Immunology L18-26 Flashcards
What is immunity?
It is the ability of an organism to resist a particular infection or toxin by the action of specialised cells or molecules
What are the different types of immunity?
Active and passive
What is innate immunity?
Present from birth
Simple recognition system
Limited capacity
There before infection starts
Patrols for infection
Recognises common danger signals
Rapid response
No memory
What is adaptive/acquired immunity?
Not present from birth
Learns from invading organisms
Sophisticated, highly specific recognition
Specific memory
Slower respinse
Activated in immune organs
What is immunological memory?
Maintenance of memory B & T cells and high serum or mucosal antibody levels, protection against reinfection
What are the goals of the immune system?
TO clear potential pathogenic in a controlled and efficient process
With limited pathology in host
Appropriate duration leads to return to homeostasis
Potentially confer future protection
Not attack self
Remove any non-healthy cells
What are the factors that effect immunity?
General health
Infection
Nutrition
Adverse environmental conditions
State of microbiome
Pregnancy
Genetic disorders
Exams (stress)
How does herd immunity work?
By vaccinating most of the population it protects the individual and the population as disease declines if majority of population immune
How did herd immunity help measles?
Needed >95% population immune to prevent outbreaks
MMR vaccine introduced 1998
What are the 4 main types of vaccine?
Live
Killed (inactivated/attenuated)
Subunit
Nucleic acid
What are antibodies?
Proteins produced by plasma cells which are mature B cells
What is the process of clonal selection and expansion?
Single progenitor cell gives rise to a large number of lymphocytes, each with a different specificity
Then removal of a potentially self-reactive immature lymphocyte by clonal deletion
Then a pool of mature naive lymphocytes form
Then proliferation and differentiation of activated specific lymphocytes occurs to form a clone of effector cells
What are the primary lymphoid tissues?
Bone marrow - highly cellular tissue, fills internal cavity of bones
Thymus - specialised, highly cellular gland
What does bone marrow produce as a primary lymphoid tissue?
B & T cells continually
B cells mature, T cells are immature and leave to thymus
Clonal diverse - specific receptor
Cells are specific to antigen
What does the thymus produce as a primary lymphoid tissue?
T cells are educated here
Migrate to secondary lymphoid tissues
What are the secondary lymphoid tissues and how do they work?
Peripheral lymphoid tissues
e.g. lymph nodes, spleen, tonsils, mucosal associated lymphoid tissues (MALT)
Once developed B and T lymphocytes recirculate and, if they meet antigen, undergo clonal expansion and differentiation in the tissues
Circulate in fluids
Where do adaptive immune responses take place?
In the secondary lymphoid tissues
How do mucosal associated lymphoid tissues work?
Diffuse system of nonencapsulated, submucosal lymphoid tissue in the intestinal and respiratory tracts
Respiratory MALTs include nasopharyngeal lymphatic tissues
Intestinal MALTs: Peyer’s patches, appendix and isolated follicles in intestinal mucosae
What are the major innate defence mechanisms?
Barriers
Cellular defences
Molecular defences
What are the different physical and chemical barriers to infection?
Skin - physical, FAs, commensals
Mucus membranes - mucus, cilia, commensals, low pH
Lysozyme in tears
Acid in stomach
What are the different antibacterial enzymes in the body?
Lysozyme
Secretory phospholipase A2
Tears, saliva, phagocytes
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs)
What are pattern recognition receptors (PRRs)?
Located on host cells: macrophages, neutrophils and dendritic cells
Allow identification of pathogens
Recognise simple molecules and regular patterns
‘lock and key mechanism’
What are the different subtypes of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs)?
Toll-like receptors - membrane surface
evolutionary conserved
10 in humans each has own repertoire of pathogen-associated molecular patterns
NOD- like receptors intracellular
(nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain)
RIG-I-like helicases
What are the different pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs)?
Mannose-rich oligosaccharides
Peptidoglycans
Lipopolysaccharides
Unmethylated CpG DNA
What are leucocytes?
WBCs, produced from pluripotent haematopoietic stem cellist bone marrow
Inclue - lymphocytes, monocytes and granulocytes
Neutrophils
Eosinophils
Basophils - tissue mast cell
What are macrophages activated function?
Phagocytosis and activation of bacterial mechanisms, antigen presentation
What are dendritic cells activated functions?
Antigen uptake in peripheral sites, antigen presentation
What are neutrophils activated function?
Phagocytosis and activation of bactericidal mechanisms
What are eosinophils activated functions?
Killing of antibody-coated parasites
What are basophils activated functions?
Promotion of allergic responses and augmentation of anti-parasitic immunity
What are mast cells activated functions?
Release of granules containing histamine and active agents
Which cell is he bridge between innate and adaptive immunity?
Dendritic cells
What is phagocytosis?
Ingestion and killing of microorganisms by specialised cells
What are the main phagocytic cells?
Neutrophils:
short-lived
multi-lobed nucleus
abundant in sites of acute inflammation
most common WBC in circulation
Mononuclear phagocytes:
blood monocytes, Kuppfer cells, alveolar macrophages etc
Monocytes when in blood
Macrophage when in tissue
longer lived cells
monocyte to macrophage
What is the main mechanism of action of phagocytosis?
Recognition receptors for
common bacterial components
complement
antibody
Internalisation - enclosing microbe in a membrane bound vacuole
Fusion - phagosome fuses with lysosome to form a phagolysosome
Killing
Digested products released
What are the different phagocytic mechanisms?
Acidification, toxic nitrogen oxides, enzymes, antimicrobial peptides, toxic oxygen products, competitors
How does oxygen-dependent killing take place?
Hexose monophosphate shunt generates NADPH
NAPDH oxidase generates reactive oxygen intermediates (either bacteriostatic/ bactericidal)
What are the additional functions of macrophages?
Can be activated by bacterial products or cytokines
Secrete soluble factors
Present antigen to lymphocytes
What are the different cells involved in extracellular killing?
Eosinophils
Natural killer cells
What are the different classes eosinophils can be separated into to enable killing of parasites?
Enzymes
Toxic proteins
Cytokines
Chemokines
Lipid mediator
How do natural killer cells help kill extracellularly?
Activated by IFNα, IFNβ and IL12 (interferon and interleukin = cytokines)
NK cells produce IFNγ (helps control infections)
Contain viral infections whilst adaptive/specific response kicks in
Deficiency leads to increased risk of herpes(rare)
What are the features of cytokines?
Both innate and adaptive immunity
Low molecular weight proteins secreted by cells that stimulate or inhibit the activity, proliferation or differentiation of other cells
Around 20
Sub groups: interferons, lymphokines, interleukins and chemokines
Have many different funtions
What is the complement system?
Protection from early infections
Major effector system of humeral branch of innate and adaptive response
~30 serum and membrane proteins
Act in concert and orderly sequence → amplification
Have initial activation → highly regulated enzymatic cascade
Main goal: antigen clearance & inflammatory response
What are the roles of components in the complement system?
Some activated proteins bind covalently to bacteria opsonising them → phagocytksed by cell with complement receptors
Some small fragments of complement recruit phagocytes to the site and regulate the inflammatory response
Some products activate B cells
Terminal component of system generates MAC → lysis of pathogen
What are the different pathways of the complement system?
Classical (adaptive), lectin (innate) and alternative (innate) pathway
How are the pathways of the complement system activated?
Classical: antigen-antibody complexes
Alternative: pathogen surfaces
Lectin: acute phase proteins bind glycoproteins/carbohydrates on micro-organisms