Immunology Flashcards
What does the immune system enable?
The body to resist disease
How does the body protect against pathogens?
There are physical barriers to protect against the entry of pathogens and if they fail that a cellular and chemical responses.
What does the body detect?
The body must detect foreign ‘non-self’ antigens and distinguish them from the ‘self’ antigens in its own tissues.
What have prevented pathogens from entering the body through a hole (eyes, ears, mouth, cut etc)?
Natural Barriers
What is localised non-specific response?
When pathogens enter body tissue and try to reach the blood supply via capillary.
What are the two localised non-specific responses?
Inflammation and phagocytosis
What does inflammation cause?
Heat, redness, swelling and pain
What are involved in phagocytosis?
Neutrophils and macrophages.
What is the specific response?
When pathogens and the blood supply and can migrate around the body to target cells to reproduce.
What are the cells responsible for the specific response.
B cells- Humoral response
T cells - Cell mediated response
Secondary immune defence - memory cells
What is the first line of defence?
The natural barriers which try and prevent the entry of pathogens.
How does the eyes protect and prevent the entry of pathogens?
As they produce tears which contain antibodies and lysozyme (lysozyme is an enzyme which hydrolyses peptidoglycan)
How does the skin flora protect and prevent the entry of pathogens?
It comprises bacteria and fungi which outcompete pathogenic strains.They are not easily washed off so regular washing is important in resisting infection. Microflora prevents pathogens from colonising.
How does the skin protect and prevent the entry of pathogens?
You have a layer of the epidermis contains dead keratinised cells – keratinocytes act as a physical barrier to pathogens. Keratin makes the skin waterproof.
How does the ears protect and prevent the entry of pathogens?
It produces wax which traps pathogens and lysozymes
How does the respiratory tract protect and prevent the entry of pathogens?
Ciliated cells what make is the top of the trachea where it is swallowed and passes into the stomach which contains acid (pH two), the lining is made of ciliated epithelium cells.
How does the urethra protect and prevent the entry of pathogens?
Flow of urine
How does the mouth protect and prevent the entry of pathogens?
Lysozyme is present in the saliva
How does the vagina protect and prevent the entry of pathogens?
Acidic and mucus
How does the stomach protect and prevent the entry of pathogens?
Stomach acid kills many microbes which are ingested in food and drink.
What do you ciliated mucous membranes do?
The sticky mucus lines the passages and traps pathogens. This is found in the gut, genital areas, anus, ears, nose and respiratory passages.
What does resistant disease also depend on?
Someone’s general health and diet.
What happens if someone is deficient in vitamin C?
It can lead to weakened connective tissue causing open wounds. As vitamin C is essential for the synthesis of collagen which makes skin tough.
What is the second line of defence?
Non-specific response
What does the second line of defence do?
The barriers try to kill any pathogens which have entered the body and stop them spreading.
What does localised defence involve?
Inflammation and phagocytosis which localises are breaking the barrier and destroyed invading micro organisms (pathogens)
What is inflammation?
It is a defence mechanism when there is a damage to the tissue.
What happens to the blood flow during inflammation?
There is an increase in blood flow towards the site of infection which bring a large number of phagocytic cells. The broken capillaries heal and the rise in temperature is unfavourable to microbes.
What are the functions of inflammation?
To destroy the cause of infection.
Limit the effects on the body by confining the infection to a small area.
To replace or repair damaged tissue.
Describe the process of phagocytosis.
- There is an increase in diameter and permeability of blood vessels in the damaged area with blood flow increasing.
- Blood clots forming damaged blood vessels. Approximate one hour after infection phagocytes reach the infection and performs of phagocytosis. After a few days an abscess full form which contains dead phagocytes, damaged cells and bodily fluids (past). New cells will be produced by mitosis in order to repair the damage tissue.
What are the two different types of non-specific white blood cells which are produced in the bone marrow and what do they do?
Neutrophils and macrophages. They engulf and digest foreign particles to at the body.
Tell me about neutrophils?
The number increases as a result of the infection.
Then engulf and destroy pathogens.
They are short lived – tend to die after engulf in the bacteria. Identified by my multi lobed nucleus, sausage like nucleus.
Tell me about macrophages
They settle in the lymph nodes, spleen and kidney. Then engulf pathogens and present antigens on the surface (antigen presentation).
Long lived – survive after golfing bacteria. It’s important and stimulating the specific immune response.
