Midterm 1 Flashcards
what is the immune response?
a reaction to components of microbes as well as to macromolecules, such as proteins and polysaccharides, and small chemicals that are recognized as foreign(non-self)
ex. Even self molecules can elicit immune responses (autoimmune responses)
Innate Immunity
natural/native immunity:
- provides the early line of defence against microbes.
- reacts to products of microbes and injured cells and responds essentially the same way to repeated exposures
1. Physical and chemical barriers, such as epithelial (skin) and anti-microbial chemicals produced at epithelial surfaces
2. phagocytic cells (neutrophils-fast/abundant, macrophages), dendritic cells (WBCs/leukocytes) and natural killer (NK) cells and other innate lymphoid cells
3. blood proteins (members of the complement system and other mediators of inflammation-bringing weapons to fight)
Adaptive immunity
acquired immunity:
- develops as a response to infection and adapts to the infection
- recognizes and reacts to a large number of microbial and nonmicroblal substances
- *has the ability to distinguish different substances, called specificity and can respond more vigorously to repeated exposures to the same microbes (memory)
- has cells called lymphocytes(WBC’s- T and B cells) and their secreted products, such as antibodies
antigen
are foreign substances(virus, bacteria, toxins) that induce specific immune responses or are recognized by lymphocytes or antibodies
-stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies
Cytokines
a number of small proteins secreted by various cells types and carry signals to a variety of cells
- the ‘bosses’ of the immune system
- regulate and turn off the immune response
- communication between immune cells
compare innate and adaptive immunity
Innate: -rapid response -non-specific to pathogens -genetically determined -organism is born with it -does not alter with repeated exposure -primitive and board receptors -no immunological memory -blood proteins-> Complement, various lectins and agglutinins Adaptive: -slower response -specific to pathogens -not genetically determined -develops over a lifetime -improves with each successive exposure -highly specific receptors -has immunological memory -blood proteins-> Antibodies
what are chemokines
general word for small molecules or small proteins that cells release as a kind of signalling mechanism
-regulate cell migration and movement
Humoral immunity
-EXTRA-CELLULAR antigens/pathogens
-ANTI-BODY MEDIATED
1 of 2 types of adaptive immune responses that is mediated by molecules in the blood and mucosal secretions called antibodies (produced by cells called B lymphocytes/B cells)
-antibodies recognize microbial antigens, neutralize the infectivity of the microbes, and target microbes for elimination by various effector mechanisms
-principle defence mechanism against extracellular microbes and their toxins because secreted antibodies can bind to these microbes and toxins and assist in their elimination
-antibodies themselves are specialized and may activate different mechanisms to combat microbes (effector mechanisms)
-is so named because it involves substances found in the humors, or body fluids.
what is cell-mediated immunity
- INTRA-CELLULAR antigens/pathogens
- CELL-MEDIATED: mediated by T lymphocytes/T cells
- intracellular microbes, such as viruses and some bacteria, survive and proliferate inside phagocytes, other host cells and are inaccessible to circulating antibodies.
- CM immunity promotes the destruction of microbes residing in phagocytes via macrophages or the killing of infected cells via cytotoxic T cell undergoing apoptosis, to eliminate reservoirs of infection
- T cells contribute to the eradication of extracellular microbes by recruiting leukocytes that destroy pathogens and by secreting cytokines to help B cells make effective antibodies
what is active immunity
the form of immunity that is induced by exposure to a foreign antigen
- the immunized individual plays an active role in responding to the antigen
- individuals may be naive(not encountered a specific antigen) or immune (responded to a microbial antigen and are protected from subsequent exposures)
ex. pathogen invasion (recovers from the measles) or vaccination (vaccine for measles)
what is passive immunity
individuals become immune to a particular antigen without ever been exposed to or having responded to that antigen
ex. transfer of maternal antibodies through the placenta of breast milk to the fetus, which enables newborns to combat infections before they develop the ability to produce antibodies themselves
ex. administration of antibodies from immunized animals for treatment of potentially lethal infections, such as rabies and snake bites
compare active and passive immunity
active:
-memory cells are produced
-antibodies made by own white blood cells
-results from pathogen invasion or vaccination
Passive:
-NO MEMORY CELLS
-antibodies from outside of the body (ex. mother)
-antibodies produced by injection/breast milk/across the placenta
immunogens
substances that stimulate immune responses (often interchangeable with antigen BUT only an immunogen can evoke an immune response.)
