Immunology Flashcards
What are the characteristics of innate immunity?
- Present at birth
- Rapid
- Relies on pattern recognition
- Not specific
- No memory
- Primarily mediated by neutrophils
What are the characteristics of adaptive immunity?
- Slow (on first exposure)
- Diverse
- Adapts to antigen (not pre-formed)
- Highly specific
- Generates memory and improved immunity w/ repeated antigen exposure
Which immunoglobulin do all very young infants (under 6 weeks) have?
Maternal IgG
(And Maternal IgA if they are nursing)
Which sort of immune response do older adults and infants have a decreased ability to generate?
T-cell independent B cell response
What is the role of neutrophils in innate immunity?
Neutrophils (granulocytes, PMNs)
- First responders
- Rapidly migrate from bone marrow to blood to tissue (peripheral blood neutrophilia)
- Engulf/kill pathogens
- Release additional pro-inflammatory cytokines
- Major cell of acute inflammatory response
- Do not present antigen on MHC class II
Where are mast cells present?
What are mast cells activated by?
What do mast cells release?
Mast cells
- Present throughout connective tissue
- Activated by trauma, complement proteins (C3a and C5a), and cross-linking of IgE (which is bound by IgE Fc receptor)
- Express-toll like receptors that recognize bacteria and viruses
- Release histamine and other mediators of inflammation
What does C3b do?
Acts on C5 to make C5a and C5b
What does C5b do?
Inserts into cell membrane of pathogen and is bound by C6, C7, C8, and C9 to make the membrane attack complex
What does the membrane attack complex do?
Which bacteria are particularly susceptible?
Forms a hole in the membrane causing the pathogen to lyse
Gram-negative bacteria are particularly susceptible
Describe the classic pathway of complement activation
C1 binds to the constant fragment of IgG or IgM (antigen-antibody complex)
Describe the alternative pathway of complement activation
Microbial products directly activate complement
Describe the lectin pathway of complement activation
Mannose-binding lectin (serum protein) binds carbohydrate antigens on the surface of micro-organisms (such as encapsulated bacteria)
What is the function of C3a?
Triggers mast cells to degranulate and release histamine (anaphylatoxins)
What are the functions of C5a?
- Triggers mast cells to degranulate and release histamine (anaphylatoxins)
- Chemotactic for neutrophils
On which cells is CD14 expressed?
What is the function of CD14?
Monocytes/macrophages
Co-receptor for TLR4 that recognizes LPS
What elements of innate immunity might defend against infection by bacteria in the GI tract?
- Intact mucosal epithelium
- Mucous
- pH
- Microbial molecules such as defensins
- Macrophages
- Dendritic cells
What is the cause of chronic granulomatous disease?
What do patients suffer from?
Caused by a defect in NAPDH oxidase and failure to produce hydrogen peroxide and kill bacteria
Patients have recurrent infections from catalase-producing organisms
What are the stages of repair in healing by first intention?
- Hemorrhage and formation of a blood clot
- Acute inflammation
- Proliferation of the epithelial cells
- Organization of the wound
- A scar composed of connective tissue w/ scant inflammatory cells
What are the differences between healing by secondary intention to healing by first intention?
In healing by secondary intention,
- The clot is larger
- Inflammation is more intense
- There is more granulation tissue with greater likelihood of complications
- Wound contraction occurs due to myofibroblasts
What is the major cytokine involved in fibrosis?
TGF-beta
Mutations in RAG1 or RAG2 can cause which immune disorder?
SCID
What two types of diversity do B cell receptors have?
Combinatorial diversity
Junctional diversity
What is combinatorial diversity?
Somatic recombination of the V and J gene regions occurs for antibody light chain variable regions and V, D, and J antibody regions for the heavy chain variable regions
Mediated by VDJ recombinase, RAG genes
What are the characteristics of junctional diversity?
- Nucleotides are added and removed during recombination
- Occurs at the joining ends of the gene segments
- Significantly increases diversity of the VDJ and VJ regions
- Known as hypervariable regions
What are the stages in B cell development with regards to the B cell receptor?
- Pro-B cell has no heavy chains
- Pre-B cell has cytoplasmic mu heavy chains and is pre-BCR, successful gene rearrangement of mu heavy chain
- Immature B cell has IgM surface BCR, successful gene rearrangement of the light chain (kappa or lambda)
- Naive B cell has IgM, IgD surface BCR
How does the pro-B cell to pre-B cell transition occur?
