Key Terms Flashcards
MSCs
Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cells
Immunomodulation
Any process in which an immune response is altered to a desired level.
Histamine
An organic nitrogenous compound involved in local immune responses, as well as regulating physiological function in the gut and acting as a neurotransmitter for the brain, spinal cord, and uterus. Histamine is involved in the inflammatory response and has a central role as a mediator of itching.
Inflammation
Part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants, and is a protective response involving immune cells, blood vessels, and molecular mediators. The function of inflammation is to eliminate the initial cause of cell injury, clear out necrotic cells and tissues damaged from the original insult and the inflammatory process, and initiate tissue repair.
Anti-inflammatory Activity
the property of a substance or treatment that reduces inflammation or swelling.
Angiogenesis
The development of new blood vessels.
Angio-
Relating to blood vessels
Apoptosis
(from Ancient Greek ἀπόπτωσις “falling off”) is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (morphology) and death.
Antiapoptotic
The quality of something that prevents apoptosis
Secretome
The term secretome was coined by Tjalsma and colleagues to denote all the factors secreted by a cell, along with the secretory pathway constituents.[1] This definition of secretome was revised to include only proteins secreted into the extracellular space.
Soluble
The ability of a substance to be dissolved in a solid, liquid, or gaseous solvent.
Extracellular Vesicles (EVs)
A generic term for all secreted vesicles. EVs may be broadly classified into exosomes, microvesicles (MVs) and apoptotic bodies according to their cellular origin
Apoptotic Body
A vesicle containing parts of a dying cell. Apoptotic bodies can be formed during the execution phase of the apoptotic process, when the cell’s cytoskeleton breaks up and causes the membrane to bulge outward. (1-5 μm)
Exosomes
Cell-derived vesicles that are present in many, and perhaps all, eukaryotic fluids including blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid and cultured medium of cell cultures. Secreted by multivesicular bodies (40-100 nm)
Microvesicles
Derived from plasma membrane shedding. a type of extracellular vesicle, between 50 and 1,000 nanometers (nm) in diameter, found in many types of body fluids as well as the interstitial space between cells. Microvesicles are membrane-bound vesicles containing phospholipids shed from almost all cell types. Not to be confused with smaller intracellularly generated extracellular vesicles known as exosomes. Microvesicles play a role in intercellular communication and can transport mRNA, miRNA, and proteins between cells.
Bone marrow
A semi-solid tissue which may be found within the spongy or cancellous portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production or hematopoiesis. It is composed of hematopoietic cells, marrow adipose tissue, and supportive stromal cells.
Haematopoiesis
The formation of blood cellular components. All cellular blood components are derived from haematopoietic stem cells.
HSCs
Hematopoietic Stem Cells
BM
Bone Marrow
MVs
Microvesicles
EVs
Extracellular Vesicles
Hematopoietic Stem Cells
An immature cell that can develop into all types of blood cells, including white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. Hematopoietic stem cells are found in the peripheral blood and the bone marrow. Also called blood stem cell.
Platelets
The cells that circulate within our blood and bind together when they recognize damaged blood vessels. When you get a cut, for example, the platelets bind to the site of the damaged vessel, thereby causing a blood clot.
Tissue Homeostasis
A homeostatic process involved in the maintenance of an internal steady state within a defined tissue of an organism, including control of cellular proliferation and death and control of metabolic function.
Steady State
While homeostasis refers to the entire internal environment, the term steady state can be restricted to describing specific mechanisms. A cell is in homeostasis because every mechanism that keeps it alive is in a steady state.
Homeostasis
The maintenance in an animal of a “constant internal milieu,” that is, a relatively constant internal environment, despite changes to the external environment.
Pathology
The science of the causes and effects of diseases, especially the branch of medicine that deals with the laboratory examination of samples of body tissue for diagnostic or forensic purposes.
Pathological Process
An organic process occurring as a consequence of disease.
Senescence
The condition or process of deterioration with age.
Inflammatory Disease
A vast array of disorders and conditions that are characterized by inflammation. Examples include allergy, asthma, autoimmune diseases, coeliac disease, glomerulonephritis, hepatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, preperfusion injury and transplant rejection.
Pathogen
A bacterium, virus, or other microorganism that can cause disease.
Exogenous
Growing or originating from outside an organism.
Immune System Cells
The response to pathogens is orchestrated by the complex interactions and activities of the large number of diverse cell types involved in the immune response. The innate immune response is the first line of defense and occurs soon after pathogen exposure. It is carried out by phagocytic cells such as neutrophils and macrophages, cytotoxic natural killer (NK) cells, and granulocytes. The subsequent adaptive immune response includes antigen-specific defense mechanisms and may take days to develop. Cell types with critical roles in adaptive immunity are antigen-presenting cells including macrophages and dendritic cells. Antigen-dependent stimulation of various cell types including T cell subsets, B cells, and macrophages all play critical roles in host defense.
Transcriptional Regulation
The means by which a cell regulates the conversion of DNA to RNA (transcription), thereby orchestrating gene activity.
Collagen
Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body. It is the major component of connective tissues that make up several body parts, including tendons, ligaments, skin and muscles. Collagen has many important functions, including providing your skin with structure and strengthening your bones.
