(LE3) Innate Immunology Flashcards
What are the body’s 3 lines of defense?
- mechanical and chemical barriers
- Innate immune response
- adaptive immune response
What are your non-specific defenses?
Mechanical & chemical barriers
Innate immune response
- not pathogen-specific, always present, can activate adaptive immune response
What are your specific defenses?
Adaptive immune response
- pathogen-specific, builds up slowly in response to pathogen, can enhance innate defenses
How does skin act as a mechanical barrier?
- prevents pathogens from entering
- some bacteria gain entry through sebaceous glands, hair follicles, etc.
- Hookworm can burrow through intact skin
What are “flushing” mechanisms?
- tears, saliva, urination, diarrhea, ciliary escalator
How is lysozyme a chemical barrier?
Degrades peptidoglycan
- Tears, saliva, sweat
How is sebum a chemical barrier?
Low pH due to fatty acids
- skin oil glands
How does salt work as a chemical barrier?
Causes plasmolysis in prokaryotes
- sweat, tears
How does the stomach work as a chemical barrier?
Has a low gastric pH
What chemical barriers are in your blood?
Transferrin- bind to free Fe+
What do neutrophils do?
Phagocytosis
- first responders to infection
- 60-70% of all leukocytes
- aka “polymorphonuclear neutrophils”
What do Basophils do?
release histamine
- involved in inflammation and allergy response
What do Eosinophils do?
Anti-parasitic
- also involved in allergy response
What do monocytes do?
Found in blood. Mature into macrophages when they enter tissue -> phagocytosis
- macrophages involved in both innate and adaptive immune response
What do dendritic cells do?
Phagocytosis
- non-circulating cells (not in blood)
- important to activate adaptive immune response
What are natural killer cells?
- recognize foreign glycoproteins on surfaces of virus-infected cells
- Secrete perforin and granzyme -> destroy infected cells and pathogen (collateral damage)