Successful gene rearrangement of the mu heavy chain
How does the pre-B cell to immature B cell transition occur?
Successful gene rearrangement of the light chain (kappa or lambda) which allows for expression of an IgM BCR
What causes X-linked agammaglobulinemia?
What does a patient with X-linked agammaglobulinemia experience?
Mutation in Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (cannot go from pre-B cell to immature B cell)
Markedly decreased B cells, low antibodies of all types, no tonsils
How does CD21 serve as a second signal for B cells?
CD21 interacts with the C3d complement component bound to antigen (alternative complement pathway)
Enhances B cell activation ~1000 fold
What are the functions of follicular dendritic cells?
- Capture complement/antigen complexes on the cell surface
- Present antigen complexes to B cells and allow selection for B cells with higher affinity/avidity antibodies
What does T cell co-stimulation cause B cells to undergo?
What occurs in this process?
Somatic hypermutation in the germinal center
Antibody variable regions are subject to random point mutations (activation-induced cytidine deaminase [AID])
Some of the mutations give rise to higher affinity/avidity antibodies which are selected for by FDCs and T cell interactions
What is affinity maturation?
The process of selection for increased affinity/avidity in B cells in the germinal center
This occurs after B cells have undergone somatic hypermutation in the germinal center
What are CD79a and CD79b?
B cell receptor associated proteins (Ig-alpha, Ig-beta) involved in signal transduction after antigen crosslinking
Their activation leads to phosphorylation of ITAMs to trigger downstream signaling pathways
On an individual naive B cell expressing both IgM and IgD surface antibody, which regions of the surface IgM antibodies are identical to the surface IgD antibody?
Variable regions of both heavy and light chains are identical between the IgM and IgD antibody
B cells only express one heavy chain variable region and one light chain variable region, even when the constant regions differ
How do CD8+ Cytotoxic T-cells kill their prey?
2 methods
- Production of cytotoxic molecules like perforin or granzyme
- Expresion of FasL (induces apoptosis when binding to the Fas protein)
Which complement protein first recognizes antigen-antibody complexes in the classic pathway?
C1
(C1 = the #1 antigen-antibody recognizing protein)
Which complement proteins trigger mast cells to degranulate and release histamine?
C3a, C5a
Which complement protein is chemotactic to neutrophils?
What does this mean?
C5a
Chemotactic = ~attractive~
C5a recruits neutrophils
Which complement protein opsonizes bacteria?
C3b
What is TLR4?
What does it do?
TLR4 = Toll-like receptor 4
Recognizes LPS on the surface of gram negative bacteria
(Works together with CD14 expressed by monocytes and macrophages to recognize LPS)
- What is RIG-1 helicaase
- Where is it found?
- What does it do?
- RIG-1 helicase is a pattern recognition protein that recognizes intracellular pathogens
- RIG-1 helicase is found in cytoplasm of immune-competent cells
- RIG-1 helicase recognizes nucleic acids of viruses
Which cytokine recruits neutrophils?
IL-8
A pro-inflammatory cytokine
What is Sialyl Lewis X?
What process is it involved in?
Sialyl Lewis X is a protein expressed constituitively on the surface of neutrophils
It binds to P-selectin in E-selectin in the “rolling” step of phagocytic cell recruitment and migration
S. pyogenes secretes C5a peptidase
Describe the effect of C5a peptidase on phagocytic cell recruitment and migration
C5a peptidase destroys C5a, which is a chemokine for neutrophils
Without C5a, neutrophils chemotaxis will be decreased; they won’t be able to effectively move toward the site of inflammation
A patient has had multiple, recurrent bacterial infections without appropriate pus formation.
What might be the problem?
What evidence would support your diagnosis?
This patient might have Leukocyte Adhesion Deficeincy (LAD), due to a defect in the CD18 subunit of integrins. As a result, neutrophils cannot escape from blood vessels to get ot the tissue (Neutrophils can’t adhere to endothelium = they can’t undergo diapedesis)
Normal to high neutrophil count in the peripheral blood would support your diagnosis
A defect in NADPH oxidase leads to…
Chronic granulomatous disease
- Defective NADPH oxidase
- -> Failure to produce hydrogen peroxide
- -> Cannot make hypochlorite ion
- Cannot kill bacteria effectively
- -> Cannot make hypochlorite ion
- -> Failure to produce hydrogen peroxide
A patient has a history of recurrent infections from catalase (+) bacteria with the formation of multiple granulomas
What might be the problem?
