Immune system (adiponectin paper background) Flashcards
What is the immune system?
A series of aspects of your body that prevents or limits infection by foreign invaders
What can your immune system distinguish?
Healthy cells from unhealthy cells that are cancerous, infected with a virus, or damaged. It can also identify any foreign invaders
What is included in the immune system?
- External barriers (skin, mucous, stomach acid)
- Internal barriers (epithelial tissue layers)
- Immune cells
What is included in the first line of defence?
Phagocytes, inflammation, natural killer cells
What is included in the second line of defence?
Antibody production, T cells, B cells
What is innate immunity?
An automatic form of immunity that all humans have. It’s non-specific and uses internal and external barriers to keep threats out, and a broad range of signalling molecules to set off inflammatory pathways to respond to the threat
What cells (8 types) are involved in innate immunity?
- Dendritic cells
- Natural killer cells
- Macrophages
- Neutrophils
- Basophils
- Eosinophils
- Mast cells
- some lymphocytes
What is adaptive immunity?
The portion of the immune system that uses antibodies specific against a certain pathogen, and prepares your immune system to immediately respond if that pathogen shows up again
Where are immune cells made and differentiated?
Bone marrow
What happens in the lymph nodes during an infection?
They accumulate and store immune cells and become swollen. The cells get brought there in the lymph fluid
What does the spleen do during an infection?
Produces white blood cells and controls the amount of blood in the body. It also disposes of old and damaged blood cells
Where do T-cells mature?
Thymus
What type of cell do all immune system cells originate from?
Hemopoietic stem cell
What are leukocytes? What do they do? What types of cells are considered to be leukocytes?
A type of white blood cell involved in innate immunity. They identify and eliminate pathogens non-specfically. Includes macrophages, neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, mast cells, and dendritic cells
What are lymphocytes? What do they do? What types of cells are considered to be lymphocytes?
A type of white blood cell that’s part of both the innate and adaptive immune system. They include B-cells that produce antibodies and T-cells that destroy infected and damaged cells