-An immunogen is any antigen that is capable of inducing humoral and/or cell-mediated immune response rather than immunological tolerance. This ability is called immunogenicity.
determinants/epitopes
the parts of antigens that are specifically recognized by individual lymphocytes/antibodies (where they attach)
- each antigen can have several epitopes
- the immune system of an individual can discriminate 10^7 to 10^9 distinct antigenic determinants due to the variability in antigen binding sites of lymphocytes receptors for antigens (diversity*)
clonal expansion
an increase in the number of cells that express identical receptors for an antigen and thus belong to a clone
-enables adaptive immune response to keep pace with rapidly dividing infectious pathogens
describe what specialization is
the immune system responds in distinct and special ways to different microbes, maximizing the effectiveness of the antimicrobial defence mechanisms
-humoral and cell mediated immunity are elicited by different classes of microbes or by the same microbe at different stages of infection (extracellular and intracellular)
what is contraction and homeostasis of the immune system
the immune system returns to its resting baseline state (homeostasis) overtime after antigen stimulation
why does contraction of the immune system occur?
largely because the responses that are triggered by antigens function to eliminate the antigens, thus eliminating an essential stimulus for lymphocyte survival and activation.
-lymphocytes (other than memory cells) that are deprived of these stimuli die by apoptosis
what is tolerance?
- immunologic unresponsiveness
- not reacting harmfully to an individual’s own (self) antigenic substances
- tolerance to self antigens is maintained through several mechanisms:
- > eliminating lymphocytes that express receptors specific for some self antigens
- > inactivating some self-reactive lymphocytes
- > or suppressing these cells by the actions of other regulatory cells
- autoimmune diseases (immune responses against self/autologous antigens) may occur when there is abnormalities in the maintenance of self-tolerance
what are the principle cells of the adaptive immune system?`
lymphocytes, antigen-presenting cells (APC) and effector cells
what are B lymphocytes?
B cells:
- only cells capable of producing antibodies
- recognize extracellular soluble and cell surface antigens and differentiate into anti-body secreting plasma cells, thus functioning as the mediators of humoral immunity
- neutralization of microbes, phagocytosis and complement activation
what are T lymphocytes?
T cells;
- cells of cell mediated immunity
- recognize the antigens of intracellular microbes and the T cells either help phagocytes to destroy these microbes or they kill the infected cells
- their antigen receptors are membrane molecules distinct from but structurally related to antibodies
- have restricted specificity for antigens; they recognize peptides derived from foreign proteins (produced by infected cell) that are bound to host proteins called *major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, which are expressed on the surfaces of other cells.
- respond to cell surface-associated but not soluble antigens
helper T cells?
in response to to antigenic stimulation, helper T cells secrete cytokines, which are responsible for many of the cellular responses of both innate + adaptive immunity and thus function as “messenger molecules”
-the cytokines secreted stimulate the proliferation ad differentiation of the T cells themselves and activate other cells (B cells, macrophages, other leukocytes)
Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs)
CTLs kill cells via apoptosis and cytotoxins, that produce foreign antigens, such as cells infected by viruses
regulatory T cells
inhibit immune responses via suppression of other lymphocytes
Natural killer T cells (NKT cells)
small population of T cells that express some cell surface proteins found on NK cells
-role not well understood
what are antigen presenting cells? (APC)
capture and display antigens to specific lymphocytes
ex. dendritic cells -capture microbial antigens that enter from the extracellular environment, transport them to lymphoid organs and present them to naive T lymphocytes to initiate immune responses
what are effector cells
mediate the final effect of the immune system which is to get rid of the microbes
inflammation
- one of the two main types of reactions of the innate immune response
- process of recruitment of leukocytes(mainly phagocytes, neutrophils and monocytes which develop into tissue macrophages) and plasma proteins from the blood, their accumulation in tissues and their activation to destroy the microbes
- involves cytokines
antiviral defence
- one of the two main types of reactions of the innate immune response
- cytokine mediated reaction in which cells require resistance to viral infection and killing of virus infected cells by specialized cells of the innate immune system, NK cells
what are the 3 main strategies the ADAPTIVE IMMUNE SYSTEM USES TO COMBAT MICROBES?