Chronic granulomatous disease;
A defect in NADPH oxidase results in downstream failure to produce the hypochlorite ion from hydrogen peroxide;
Hydrogen peroxide alone is not effective at killing catalase (+) bacteria, because these bacteria can break down hydrogen peroxide.
When does the complement binding region of an AB/BCR become accessible?
Why?
When antigen binds
Only want complement active when immune response is necessary
What are the two parts of the Fc region of an antibody?
Complement binding region
Phagocyte binding region
Compare and contrast the T cell dependent and T cell independent responses in terms of chemical nature, isotype switching, affinity maturation, memory, and location
Describe the steps of the antibody response to a T cell dependent antigen for antigen-activated B cells in the B cell-T cell zone border outside germinal center
- Interact with antigen-activated CD4+ T helper cells
- Differentiate to short-lived plasma cells (plasmablasts)
- Produce and secrete IgM antibody
- Antibody is low affinity for antigen
Describe the steps involved in feedback inhibition of humoral immunity
IgG production leads to feedback inhibition
- FcyRIIB on surface of B cells
- Binds Fc portion of IgG
- Signals through immunomodulatory tyrosine-based inhibition motif (ITIM)
- Terminates B cell response to antigen
A male patient presents with present but low levels of all classes of immunoglobulins at age 15. What types of infections is he at risk for?
Is it possible he has SCID?
He has CVID, so he is at risk for bacterial infections, Giardia, and enterovirus
He does not have SCID. SCID presents in infancy and is life-threatening without therapy. SCID involves an almost complete absence of the adaptive immune response and no immunoglobulins (and almost no B cells, no T cells +/- NK cells)
What kind of selection occurs on T cells in the cortex of the thymus?
Positive selection
What kind of selection occurs on T cells in the medulla of the thymus?
Negative selection
Where does the first step of thymic T cell selection occur?
Thymic cortex
Where does the second stage of thymic T cell selection occur?
Thymic cortex
Describe positive selection in the double positive stage of thymic T cell selection
Cortical epithelial cells express MHC class I and class II molecules
A T cell will survive if the TCR with CD4 or CD8 binds weakly to the self-MHC molecules
(Occurs in cortex)
Where does the third stage of thymic T cell selection occur?
Thymic medulla
What is the third stage of thymic T cell selection?
CD4+ or CD8+ (single positive) stage
What sort of selection occurs in the single positive stage of thymic T cell selection?
Negative selection
Describe negative selection in the single positive stage of thymic T cell selection
- Cortical epithelial cells express MHC class I and II molecules
- Autoimmune regulator (AIRE) transcription factor synthesizes self proteins to be expressed in the MHC molecules
- Strong binding of the TCR to self-antigen/MHC molecules -> cell death or becomes regulatory T cell
- Weak/no binding of the TCR to self-antigen/MHC molecule -> survive and go to the periphery
In the single positive stage of thymic T cell selection, what occurs if the TCR binds strongly to the self-antigen/MHC molecule?
T cell death or becomes regulatory T cell
In the single positive stage of thymic T cell selection, what occurs if the TCR binds weakly/not at all to the self-antigen/MHC molecule?
T cell survives and goes to the periphery
Diagram the steps in T cell development
What tissue is this?
What are the correct labels for the two arrows?
Thymus
What produces self-peptides that are used in negative selection during thymic selection of T cells?
Autoimmune regulator (AIRE)
What is deficient in people with DiGeorge syndrome?
Marked deficiency in T cells, bc no thymus
What lab finding do people with DiGeorge syndrome exhibit besides low T cell count?
Why?
Hypocalcemia
Due to lack of parathyroid glands
Some patients with DiGeorge syndrome (thymic aplasia) have decreased serum antibodies and recurrent pyogenic infections. Why might this occur if the B cells develop normally?
Lack of CD4+ T cells to support B cell antibody production
What cells do people with RAG deficiency lack?
Which cells do they have?
No B or T cells
Normal NK cells
What occurs when T cells repeatedly encounter high levels of self-antigen in the periphery?
Clonal deletion through apoptosis
(Tregs also participate in suppressing self-reactive T cells)
With regards to the first signal of CD4+ T cell activation, what does longer duration of antigen binding lead to?
More phosphorylation of ITAMs