement proteins are activated on microbial surfaces
What is the classical pathway activated by?
antibodies that bind to microbes or other antigens
What two complement pathways are innate immunity?
alternate pathway
lectin pathway