Introduction to the Immune System 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What are some vital things pathogens need to be able to survive in our body?

A

Lots of nutrients
Correct temperature and PH
Water

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2
Q

What does our immune system provide protection from?

A

Pathogens and parasites

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3
Q

Give some examples of pathogens

A
  1. Bacteria
  2. Viruses
  3. Fungi
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4
Q

Give some oral diseases that are caused by bacteria

A

Congenital syphallis
Periodontal disease
Hutchinsons incisors

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5
Q

Give some oral diseases that are caused by viruses

A

Primary herpetic gingiostomatitis

Kaposi’s sarcoma

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6
Q

Give some oral diseases that are caused by fungi

A

Oral thrush

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7
Q

What is kaposi’s sarcoma

A

It is a tumour associated with HIV

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8
Q

Give some examples of parasites

A
  1. Helminths

2. Protozoa

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9
Q

Give some oral diseases that are caused by Protozoa

A

Entamoeba gingivalis

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10
Q

Vertebrate immune defences has how many immune layers

A

3 layers:

  1. Physical and biochemical barriers
  2. Innate immune system
  3. Adaptive immune system
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11
Q

Describe the physical barriers we have to disease

A

They are provided by our epithelial layers like skin and mucosal layers

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12
Q

What initiated the adaptive immune system?

A

The innate system

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13
Q

What are the 2 types of physical defences

A

Strong external barriers

More vulnerable mucosal membranes

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14
Q

Give examples of strong external barriers

A
  1. Skin
  2. Nails
  3. Hair
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15
Q

Give examples of more vulnerable mucosal membranes

A
  1. Oral mucosa
  2. Sinuses
  3. Respiratory tract
  4. Kidneys
  5. Bladder
  6. Intenstines
  7. Eyes and oral cavity
  8. Gastrointestinal tract
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16
Q

What type of barriers do surface epithelia provide to infection?

A
Provides
1. mechanical
2. chemical 
3. microbiological 
barriers to infection
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17
Q

What type of mechanical barrier does the skin provide in response to infection?

A
  1. Have epithelial cells joined by tight junctions

2. Longitudinal flow of air or fluid

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18
Q

What type of chemical barrier does the skin provide in response to infection?

A
  1. The epithelial cells produce fatty acid

2. They also produce beta defensives lamellar bodies and cathelicidin

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19
Q

What type of mechanical barrier does the gut provide in response to infection?

A
  1. Have epithelial cells joined by tight junctions

2. Longitudinal flow of air or fluid

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20
Q

What type of chemical barrier does the gut provide in response to infection?

A
  1. Has a low pH
  2. Produces enzymes like pepsin
  3. Produce alpha defensins (cryptdins), reg III and cathelicidin
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21
Q

What type of mechanical barrier do the lungs provide in response to infection?

A
  1. Have epithelial cells joined by tight junctions

2. Have cilia that move mucosa

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22
Q

What type of chemical barrier do the lungs provide in response to infection?

A
  1. Pulmonary surfactant

2. Produce alpha defensins and cathelicidin

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23
Q

What type of mechanical barrier do the eyes nose and oral cavity provide in response to infection?

A
  1. Have epithelial cells joined by tight junctions
  2. They eyes produce tears
  3. Nasal cilia
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24
Q

What type of chemical barrier do the eyes nose and oral cavity provide in response to infection?

A
  1. Enzymes in tears and saliva- lysozyme

2. Produce histatins and beta defensins

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25
Q

What type of enzyme is lysozyme?

A

glycosidase enzymes

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26
Q

What is lysozyme most active against?

A

Gram positive bacteria

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27
Q

Give examples of some gram positive bacteria

A

Streptococcus mutans (cariogenic).

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28
Q

Why is lysozyme more active against gram positive bacteria?

A

As it is easier to get to heir peptidoglycan layer

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29
Q

What does lysozyme cleave?

A

The bonds between different types of sugars

It digest peptidoglycan

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30
Q

What does the activity of lysozyme end up exposing?

A

A portion of the lipid bilayer in the bacterial cell membrane

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31
Q

What is the exposed portion of bacterial lipid bilayer vulnerable to?

A

Invasion from other molecules like antimicrobial peptides

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32
Q

What are antimicrobial peptides synthesised as?

A

As inactive proform

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33
Q

What is a zymogen?

A

An inactive form of an enzyme usually needs proteolytic cut to become active

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34
Q

What are the 3 types of antimicrobial peptides present in humans?

A
  1. Defensins
  2. Cathelicidins
  3. Histatins
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35
Q

Describe defensins

A
  1. They are amphipathic

2. They are insertion in membranes that generate pores causing membranes to become leaky killing the bacterial cell

36
Q

What are the different types of defensins we may have?

A

Alpha defensins produces by specialised innate immune cells

Beta defensins produced by epithelial cells

37
Q

Describe Cathelicidins

A
  1. It’s amphipathic
  2. It causes membrane disruption
  3. Has immuno-regulatory properties
38
Q

What type of cathelicidins do humans possess?

A

LL-37 ONLY

39
Q

What are Histatins produced by?

