Immunology 8 (Kyle) Flashcards
What the the primary function of the B cel arm of the adaptive immune response?
Priduction of Ab, they make cytokines to but Ab’s are more important.
Do Ab’s destruct or destroy pathogens?
No, they tag them for destruction tho. “The Black Spot”
What allows B cell responses to increase in affinity as they develop ?
Somatic Hypermutation
What allows B cell responses to be tailored to best deal with the particular pathogen
Isotype switching
What aspect of B cells allow B cell responses to be retained providing long lived protection to that particular pathogen.
Memory B cells
What is the first signal that activates the b cells? What does it bind to and what does this cause the B cell to do?
The antigen binds BCR [IgM] causing crosslinking and clustering of BCR’s which activate the signal transduction unit.
**It takes multiple Antigen-BCR complexes for activation.
What composes the signal transduction unit of the BCR ?
IG-alpha / IG-beta complex - These contain cytoplasmic tails have immunoreceptor tyrosine based tails. When phosphorylated they initiate intracellular signaling.
What is the co-receptor for the BCR and what does it do?
If the co-receptor is activated do you still need co stimulation by a T-cell?
CR2- Complement receptor 2, which binds to the complements that are bound on the surface of a pathogen. This enhances the effect of the BCR: antigen complex.
A second signal is still required for B cell activation.
What do B cells activated by TH2-CD4 differentiate into?
Memory cells and plasma cells.
What is the signal transduction unit for the BCR ?
The Ig-alpha / Ig-beta complex
What happens to a B cell that is activated by a determinant but does not recieve the secondary stimulation from T cells?
They become anergic and die. The absence of T cells means there is no infection.
What type of antigens can activate B cells in the absence of T cell help?
Thymus-independent antigens. (TI-antigens)
Do thymus dependent antigens require co-stimulation via T cells?
Yes but you can get around this in two ways.
Ti-1 antigens
TI-2 antigens
What are TI-1 antigens?
Mitogens, they can activate B cells without T cell stimulation. They do this by binding to the BCR and also the Pattern Recognition Receptor.
At high concentrations can TI-1 antigens activate B cells? If so what type of B cell?
At high concentrations TI-1 antigens can activate almost any B cell regardless of the BCR specificity.
What do M cell mitogens do ?
Antigens that cause polyconial activation. An example of this is Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) which is a component of gram negative bacteria.
How to TI-2 antigens work ?
What are TI-2 antigens composed of ?
They work by heavily cross linking BCR’s on the surface of the B cell to the point where no additional activation is needed.
They are composed of cell wall polysaccharides (repetitive structures)
What do TI-2 antigens respond to?
B1-B cells.
What are the limitations of TI-2 antigens ?
- There is no significant isotype switching
- No affinity maturation takes place
- No immunological Memory is provided.
Can infants mount a TI-1 or TI-2 antigen response?
TI-2 antigens will not be present until the child is about age 5
Infants can mount a TI-1 response.
What happens to a b cell in the presence of high concentration of TI antigens ?
What happens to B cells in the presence of low concentration of TI antigens?
- Polyconial B cell activation will lead to a nonspecific antibody response.
- TI-1 antigen specific (IgM) Ab response.
Where are germinal centers located?
Lymphoid Folicles
What are the two main functions in the Germinal center?
Aomatic hypermutation resuts in cells with higher and lower affinity for antigen.
What are the unique cells found in the germinal center?
Follicular dendritic Cells (FDC’s) they have lots of Fc receptors and complement recptors to trap antigen. They populate the germinal centers and B cells compete to bind antigen in the germinal centers.
The V chain of the Ig are susceptible to what?
A high rate of mutation.
Do plasma cells have surface Ig ?
No
What surface receptors do plasma cells have?
None. They have a high rate of Ig secretion tho.