Bean shaped nucleus.
What are antigens?
They are molecules which the body can generate a response to (generating an antibody response).
They are large with many being proteins. They are found on the pathogen surface.
What happens if the immune response system recognises antigens?
Then they are foreign to the immune system so a immune response is stimulated.
What sort of molecules can antigens be ?
Proteins, polysaccharides or glycoprotein molecules.
Describe the shape of antigen?
So the antibody will have a specific/complimentary shape which can recognise them so the antigens have a specific shape to. Antigen is a found on the surface of bacteria or viruses as well as cell surface of foreign tissue such as organ transplants or transfused blood cells. Each pathogen has its own unique antigens which are genetically determined.
What can be released by microbes?
Toxins
When are antibodies produced?
They are produced when antigens are present as its the immune systems way of responding to the antigen.
Describe the shape of antibodies?
They have a specific shape which is complimentary to that particular antigen. Quaternary structure with 2 heavy and 2 light chains.
What is an antibody?
Antibodies are large protein molecules which detect and neutralise antigens, they are released in the blood.
What can antibodies also be known as?
Immunoglobulins e.g IgG, IgA
Describe agglutination?
Each antibody has got more than one binding site so I can stick to more than one antigen. Forming antibodies – antigen complexes so the pathogens are held in large clumps. Macrophages and neutrophils can more easily engulf pathogens which are immobilised by agglutination.
Describe neutralisation.
Antibodies stick to the antigens which is useful for when toxins are released, antibodies will stop the antigens from getting around and stop it sticking to other parts of the body so other targets.
Describe opsonisation?
Once an antibody has stuck to the antigen there is many constant regions which stick out. This process enables the identification of the invading particle to the phagocyte.
Why do phagocytes have receptors on the surface?
So they can bind to the constant region of the antigen.
What happens if something is stuck on an antibody?
It has to be a foreign invader as antibodies are only produced when something foreign has invaded which can be destroyed by phagocytosis.
When is the specific immune response used?
If a pathogen invades the body immune system must respond with the specific new response being a response of any type of pathogen antigenic lymphocytes. An antigenic response which involves lymphocytes is known as the specific immune response. It occurs as the antigen is recognised as foreign to the body.
What are lymphocytes?
They derived from stem cells in the bone marrow and their precise role depends on their subsequent location. These cells are found in the immune system. They are white blood cells with a large nucleus with a little cytoplasm. They are produced before birth and are involved in the immune response. They are stimulated by a particular antigen in order to perform their function.
What are the two types of lymphocytes?
B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes
What response does B-lymphocytes have?
Humoral response - First response to produce antibodies.
What response does T-lymphocytes have?
Cell mediated- Response with cells doing the job of getting rid of the pathogens. It does it’s job via direct contact.
Describe the similarities between B and T lymphocytes?
They are produced by stem cells in the bone marrow (immature cells are made in the bone marrow with mature cells found at different parts of the body) they have surface receptors which help them identify pathogens/antigens which to respond to. They look the same.
Where do you B lymphocytes mature?
They develop and are ‘educated’ in the bone marrow and migrate to the lymph nodes where they can count antigens.
They mature in the spleen and lymph nodes (collection of tissue)
What do B lymphocytes develop into?
Plasma B cells - secrete antibodies.
Memory B cells - remain dormant in the circulation and then divide to form more B-lymphocytes if the same antigen is encountered in the future. They remain in the body for years and act as an immunological memory.
How do the lymphocytes start?
They will start as B-lymphocyte and if activated they will produce antibodies with a cytoplasm swelling up as they have more ER which will secrete antibodies.
Where does the T lymphocytes migrate and mature?
They migrate to the thymus gland to mature from the bone marrow and undergo thymic ‘education’
What do you T lymphocytes develop into?
T helper cells which release cytokines which stimulate B lymphocytes to develop and stimulate phagocytosis (they control the immune system). They activate T killer cells.
T killer cells attack and kill infected cells. Cytotoxic lymphocytes destroy target cells and contact it kills them by cell lysis.
T suppressor cells switch off the immune system after it’s been switched on. It switches off when the antigen has been cleared and prevents inappropriate activation by self antigen.
T memory cells help generate a faster response.
What does cytokines stimulate?
Phagocytic cells e.g. macrophages, monocytes and neutrophils to engulf pathogens and digest them.
What are T cells selected on?
The ability to recognise pathogens (nonself) and to ignore host (self) tissue.
