Intro to Immune System and Innate Immunity Flashcards
Cells and structure of immune system Cell migration and cytokines
What is immunity defined as?
- resistance to infectious disease
What is the immune system defined as?
- Collection of cells, tissues, and molecules that mediate resistance to infections.
What is the most important physiological function of the immune system?
- to PREVENT infections
- to ERADICATE established infections
What is innate immunity also called?
- Natural or native immunity
- Always present in healthy individuals
What is adaptive immunity also called?
- Specific or acquired immunity
- Adapts based on the pathogen
- Lymphocytes have to differentiate (B and T)
Is innate or adaptive immunity phylogenetically older?
- Innate is phylogenically older
What does the innate immune system consist of ?
- Physical barriers (epithelial barrier)
- complement proteins
- Natural Killer Cells
- Phagocytes
- Complement Proteins
- Dendritic Cells
What does the adaptive immune system consist of?
- Lymphoctyes (B + T) and antibodies (or products)
What are antigens defined as and what can they be produced by (2)?
- Molecue that binds to an antibody OR TCR
- Produced by microbes or non infectious things`
What is one of the most important roles of antibodies?
- To stop the microbes in blood and lumen (muscoal organs) from getting into the HOST CELLS and CONNECTIVE TISSUES thus destroying them
Can antibodies get into and destroy cells that already have the microbes inside?
NO! Cell-mediated immunity now comes in with T cells
What is passive immunity and an example of it?
- Naive person receives antibodies (or cells) from someone already immune to infection
- E.g. Newborns with placenta and breast milk antibodies
Which are the only 2 diseases (pathogens) to be eradicated by vaccination?
- Smallpox
- rinderpest
Which types of diseases can be a candidate for vaccination (one criteria)?
- Diseases with NO intermediate host
What is a proper definition for innate immunity?
- The system of immunity that can respond with pathogens very quickly and relies on mechanisms that are inbuilt and respond in essentially the same manner with the same exposure to pathogen
What is an antigen?
- Any substance that is recognised by lymphocytes or antibodies
What is the specific term that defines the ability of the immune system to recognise a large number of antigens?
-Diversity
What is a naiive T lymphocyte known as?
- It has all features of a T cell but hasn’t been activated yet.
- It is fully developed and left thymus
What is a T cell that is undergoing development in thymus called?
- Thymocyte
What is the estimated number of naive lymphocytes that can react against an antigen?
- 1 in 100 000 cells
What are CD4+ T cells known as?
- T helper cells
What are CD8+ T cells known as?
- Cytotoxic T cells
What do regulatory T lymphocytes do?
- Prevent/limit immune responses
Which type of cell is a key link between the adaptive and innate immune responses?
- Dendritic cells (present antigen to T cell
What do plasmablasts do?
- Produce antibodies, even after infection has gone, to provide immediate protection
What do CD4+ T cells produce?
- Cytokines (activates the B cells, macrophages, and other cells, thus ‘helping’)
What do the peripheral lymphoid organs consist of?
- Lymph nodes, Spleen, mucosal and cutaneous immune systems.
What is the general function of M cells in the small intestine?
- To transport antigens from the gut lumen to underlying tissues
What are lymph nodes?
- Nodular aggregates of lymphoid tissues (encapsulated)
What is the B cell zone in the lymph node known as?
- Primary lymphoid follicle
What is the T cell zone in the lymph node known as?
- Parafollicular cortex
What are two anatomically defined MUCOSAL lymphoid tissues?
- Pharyngeal tonsils
- Peyer’s patches (intestine)
When do cutaneous and muscosal tissues come into action in an immune response (general)?
- When the antigens have gone through the epithelia
Where are FDCs (Follicular Dendritic Cells-activation of B cells) located?
- In the lymph node follicle
Which area of the lymph node are dendritic cells (present antigen to T cell) located?
- Paracortex
What is the function of chemokines?
- Attract B cells into the follicles–> bind to CXCR5 receptor on B cells (Naive B cels)
What are chemokines for B cells secreted by?
- FDCs (Follicular dendritic cells)
What are antibody secreting cells known as?
-Plasmablasts
What do CD4 T cells produce that helps activate other cells?
- Cytokines
Are effector T cells long or short lived?
- Short lived (die when antigen is eliminated)
Can the innate immune system combat microbes upon first infection?
- YES!!
- Instructs adaptive on how to respond to eraticate microbes
Does the innate immune system initiate removal of DEAD tissues and repair?
- YES!!
What does the specificity of the innate immune system allow it to recognise?
- PAMPs and DAMPs
What does PAMP stand for?
- Pathogen Associated Molecular Pattern
What does DAMP stand for?
- Damage Associated Molecular Pattern
What are the innate immune receptors encoded by?
- Encoded in the germline (i.e. not much diversity)
What are adaptive immune response receptors encoded by?
- Genes from SOMATIC RECOMBINATION of gene segments (much more diversity)
What are two effects that extracellular PRRs can have on macrophages?
- Engulf the pathogen and release lysosomal content which is acidic and kills pathogen
- Send signals to nucleus to secrete cytokines/interferons (for virus infected cells)
Which types of extracellular PRRs (3 types) cause macrophage to engulf the pathogen and release lysosomal content?
- formydyl peptide receptors, mannose receptors, and Scavenger receptors
Which type of extracellular PRRs (1 type) allow macrophages to send signals to nucleus to secrete cytokines/interferons?
- TLR
- Toll Like Receptors (signalling receptors)
What are intracellular PRRs that cause release of cytokines or death of cell?
- NOD-like receptors
What are the two main types of reactions for the innate immune system?
- Inflammation
- Antiviral defense
Does the innate system remember prior encounters of pathogen?
NO!
What are Pattern Recognition Receptors?
- receptors in innate immunity that recognise shared structures (PAMPs) e.g. dsRNA in virus
What will the innate immune system do if it identifies DAMPs?
- Eliminate damaged cells and begin tissue repair
What does ‘clonally distributed’ mean?
- Each clone of B & T lymphocytes has different receptor specific for particular antigen
what does ‘non-clonally distributed’ mean?
- IDENTICAL receptors expressed on all cells of certain lineage (e.g. macrophages)
Which 4 stages of infection can innate immunity provide protection? (not in chronological order)
- Portals of entry for microbes (e.g. epithelia, antimicrobial molecules)
- Tissues: Microbes detected by dendritic cells and macrophages
- Blood: Complement plasma proteins—> promote microbe destruction
- Viruses: Inhibit infection of other cells (NKC can kill)
What does TLR-2 target and where in cell is it found?
- Bacterial lipoglycans
- Found on cell surface
What does TLR 3,7,8 recognise and where are they found in cells?
- Viral nucleic acids (dsRNA)
- Found INTRAcellularly in endosomes
What does TLR-4 recognise and where in the cell is it found?
- recognises bacterial LPS (endotoxin) –> gram neg. bacterial surface
- found on cell surface
What does TLR-5 recognise and where in the cell is it found, as well as where in the body is it found?
- recognises bacterial flagellin (gram neg. bacteria)
- found on cell surface
- Found in epithelial cells in lungs and gut and in dendritic cells in intestine
What does TLR-9 recognise and where in the cell is it?
- recognises unmethylated CpG oligonucleotides (more in microbial DNA than mammalian)
- found intracellularly
What happens when TLRs recognise something?
- Transcription factors activated
- expression of genes–> cytokines, enzymes etc. `
What is NF-kB (nuclear factor-k-light chain enhancer) and what does it cause?
- Transcription factor that is activated by TLR signals
- Allows expression of cytokines, Adhesion molecules and IRF (interferon regulating factors)