Michaelmas Flashcards
What is the difference between aetiology and pathogenesis?
Aetiology - causes of disease
Pathogenesis - how diseases develop
What are the various factors causing disease?
Lack of ATP, O2
Trauma
Excessive immune response
What is oxidative stress?
Production of ROS and NO, damaging cells
What are the consequences of reperfusion injury?
Damage to cells when oxygenated blood returns
Can lead to inflammation and recruitment of leukocytes
What are the downstream affects of impaired energy homeostasis?
Na/K activity decreases, causing build up
Glycolysis resulting in a build up of lactic acid
Ribosome detachment
What factors affect cellular response to injury?
Type, duration and severity of injury
What are the cellular responses to stress?
Atrophy- reduce size
Hypertrophy - increase size
Hyperplasia- increase number
Metaplasia - replace cell type with another
What are examples of positive and negative stresses on cells?
Positive- preganancy, high intensity workouts
Negative - swelling, injury, exposure to toxic chemicals
What are the key protein-related mechanisms cells use to respond to stress? (4)
- Heat shock proteins - activation of heat shock factors (HSF), and HSP for stress resistance
- Unfolded protein response - synthesis of chaperones to ensure correct folding
- Ubiquitin degradation of unfolded proteins
- Stress-kinase pathway - Activation of JNK/SAPK and p38 kinase pathway
What are the distinguishing characteristics between necrosis and apoptosis?
Necrosis - uncontrolled, leads to inflammation
Apoptosis - controlled, occurs intrinsically, or can be extrinsically activated
What is the definition of commensals in the context of organisms, and what distinguishes them from harmful pathogens?
Commensals refer to organisms that benefit from another without causing harm. Unlike harmful pathogens, commensals coexist without causing disease.
What characterizes sterile inflammation, and under what conditions does it occur?
Sterile inflammation is inflammation that occurs with no microbial target. Triggered by non-infectious factors, such as tissue damage or autoimmune responses.
When do opportunistic pathogens typically cause disease?
Rarely causes disease unless host defence is compromised
How much of the human genome is involved in defense?
10% of human genes
What is the energy usage difference between the resting and activated immune systems?
1600kJ resting, and activated 6000kJ
Describe the different immune responses for extracellular and intracellular pathogens.
For extracellular pathogens, phagocytes and antibodies
For intracellular pathogens, often leads to cell death
What are some examples of physical and chemical barriers?
Skin
Mucus
Keratin
How does innate immunity differ from adaptive immunity?
Innate immunity is immediate and poised for action, involving components like macrophages
Adaptive immunity takes time to develop but has a faster secondary response, and involves B and T cells
What are the steps in the acute inflammatory response?
- Breaching of barriers
- Release of PAMPs
- Detection by cells containing PRR
- Release of histamines
What are the physical and secretory components of epithelial barriers?
Physical include - squamous epithelia, cilia, and keratin
Secretory - mucus, stomach acid, and antimicrobial enzymes
What are the key cell types in the myeloid and lymphoid lineages?
Myeloid lineage includes - macrophages, dendritic cells, mast cells, neutrophils, basophils, and eosinophils
Lymphoid lineage includes - NK cells, B and T cells
What are the features of cytokines?
Redundancy
Pleiotropism - many effects
Antagonism - block each other
Synergy - work together
What are the three main groups of cytokines?
Interferons
Interleukins
Tumour necrosis factors (TNF)
What are the characteristics of Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns (PAMPs)?
High conserved, essential for pathogen survival
Examples: DNA, flagellin, coat proteins
What is the role of Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRR), and where are they located?
Germ line receptors located either intracellularly (endosome) or on the cell membrane
Stimulate phagocytosis and immune responses
Describe the Toll-like receptor family, including the types of TLRs and their locations
Types of PRR, dimerises, phosphorylates TF, activates production of cytokines
e.g. TLR4 detects Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from gram-negative bacteria
TLR 3,7,8,9 are located on endosomes, mainly for viruses that have inserted their genome
What are some examples of other PRRs?
C-type lectin receptors (CLR) for fungal infections
Cytosolic NOD-like receptors (NLRs) that detect PAMPs and DAMPs in the cytoplasm
What is the role of the inflammasome?
NOD-like receptors assemble a protease containing Casp-1 instead of a signaling cascade for transcription factor activation
Casp1 cleaves interleukins, activating inflammation
What are Damage-Associated Molecular Patterns (DAMPs)?
Molecules released from damaged tissue
e.g. DNA, heat shock proteins, damage mitochondria
What are mast cells, and what role do they play in the inflammatory response?
Prebound to IgE, trigger inflammation rapidly by the release of histamine during degranulation.
Also secrete prostaglandins
What functions do macrophages perform in the immune response?
Phagocytose microbes and produce cytokines
e.g. IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6
What is the role of dendritic cells in the immune response?
Memory cells that take antigens to the lymph node to activate T cells, which, in turn, activate B cells.
What are the steps involved in the recruitment of leukocytes from blood vessels?