Where do naive T cells encounter antigens?
In the lymph nodes.
What does immune system respond to?
Any antigens whilst ignoring the bodies antigens and ignoring our microflora. Immune system must be able to recognise self antigens. A body cells have antigens on the surface which acts as a molecular identification unit each person.
What happens if a cell responds to it self antigens?
It is soon deleted out of formation otherwise the cell would think that its own body cells need to be destroyed initiating an autoimmune response (where the body attacks its own cells).
Why are B and T cells specific?
As each one responds to a different antigen this is because of genetic recombination when they mature.
Why do you sometimes develop symptoms when suffering from a disease?
As only one B and one T-cell can respond to a specific antigen it takes a long time to find them so much than increasing number. This means you may suffer from the disease. It takes a few days for this specific immune response to clear the infection and then you start to feel better.
What is clonal selection
It’s a process at which a single B or T cell which recognises an antigen which has entered the body is selected from the pre-existing cell pool of different different antigen-specificities.
Describe the process of clonal selection.
A pathogen enters the body and produces toxins. Macrophages perform phagocytosis and antigen presentation.
Macrophage must find one specific B and one specific T cell which has a complementary receptor that can bind to the antigen.
The antigen binding to the complementary receptor on the membrane of a specific T or B activates the cell.
What is clonal expansion?
Dividing repeatedly into genetically identical cells (daughter cells formed through parent cells) forming a large population of cells specific to a particular antigen. This is created by mitosis.
What is cell differentiation?
When the cells can differentiate into various classes of lymphocyte i.e. plasma cells, memory cells and T cells
Once a T cells clonally selected it can differentiate into what type of cells?
Cytotoxic (killer) T cells – destroy infected cells.
Helper T cells – cytokines stimulate B cells to develop and phagocytes to be more active.
Memory T cells – respond if the pathogen enters the body again.
Cell mediated response
Once a B cells clonally selected it can differentiate into what type of cells?
Plasma B cells – produce antibodies which are specific to the antigen – humoral response.
Memory B cells – remain in the body for years and respond if the pathogen enters again.
Describe the primary immune response
When a pathogen enters the body the time it takes for cloned plasma B cells which secrete antibodies complementary to the pathogen is antigen is long.
It requires self expansion of T helper cells which secrete cytokines required to promote cell growth.
The antibody level will rise in the blood however a delay causes the person to suffer from the disease, the plasma B cells secrete antibodies for about three weeks.
Once a pathogen is eliminated the antibody levels in the blood will fall.
Specific memory B and T cells will remain.
In the primary immune response is the latent period short or long?
It has a short latent period in which macrophages engulf the foreign antigen to which is attached and incorporated by antigenic molecules into their own cell membranes which is called antigen presentation.
What sort of cell are macrophages?
Antigen presentation cells
Describe the secondary immune response?
If the pathogen re-invades the body the memory B cells clone rapidly to produce more antibodies more quickly (this cell clones will proliferate). The latent period is dramatically reduced. Antibodies are produced over a shorter period of time and they are up to 100 times more concentrated than the primary response. The secondary immune response relies on memory cells and protect against an identical antigen.
What do memory B cells turn into?
Plasma B cells
What is the concentration like for antibodies in the secondary immune response?
Antibodies remain high concentrations in circulation for longer and no symptoms develop.
What is active immunity?
It’s when the body makes its own antibodies stimulated either by an infection or vaccination.The protection is long-lasting due to the production of antigen specific memory cells.
What is natural active immunity?
This is when lymphocytes are active by antigens present on pathogens.This takes place during the natural cause of infection. Both memory B and T cells are generated.
What is artificial active immunity?
A vaccination is given to raise an immune response – this contains antigens from the pathogen which initiates a response from production of memory cells (the cell mediated and humoral responses are initiated).
What does a vaccine cause?
A deliberate exposure to harmless antigenic material to activate and then you response and antibodies and memory B cells which provides immunity.
Give the history of the vaccine
Edward Jenner gave the first vaccination to a child who he vaccinated who had cox pox. Before subsequently infecting him with smallpox. The child seemed resistant to smallpox.
What sort of vaccines can you get?
Weakened or attenuated vaccines – they don’t cause a disease e.g. measles, mumps and rubella.
Dead microorganisms – contain antigens e.g diphtheria. Purified antigens – created by genetic engineering e.g. hepatitis B.