Fibroblast
A type of biological cell that synthesizes the extracellular matrix and collagen, produces the structural framework (stroma) for animal tissues, and plays a critical role in wound healing. Fibroblasts are the most common cells of connective tissue in animals.
Fibroblast Proliferation
Rapid increase in numbers of fibroblasts.
Platelet Activation
When platelets are circulating through vessels with an intact, healthy endothelium, the platelets remain in their original, unactivated state. The absence of activating factors and the release of prostacyclin (prostaglandin I2) by the healthy endothelium supports this state.
However, when a platelet encounters a break in the endothelium, it encounters molecules that trigger its activation. One such molecule is collagen, which is characteristically found almost everywhere except inside a blood vessel. In addition, thromboxane A2, ADP and thrombin are other factors that trigger the same activation.
Fibrinolysis
the enzymatic breakdown of the fibrin in blood clots.
Fibrin
an insoluble protein formed from fibrinogen during the clotting of blood. It forms a fibrous mesh that impedes the flow of blood.
Fibrogen
a soluble protein present in blood plasma, from which fibrin is produced by the action of the enzyme thrombin.
Thrombin
a serine protease that converts fibrinogen into fibrin in blood coagulation. The precursor of thrombin, prothrombin (inactive zymogen), is one of the several coagulation proteins containing γ‐carboxyglutamic acid.
Serine
a non-essential amino acid occurring in natural form as the L-isomer. It is synthesized from GLYCINE or THREONINE. It is involved in the biosynthesis of PURINES; PYRIMIDINES; and other amino acids.
Protease
an enzyme which breaks down proteins and peptides
T-cells
a lymphocyte of a type produced or processed by the thymus gland and actively participating in the immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes, such as B cells and natural killer cells, by the presence of a T-cell receptor on the cell surface. They are called T cells because they mature in the thymus from thymocytes (although some also mature in the tonsils). The several subsets of T cells each have a distinct function. The majority of human T cells, termed alpha beta T cells (αβ T cells), rearrange their alpha and beta chains on the cell receptor and are part of the adaptive immune system. Specialized gamma delta T cells, (a small minority of T cells in the human body, more frequent in ruminants), have invariant T-cell receptors with limited diversity, that can effectively present antigens to other T cells and are considered to be part of the innate immune system.
Lymphocyte
a form of small leukocyte (white blood cell) with a single round nucleus, occurring especially in the lymphatic system.
Thymus gland
Located behind your sternum and between your lungs, is only active until puberty. After puberty, the thymus starts to slowly shrink and become replaced by fat. Thymosin is the hormone of the thymus, and it stimulates the development of disease-fighting T cells.
Macrophages
A large phagocytic cell found in stationary form in the tissues or as a mobile white blood cell, especially at sites of infection.
Phagocyte
cells that protect the body by ingesting harmful foreign particles, bacteria, and dead or dying cells. Their name comes from the Greek phagein, “to eat” or “devour”, and “-cyte”, the suffix in biology denoting “cell”, from the Greek kutos, “hollow vessel”. They are essential for fighting infections and for subsequent immunity. Phagocytes are important throughout the animal kingdom and are highly developed within vertebrates.
Neutrophil
A neutrophilic white blood cell.
Neutrophilic
(of a cell or its contents) readily stained only by neutral dyes.
Immunosuppression
the partial or complete suppression of the immune response of an individual. It is induced to help the survival of an organ after a transplant operation.
Dendritic Cells
Dendritic cells (DCs) are antigen-presenting cells (also known as accessory cells) of the mammalian immune system. Their main function is to process antigen material and present it on the cell surface to the T cells of the immune system. They act as messengers between the innate and the adaptive immune systems.
Antigen
a toxin or other foreign substance which induces an immune response in the body, especially the production of antibodies.
Immunoglobulin (Ig)G
(Also known as antibodies) any of a class of proteins present in the serum and cells of the immune system, which function as antibodies. Antibody is a large, Y-shaped protein produced mainly by plasma cells that is used by the immune system to neutralize pathogens such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the pathogen, called an antigen, via the Fab’s variable region.
B Cells
Also known as B lymphocytes, are a type of white blood cell of the lymphocyte subtype. They function in the humoral immunity component of the adaptive immune system by secreting antibodies. Additionally, B cells present antigen (they are also classified as professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs)) and secrete cytokines. In mammals, B cells mature in the bone marrow.
BXSB Mice
BXSB mice develop a spontaneous autoimmune syndrome similar to lupus, which is accelerated in males (BXSB males have the mutant Yaa-containing Y chromosome). These mice may be useful in applications related to systemic lupus erythematosus.
Human Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Also known simply as lupus(in humans), is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary between people and may be mild to severe. Common symptoms include painful and swollen joints, fever, chest pain, hair loss, mouth ulcers, swollen lymph nodes, feeling tired, and a red rash which is most commonly on the face.
Intracardiac
situated or occurring within or introduced or involving entry into the heart. //an intracardiac shunt
Allogeneic
denoting, relating to, or involving tissues or cells that are genetically dissimilar and hence immunologically incompatible, although from individuals of the same species