Rolling, tight adhesion, diapedesis (extravasation), and migration (down CXCL8 gradient)
Selectins, integrins, and IgSF facilitate this movement.
What are the beneficial and pathogenic effects of TNF-α?
TNF-α has beneficial effects such as stopping pathogen entry but can lead to hyper-response, causing sepsis.
TNF-α triggers blood clotting, leading to organ failure
What are the passive and active methods for switching off inflammation?
Passive - utilizing the short half-lives of mediators and neutrophils
Active- macrophages switching from pro to anti-inflammatory states, the release of anti-inflammatory cytokines, and lipid mediator class-switch.
What processes are involved in repair and healing?
Macrophages phagocytosing debris
Producing ROS and NO
Recruiting fibroblasts, and angiogenesis
Fibroblasts increase collagen synthesis
What is the process of activation in the Antigen-Antibody (Classical) reaction, and what are the outcomes?
C1 recognises antigen-antibody interaction, this leads to the activation of a C3 convertase which increases chances of the C3 threshold being reached
Describe the alternative complement pathway
Spontaneous hydrolysis of C3 to C3a and C3b occurs, addition to a component of Factor B forms C3bBb
Describe the lectin-mannose complement pathway
Triggered by mannose on Nisseria, forms the Mannose Binding Lectin Associated Serine Protease (MASP). This triggers the conversion of C3 to C3a and C3b
What are the effects of the complement pathway?
Opsonisation - C3b flags, to aid phagocytosis
Cell lysis (MAC, C5b6789)
Chemotaxis - via C5a
Activation of mast cells (C3a, C4a, C5a)
What are the regulatory controls for the complement pathway?
Short half-life
Properdin factor P (promotes)
Factor I degrades
Membrane cofactor protein (MCP) and DAF dissociates C3bBb so Factor I can bind
Factor H binds to sialic acid, flags as mammalian cell, dissociates C3bBb
Protectin stops MAC formation
What are examples of complement deficiencies and what do they lead to?
C1-C4 = Immune complex, unable to clear
C5-C9 =Susceptibility to Neisseria
Factor I and H = C3 depletion
DAF, Protectin = Auto-immune diseases
What is adaptive immunity, and what are its components?
Adaptive immunity recognises pathogens with specificity, and can create a memory response. Components are B and T cells
What is clonal expansion, and when does it occur?
Proliferation and differentiation of lymphocytes
Occurs when lymphocytes are activated by binding specifically to a complementary antigen.
What are B lymphocytes, and what is their role in the immune system?
B cells are generated in the bone marrow, and activated in germinal centres in secondary lymph nodes.
Then can differentiate in plasma cells and secrete antibodies
What are their variable and constant regions on antibodies responsible for?
Variable regions interact with antigens
Constant regions recruit effector functions.
What are the three main antibody effects?
Neutralization blocks biological activity
Opsonization coats pathogens to enhance phagocytosis
Complement activation recruits complement for immune responses.
What are T lymphocytes, where are they generated and mature?
Produced in the bone marrow and maturate in the thymus
What is the function of Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Class I?
Present internal antigens to CD8 Cytotoxic T cell
What is the function of MHC Class II?
Present external antigens to CD4 T cells
What are the three signals required for T cell activation?
TCR recognition of MHC
B7/CD28 interaction
Cytokine stimulation
What is the route dendrites take from the site of damage, to activating the immune system?
Dendrites travel via afferent vessel to the lymph node to the T cell area
T cells are activated and TfH interact with B cells in the germinal centre
This activates the B cells, and the dendritic cells leave via a vein
Describe the structure of antibodies
Variable light chain, specific to antigen (shows bispecificity)
Variable heavy chain, determines effector function (IgE, IgA, IgG, IgM, IgD)
What forms the antigen-binding site of antibodies, and what are the domains involved?
Antigen-binding site: interaction between heavy and light chain domains.
Domains are known as Complementary Determining Regions (CDRs), with CDR1-3, and CDR3 being the most variable.
How is antibody diversity generated?
- Somatic gene arrangement/recombination (VDJ).
- ALLELIC Exclusion- Different heavy and light chain combinations (2 types of light chains k and λ).
- Variable addition and losses of nucleotides.
- Somatic hypermutation by Activation Induced Deaminase (AID) in germinal centers.
Describe the process of somatic recombination in the generation of heavy chain diversity.
Rearrangement of multiple gene segments during B cell development, leading to sequence variation.
VDJ segments account for the variation in CDR3, allowing for 2 million variations.
Explain the process of affinity maturation in the germinal centers
- B cells endocytose the antigen and BCR.
2.Antigen is broken down. - Peptides are presented on MHCII to T follicular helper (TfH) cells.
- TfH recognizes and presents CD40L to CD40 receptor on B cell.
- Activated B cell moves into the dark zone of the germinal center.
- In the dark zone, B cells undergo proliferation.
- B cells move out into the light zone, competing for the antigen.
- Follicular Dendritic Cells (FDC) display the antigens.
