Immunology Lecture 1 Flashcards
People with Rh positive blood type have what on their RBC?
D antigen
When exposed to the D antigen, which antibody do Rh negative patients make?
IgG
If an Rh positive man has a child with a Rh negative woman, when are antibodies produced? Why is this a problem?
During delivery, in the next Rh positive pregnancy antibodies will attack fetal blood cells
What are the major antigen targets of rejection?
Major histocompatibility complex molecules
What is the name of MHC molecules in humans?
human leukocyte antigens
What are the classes of HLA antigens and where are they found?
Class I is found on all nucleated cells, class II is on dendritic cells, macrophages, and B cells
How is a donor matched with a recipient? What would the recipient be given to prevent a reaction?
The organ donor and recipient are typed based on similar HLA tissue expression. The recipient is given suppressive therapy to inhibit their immune response
What is an autograft?
From one part of the body to another
What is an allograft?
Between different members of the same species
What is a syngeic graft?
Between genetically identical individuals (EX twins)
What is a xenograft?
Between members of different species
What are the 3 types of rejection?
Antibody-mediated (hyperacute and acute), cell-mediated (acute), chronic rejection (chronic)
What are the symptoms of rejection (3)?
General discomfort, uneasiness, or ill feeling; flu-like symptoms (chills, body aches, nausea, cough, shortness of breath); symptoms depending on the transplanted organ (EX: high blood sugar in a pancreas transplant)
What are the characteristics of an hyperacute transplant rejection? What type of reaction is this? When is this often seen?
Antibody mediated
Occurs immediately when preformed anti-blood group antigen or anti-HLA antibodies bind to vascular endothelial cells of a graft
Complement is activated, antibodies against HLA antigens are deposited in the tissue. neutrophils, macrophages, and platelets are attracted to the site causing further damage.
Platelet deposition leads to vascular thrombosis. This is seen in ABO blood type incompatibility
What mediates an acute transplant rejection?
T cell mediated or antibody-mediated
What are the characteristics of a T cell mediated acute rejection reaction?
Occurs within the first week and can last for several weeks.
Antigen presenting cells present donor alloantigens to host T lymphocytes
If APCs are from the donor —> direct pathway to T cell activated
If from the recipient —> indirect pathway T activation
CD8 cells will recognize MHC I molecules, differentiate into mature CTLs, and directly kill graft tissue. CD4 cells will recognize MHC II molecules, differentiate into T helper effector cells, and secrete cytokines to increase vascular permeability, bring immune cells to site, and activate macrophages to cause graft injury
What are the characteristics of antibody-mediated acute reaction?
AKA humoral rejection
-B lymphocytes proliferate and then differentiate into plasma cells
-Plasma cells produce donor-specific antibodies (either newly produced or from pre-transplantation exposure)
-Previous exposure causes the rejection but antibodies develop after transplantation
-complement-fixing antibodies are generated and graft vasculature is targeted causing rejection
What are the characteristics of chronic rejection?
-Occurs over years due to inadequate immunosuppression
-Residual circulating anti-graft T lymp cells or antibodies compromise graft
-causes fibrosis, vascular injury/impaired blood supply, loss of graft function due to T lymphocyte and macrophage infiltration and cytokine production that stimulates fibroblasts
-eventually leads to endothelial smooth muscle thickening and arterial occlusion
What are the 3 fundamental requirements for development of GVHD?
Graft must contain immunologically competent cells, recipient must express antigens that are not present on donor cells, recipient must be immunologically compromised
Why does graft versus host disease occur?
Donor T cells react to HLAs on host cells and attack the transplant recipient’s body
What is the timeline of development of graft-versus-host disease
Can be acute (months) or chronic (years) but typically occurs within first 100 days
What are the symptoms of graft versus host disease?
GI tract- diarrhea, abdominal cramping, nausea, anorexia, possibly GI bleeding
Skin-rash, itching, blisters, and ulcerations. Rash starts on hands and feet and spreads
Liver-jaundice, liver disease
How do you prevent and treat graft rejection?
Immunosuppresion prevents and treats rejection by inhibiting T cell activation and effector functions. You can use cytotoxic drugs, immunosuppressive agents, and anti-T cell antibodies.
Why does autoimmunity occur?
The immune system fails to differentiate self vs nonself
What is self-tolerance?
The ability of the immune system to differentiate self from non-self
What are the 2 processes involved in self-tolerance?
Central tolerance- eliminating auto reactive lymphocytes during maturation in lymphoid tissues, peripheral tolerance- suppression of auto reactive circulating lymphocytes that escaped destruction
What mechanisms are responsible for tissue injury in autoimmunity?
Circulating autoantibodies, immune complexes, and auto reactive T lymphocytes
What are the main factors that impact the development of autoimmunity?
Susceptibility genes and environmental triggers
What sort of mutations are not usually responsible for autoimmunity?
single-gene mutations
When susceptibility genes are in combination with environmental factors, what are you at an increased risk for?
Autoimmunity
In autoimmunity, the expression of inherited genetic variations depends on certain environmental ___. What are some examples of these?
Triggers: viral infections, chemical substances, or self-antigen from host body tissue that was hidden during development and is now suddenly expressed
If disruption of a step during antigen recognition occurs what can happen?
Loss of self-tolerance
What are the 4 ways loss of self-tolerance can happen due to disruption of antigen recognition in autoimmunity?
T-cell anergy- an antigen-specific T cell cannot respond to an appropriate stimulus due to reduced function
Release of sequestered antigens- hidden self-antigens are reintroduced to the immune system
Molecular mimicry- similarities between foreign and self-antigens cause an immune response against auto-antigens
Superantigen formation- presence of a family of substances (staphylococcal and streptococcal exotoxins) can activate T lymphocytes leading to fever, shock, and death
When immune responses function inappropriately, they can cause ___
Tissue injury and disease