immune system Flashcards
what is a vaccination?
a medical procedure that involves administering a weakened or dead form of a pathogen in a person, to trigger the production of antibodies
how do vaccines work?
dead/weakened viral preparations have antigens to stimulate the immune system to recognize and eliminate the particular pathogen, so if it reenters, the body can detect and eliminate it. they cause memory cells to be created
when does herd immunity occur
when large proportion of the population has been vaccinated which makes it difficult for pathogens to spread. those who aren’t immunized are protected as its unlikely to contract the disease as the levels of it are low
how does active immunity work?
the body makes its own antibodies in response to pathogen exposure
- vaccination provides active immunity (booster vaccinations are needed)
features of active immunity?
- long term
- takes a long time to develop immunity
- body produces antibodies in response to pathogen exposure
- produces memory cells
how does passive immunity work?
develops due to antibodies which come form another animal
features of passive immunity
- short term
- develops immunity fast
- body develops immunity due to antibodies which came from another animal
- doesn’t produce memory cells so antibodies get used up
Why it is easier to develop vaccines for some diseases and not others
some viruses are able to undergo rapid modifications. these modifications allow viruses to easily evade the immune system and most of the vaccines fail to work against these viruses
What is a pathogen
A microorganism that causes a disease
1st line fo defence
Physical:
- skin
- cilia
- mucus
- nasal hair
- friendly bacteria
1st line of defence
Chemical:
- mucus
- tears, lysosomes
- stomach acid, HCL
- platelets
Process of phagocytosis
- Phagocyte is attracted to the pathogen by chemotaxis
- Pathogen attaches to phagocyte by antibody and surface receptors
- Pathogen engulfed by an infolding of the phagocyte membrane
- Lysosomes release sets lysines into phagosomes
- Harmless end products of digestion are absorbed
- Phagocyte displays the antigens form the pathogen on its cell surface membrane and becomes an antigen presenting cell (APC)
What is a macrophage
Phagocyte ell that releases lytic enzymes to break down pathogenic cell
What is a cytotoxic T cell
Cells that destroys pathogenic cells by releasing chemical into the invaded cells
What is a Helper T cell
Cell that stimulates and recruits more cells to assist in the immune response
What are b lymphocytes
Are responsible for humorous immunity (the humours = body fluids). They produce antibodies
What are t lymphocytes
Are responsible for cell mediated (requires cells) immunity
Cell maturation of b lymphocytes and t lymphocytes
Both cells begin life as stem cells in the bone marrow
- T cells mature in the thymus
- B cells mature in the bone marrow
What are antigens
part of an organism/ substance thats recognized as foreign by the immune system, which stimulates an immune response.
They are often proteins or glycoproteins on the cell surface membrane
Features of cell mediated immunity
- cell mediated response can only be initiated by APc’s
- cell mediated responses are specific to the antigens presented
Examples of APC’s:
- phagocytes that have engulfed, invading microorganisms
- cells which ave been infected by a virus
- cancer cells
- cells transplanted from anther organism
Any of these can trigger an immune response