- High affinity B cells undergo clonal expansion, maturation
- Differentiated cells include plasma cells, long-lived plasma cells, and memory B cells.
What is the purpose of corroboration of non-self in the immune response?
Corroboration involves Dendritic cells, T (CD4) helper cells, and B cells presenting to each other to confirm that the antigen is non-self. Tackle autoimmunity
What is isotype switching, and what does it involve?
Switching constant regions
Original immunoglobulin formed is either IgM or IgD, followed by a change in constant regions to IgG, IgA, or IgE isotypes
How is alternative splicing involved in antibody generation?
Generates both B cell receptors (BCR) and soluble antibodies
Addition of a polyA tail to the mRNA transcript determines whether the antibody will be released as a soluble form
Define affinity and avidity in the context of antibodies.
Affinity- interaction between the antibody binding site and the epitope of the antigen.
Avidity- strength of interaction due to polyvalent epitopes, representing the sum of individual affinities
Name the specific activities associated with each antibody isotype.
IgE = Priming mast cell for degranulation
IgA = delivery of antibodies to mucosal surfaces
IgG= Opsonization, ADCC, activation of eosinophils
IgM = Opsonization, activation of complement
IgD = corroboration of non-self
What are the similarities and differences between Class I and Class II MHC?
Similarities:
- Both are cell surface glycoproteins.
- Both present peptides.
- Both are trans-membrane.
Differences:
-Class II has 2 trans-membrane components, while Class I has 1.
-Class II has α1 and β1 distal and α2 and β proximal, whereas Class I has a β2-microglobulin and α3 proximal, then α1 and α2 distal.
What is the role of the peptide binding groove in MHC molecules?
The groove is the location where peptides bind with high specificity
Class I:
-Has 6 groove pockets labeled A-F.
-Presents 8-9 amino acid length peptides.
Class II:
- Has an open-ended groove.
-Presents 13-25 amino acid length peptides.
Explain MHC diversity and the mechanisms that contribute to it
- Polygeny
- Multiple genes HLA- A, HLA- B, HLA- C - Polymorphism
- Presence of multiple alleles - Co-dominantly expressed (both maternal and paternal)
What are the mechanisms of antigen processing for MHC Class I?
- Proteins broken down by proteasome in the cytosol.
- Transporter Associated Processing (TAP) translocates peptides to the ER.
- Peptides loaded onto Class I molecules assisted by chaperone proteins.
- Forms Peptide Loading Complexes (PLC) and follows a secretory pathway to the cell surface.
What are the mechanisms of antigen processing for MHC Class II?
- Extracellular antigens taken up into the cell by endosomes.
- Acidification leads to activation of proteases in endosomes.
- Endosomes fuse with vesicles containing MHC Class II.
- Peptides loaded onto MHC II and presented at the cell surface.
Name the genes involved in antigen presentation (on MHC)
- Regulating peptide loading in MHC II = HLA-DM and HLA-DO.
- Transporter Associated with Antigen Processing (TAP) = TAP1 and TAP2.
- Loads peptide onto MHC I = TAP binding protein (TAPBP).
What are the key differences between the structure of T cell receptors (TCRs) and antibody Fab structures?
TCR Structure:
Monovalent with one binding site.
Membrane-bound.
Doesn’t undergo somatic hypermutation like BCRs.
Solely for antigen recognition.
Fab Structure (Antibody):
Bivalent with two binding sites.
Not membrane-bound.
Undergoes somatic hypermutation.
Functions in various roles, not solely antigen recognition.
What are the steps involved in T cell diversity generation?
- Rearrangement of β chain (VDJ segments).
- Cell proliferation.
- CD4 and CD8 expression.
- α chain rearrangement (VJ).
- CD4+ CD8+ double positive cell expression.
Highlight the similarities and differences between T cell receptors (TCRs) and B cell receptors (BCRs).
Similarities:
RAG proteins used.
VDJ and VJ segments rearranged.
Splicing occurs later.
Differences:
TCRs exhibit greater junctional diversity, eliminating the need for somatic hypermutation.
Total Diversity: TCRs have 10^18, while Immunoglobulins have 5x10^13.
No post-development mutation occurs for TCRs.
What is the process of positive selection in T cell receptor development?
- T cells are tested against self-peptide complexes on cortical epithelial cells in the (Cortex of thymus)
- “Moderate affinity” interactions lead to a positive signal for maturation.
- Lack of signal results in apoptosis (death by neglect).
- CD4 and CD8 selection depends on whether presented against MHC I or MHC II.
- Negative selection occurs in the medulla
Explain the significance of negative selection in T cell receptor development.
- Avoids the development of autoimmunity.
- High affinity for self-peptides may indicate previous exposure or a component of the body
How is T cell receptor signalling initiated?
Binding causes
1. CD4 and CD8 to activate tyrosine kinase (LCK).
2. LCK phosphorylates immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMS).
4. Phosphorylation cascade
5. PLCγ and RAS activation
6. Production of cytokines such as IL-2 occurs.
7. PLCγ produces IP3, releasing Ca2+ from the ER.