- Antibodies: secreted and bind to extracellular microbes, block their ability to infect host cells and promote their ingestion
- Phagocytosis: Phagocytes ingest microbes and kill them, and antibodies and helper T cells enhance the microbial abilities of the phagocytes
- Cell killing: cytotoxic T lymphocytes destroy cells infected by microbes that are inaccessible to antibodies and phagocytic destruction
functions of the immune system
defence against infectious microbes AND noninfectious foreign substances and products of damaged cells
how does Clonal selection work
one cell is selected from billions of B cells that is sensitive to the microbe and then identical clones have been created from it
- creates an army of B cells that mass-produce antibodies into surrounding fluid and circulate in the blood and travel into tissues to get rid of the microbe
- they bind to the microbe which flags them for destruction by the immune system
compare the phagocytes neutrophils and macrophages
neutrophils:
Origin-hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in bone marrow
Life span in tissues- 1-2 days
Responses to activating stimuli- Rapid, short lived, enzymatic activity
Phagocytosis- Rapid ingestion of microbes
Cytokine production- Low levels per cell
Secretion of lysosomal enzymes- prominent
Macrophages:
Origin- hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in bone marrow or stem cells in yolk sac or fetal liver
(early in development)
Life span in tissues- Inflammatory macrophages: days
or weeks, Tissue-resident macrophages: years
Responses to activating stimuli- More prolonged, slower, often dependent on new gene transcription
Phagocytosis- Prolonged ability to ingest microbes, apoptotic cells, tissue debris, foreign material
Cytokine production- Major functional activity, large amounts per cell
Secretion of lysosomal enzymes-Less
Mast cells
-Bone marrow-derived cells present in the skin and mucosal epithelia
• Upon activation release potent inflammatory mediators that defend against parasite infections
• These inflammatory mediators (I.e.histamin) cause symptoms of allergic diseases.
Basophils
- Blood granulocytes with similarites to mast cells
* Role is still uncertain
Eosinophils
Can release enzymes that are harmful to infectious parasites, which can also damage host tissues.
• Natural killer (NK) cells
Cytotoxic effector functions similar to CD8+ Cytotoxic T lymphocytes
• Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs)
- Cytokine secreting
* Similar function to CD4+ T helper lymphocytes
bone marrow lymphoid tissue
generation site of all blood cells from a common hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) which are self renewing through asymmetric division and can be identified through surface markers
- HSC give rise to two types of multipotent cells:
- common lymphoid progenitor
- common myeloid progenitor
- proliferation/maturation of blood cells in marrow is stimulated by cytokines made mainly by stromal cells and macrophages in the bone marrow
thymus lymphoid tissue organization
each lobe consists of an outer cortex dense with T cells and an inner medulla mainly with DC’s and macrophages
- cortex epithelial cell provide IL-7 for T cell development
- epithelial cells in the medulla present self antigens and cause deletion of T cells with self receptors
- lymphocytes in the thymus are called thymocytes and are T lymphocytes at various stages of maturation
- only mature T cells leave the thymus
what are the three essential functions of the innate immune system that protect us from microbes and tissue injury
- it is the initial response to to microbes that prevents, controls or eliminates infection of the host by many pathogens
- has mechanisms that eliminate damaged cells and initiate the process of tissue repair
- stimulates adaptive immune responses and can influence the nature of the adaptive responses to make them optimally effective against different types of microbes (bacteria vs. viruses)
what is the words for peptides that are toxic to bacteria and fungi and are found in plants and mammals
defensins