Immunity Flashcards
Do most microorganisms cause disease in humans?
Most don’t, but some do
What are pathogens?
Disease causing microorganisms
What do pathogens include?
- Protozoa
- Bacteria
- Viruses
- Fungi
- Worms
What are both humans and pathogens made from?
Proteins, carbohydrates and lipids
What are the roles of protein in pathogens?
- Nutrient acquisition
- Reproduction
- Locomotion
- Respiration
How do humans and pathogens differ in their proteins?
They posses radically different proteins, that allow them to survive in their respective niches
What do different proteins have?
Different amino acid sequences
What is the significance in the difference in amino acid sequences?
The immune system detects this difference
What is damage to the host an inevitable consequence of?
Breaking through barriers in order to gain access to regions that are most prosperous
What is an inevitable consequence of damage to the barriers?
Alert
What is the first barrier to infection?
Epithelia
What does epithelia do to prevent infection?
Keep body clear of pathogens
How do we facilitate the clearance of pathogens from epithelial surfaces?
- Rapid epithelial regeneration
- Blinking
- Flow of tears
- Ear wax
- Nasal hairs
- Coughing
- Sneezing
- Mucociliary escalator
- Vomiting
- Digestive enzymes
- Peristaltic gut movement
- Regular urine flow
How quickly do epithelial cells function on contact with a pathogen?
Within seconds
Essentially, what is epithelium?
A mechanical, selectively permeable barrier between the ‘outside’ and the ‘inside’
What may epithelial cells posses?
Motile cilia
Can epithelial cells renew?
Yes, rapidly
What is the purpose of motile cilia on epithelial cells?
Keep surface free of bacteria
What do epithelial cells produce?
- Natural antibodies
- Cytokines
- Chemokines
- May produce mucins
What kind of natural antibodies do epithelial cells produce?
Cationic antibacterial peptides
Give 2 examples of cationic antibacterial peptides?
- Defensins
- Cathelicidins
What are cytokines?
Proteins that alter the behaviour of other cells
What are chemokines?
Proteins that attract other cells by gradients
Where to epithelial cells transport antibodies to and from?
From inside to outside
What is the primary role of epithelial cells?
To block the entry of microorganisms
What must be done for pathogens with non-self proteins to break through the epithelial barrier?
They must damage it
What happens to epithelial cells on contact with microorganisms?
They are activated
What do activated epithelial cells produce?
Chemokines and cytokines
What is the result in the production of chemokines and cytokines?
A much more permeabilised epithelium
What is the result of a more permeabilised epithelium?
NAME?
What is the result of opsonisation of foreign materials?
Pathogens more readily phagocytosed
What happens after a pathogen is phagocytosed?
It raises a specific response
What is the result of the specific response to a phagocytosed pathogen?
Interaction with other cells of the innate and adaptive immune system
What promotes vascular permeability?
Many inflammatory mediators- immunoglobulin and complement
What is the result of vascular permeability?
Mediators are leaked into the inflamed site through the endothelial cells lining blood vessels
What do inflammatory mediators do?
- Increase permeability
- Increase migration of macrophages, neutrophils and lymphocytes into tissue
- Increases SA to volume ratio
What does increased permeability allow?
Increased fluid leakage from blood vessels and extravasation of antibodies and complement at site of infection
What is the result of increased migration of macrophages, neutrophils and lymphocytes?
Increases microbicidal activity
What is the result of an increased SA to volume ratio?
Better gas exchange
What is the result of action of inflammatory mediators?
Allows for immunofunction to be increased
What is inflammation a response to?
Infection
What does inflammation lead to?
- Heat
- Swelling
- Redness
- Pain
- Loss of function
What is the purpose of inflammation?
Protects area from further damage
What is the innate immune response?
Inbuilt immunity to resist infection
When is innate immunity present from?
Birth
Is innate immunity specific?
No
Is innate immunity enhanced by secondary exposure?
No
What kind of components does innate immunity use?
Cellular and humoral
Is innate immunity effective alone?
No, poorly effective without adaptive immunity
What is innate immunity involved in?
Triggering and amplification of adaptive immune response
What is adaptive immunity?
Immunity established to adapt to infection
How is adaptive immunity obtained?
Learnt by experience
What does adaptive immunity confer?
Pathogen-specific immunity
Is adaptive immunity enhanced by second exposure?
Yes
Does adaptive immunity have memory?
Yes
What kind of components does adaptive immunity use?
Cellular and humoral
Is adaptive immunity effective without innate immunity?
No
What do antibodies reflect?
Infections to which an individual has been exposed to already
What are antibodies diagnostic for?
Infection
How has the adaptive immune system evolved?
NAME?
What is the importance of innate immunity implied by?
- Rarity of inherited deficiencies in innate immune mechanisms
- Considerable impairment of protection when deficiencies in innate immunity occurs
What cells are involved in innate immunity?
- Macrophages and monocytes
- Neutrophils
- Basophils
- Eosinphils
- Natural killer cells
What are the roles of macrophages and monocytes?
- Phagocytosis
- Presentation to lymphocytes
What are the roles of neutrophils?
- Phagocytic
- Anti-bacterial
What is special about polymorphonucleur neutrophils?
They have 5 lobes to their nuclei
What are the roles of mast cells and basophils?
NAME?
What are the roles of eosinphils?
- Anti-parasite
- Causes allergies
Describe the nucleus of lymphocytes?
It almost fills the cytoplasm
What kind of cells are phagocytes?
NAME?
What is meant by a phagocyte?
A cell able to engulf and destroy bacteria, extracellular viruses and immune complexes
What is phagocytosis?
Active engulfment of particles into a phagosome
What is formed form a phagosome and a lysosome?
Phagolysosome
What occurs in a phagolysosome?
Digestion
What happens to neutrophils in healthy tissues?
They are normally excluded
Why are bites taken so seriously?
Because the mouth is the most contaminated site in the body, and the microbes in the mouth can enter the wound when bitted
What are neutrophils specialised for?
Working under anaerobic conditions