A

The parotid, sublingual and submandibular glands

40
Q

Describe Histatins

A
  1. They are Histadine rich

2. They are active against fungal pathogen

41
Q

Describe the response speed of the innate system

A

Minutes to hours

Innate system is always present

42
Q

Describe the response speed of the adaptive system

A

Takes usually 4 days to initiated

It is usually silent and needs a response to be activated

43
Q

Describe how the innate immune system recognises what it wants to attack

A
  • Has limited range of antigen receptors
  • The efficiency of recognising non self cells does not change during or after the response
  • The antigens are encoded in our genome
44
Q

Describe how the adaptive immune system recognises what it wants to attack

A
  • Has a vast range of antigen receptors
  • The efficiency of the antigen receptor recognising non self cells improves
  • The matured antigen receptors are not encoded in our genome so cannot be passed to your offspring
45
Q

What is our immune system essentially doing when it is recognising what needs to be attacked?

A

It is determining what is a host cell and what is a non self cell by using the antigens present on cells

46
Q

Describe the lasting protecting/ memory of the innate immune system

A

It has no memory

47
Q

How does our immune system recognise what is self and non self?

A

By using antigens which are proteins on the surface of all cells

48
Q

Describe the lasting protecting/ memory of the adaptive immune system

A

Provides immunity for years as it produces memory cells

49
Q

In which group is the earliest form the adaptive immune system present?

A

Present in the Agnathans group (include lamprey)

50
Q

Phyla that were formed before the agnathans have what type of immunity?

A

Only innate

51
Q

What does the innate immune system provide?

A

Provides initial defences
It limits pathogen proliferation and spread.
It can control less virulent pathogens.

52
Q

What is an important job of the innate immune system?

A

It induced the adaptive immune response

53
Q

What does PMN stand for?

A

Polymorphonuclear neutrophils

54
Q

Approx how much encoding space do we have in our genome?

A

25,000

55
Q

What problem is caused due to the large diversity of pathogens?

A

We cannot encode all the different pathogen antigens into our gremlin as there is not enough space in out genome

56
Q

What does immunological memory give us?

A

Immunological memory gives more efficient and effective immune response to previously seen pathogens.

57
Q

When was the compliment system discovered and by who?

A

Discovered in 1890s by Jules Bordet

58
Q

What are the functions of the compliment system?

A
  1. Facilitates recognition of bacteria by phagocytes

2. Can directly lyse bacteria

59
Q

What do phagocytic cells do?

A

They engulf bacterial then digest and degrade them

60
Q

Approx how many plasma proteins make up the complement system?

A

Over 30

61
Q

What does the compliment system work as?

A

A zymogen activation cascade

62
Q

What does the detection of a few pathogens do to the number of phagocytes?

A

It leads to a rapid, amplified response

63
Q

Define pathogen

A

A microorganism that causes disease (pathology) when it infects a host, includes bacteria, viruses, fungi.

64
Q

Define self

A

A structure or molecule that is derived from the host

65
Q

Define non-self

A

A Component or molecule that is immunologically recognised as foreign.

66
Q

How many pathways are there to activate the compliment systems?

A

3

67
Q

What are the 3 pathways that can activate the compliment systems?

A
  1. The lectin pathway
  2. The classical pathway
  3. The alternative pathway
68
Q

Where do all 3 pathways converge?

A

Onto a single enzymatic activity which is called the C3 convertsase activity

69
Q

On to what activity do all three pathways converge to?

A

The C3 convertase activity

70
Q

What does C3 convertase do?

A

It cleavages C3 to form C3a and C3b which in turn mediates release of C5a.

71
Q

What are the three outcomes of the single convergence to C3 converts activity

A
  1. C3a and C5a recruit phagocytic cells to the sire of infection prompting inflammation
  2. Phagocytes with receptors for C3b engulf and destroy the pathogen more efficiently
  3. Completion of the complement cascade leads to formation of MAC which disturbs cell membrane and causes cell lysisi
72
Q

What does MAC stand for

A

Membrane-attack complex

73
Q

Which of the 3 pathways was discovered first?

A

The classical pathway

74
Q

What initiates the classical pathway?

A

When C1q interacts with a pathogen surface or with antibodies bound to the surface

75
Q

What forms the C1 complex?

A

C1q, C1r, C1s

76
Q

What does the classical pathway lead to?

A

Formation of the C3 convertase activity

77
Q

What initiates the alternative pathway?

A

C3 undergoes spontaneous hydrolysis to C3(H2O)

This initiates the eventual deposition of C3 convertase the microbial surfaces

78
Q

What makes up the complex formed in the alternative pathway?

A

Factor D
Factor B
Factor P
These 3 form C3bBb

79
Q

What initiates the lectin pathway?

A

Mannose- binding lectin (MBL) and ficolins recognise and bind to carbohydrates on pathogen surfaces

80
Q

What does the lectin pathway lead to?

A

Formation of the C3 convertase activity

81
Q

C3 is broken down into _______ and _______ by ____________

A
  1. C3a
  2. C3b
  3. C3 convertase
82
Q

C3a and C5a act as what?

A

Anaphylatoxins

83
Q

C3a and C5a do what?

A

They attract innate cells to where they are needed

84
Q

What does C3b?

A

Help the phagocytes see pathogens that need to be engulfed

85
Q

What does C5b do?

A

Forms a complex with C6, C7 and C8 and this complex inserts itself into the membrane of the bacterial cell
This then recruits a lot of molecules of C9 leading to pores forming in the bacterial membrane causing leakage and eventually death

86
Q

What activates a zygmogen?

A

Another proteolytic enzyme must cut (cleave) it