Mucosal Defense Flashcards
What are muscosal surfaces? What is mucus?
surfaces bathes in a layer of thick fluid/mucus they secrete which helps protect epithelial cells from damage and stop infection. Mucus containing:
- glycoproteins
- peptides
- enzymes
- proteoglycans
Where in the body can muscosal surfaces be found?
The line the
- GI tract
- respiratory tract
- urogenital tract
Exocrine glands of pancreas, salivary glands. mammary glands.
Why are mucosal tissues important?
- They act as sites of communication
- gas exchange
- food absorption
- sensory
- reproduction
Why are mucosal surfaces vulnerable to pathogens?
They are dynamic, thin and have permeable barriers.
-There is a very large surface area largely of monolayer of epithelial cells; 200x bigger than skin
There are Ab producing cells on mucosal surfaces
More antibody made for muscosal defense than all other Ab production. This is energy expensive as 5-15g of Ab made.
Mucosal defense is separate from circulating defence
In the GI tract, how does immune response eliminate pathogens but not food?
there are large populations of commensal microorganisms which need to be limited.
To co-ordinate this response, GI has secondary lymphoid tissues throughout gut and other tissues, in epithelium and connective tissues.
Waldeyer’s ring: where the tonsils (ccand adenolds form a ring of lymphoid tissue around gut entrance.
What is lamina propria?
secondary lymphoid tissues underlying the connective tissues
What are the mesentric lymph nodes?
Largest node arranged in a chain within the gut connective tissue
What is GALT?
Gut associated lymphoid tissue
In the GI tract, how does immune response eliminate pathogens but not food?
there are large populations of commensal microorganisms which need to be limited.
To co-ordinate this response, GI has secondary lymphoid tissues throughout gut and other tissues, in epithelium and connective tissues.
Waldeyer’s ring: where the tonsils (palatine and adenolds, lingual) which form a ring of lymphoid tissue around gut entrance.
What is the characteristic lymphoid organ of the intestine?
Peyers patches down the length of the gut which are dome shaped structure containing B cell follicles with germina center, T cell area and dendritic cell. These are all the molecules needed for a response. These drain into lymphatic vessels towards mesentric lymph nodes.
The dome is overlaid by a specialized epithelial M cell
What is the function of M cells?
Microfold cells transport antigens/microorganisms from gut lumen to the lymphoid tissue in peyer’s patch beneath where an innate response begins.
they do not secrete mucus or enzymes
In the GI tract, how does immune response eliminate pathogens but not food?
there are large populations of commensal microorganisms which need to be limited.
To co-ordinate this response, GI has secondary lymphoid tissues throughout gut and other tissues, in epithelium and connective tissues.
Waldeyer’s ring: where the tonsils (palatine and adenolds, lingual) which form a ring of lymphoid tissue around gut entrance.
The Gut samples the content of its lumen via epithelial M cells and peyer’s patches and isolates lymphoid follicles
Describe the mechanism of M cell transport of antigens
- M cells take up antigen via phagocytosis: the dendritic cells lie in basal membrane pocket of the M cell which receive the pathogen
2) DC and B cell take up pathogen, process and present to naive T cells
3) cells stimulated inn M cell, or in the lymph node to proliferate and differentiate
In the GI tract, how does immune response eliminate pathogens but not food?
there are large populations of commensal microorganisms which need to be limited.
To co-ordinate this response, GI has secondary lymphoid tissues throughout gut and other tissues, in epithelium and connective tissues.
Waldeyer’s ring: where the tonsils (palatine and adenolds, lingual) which form a ring of lymphoid tissue around gut entrance.
The Gut samples the content of its lumen via epithelial M cells and peyer’s patches and isolates lymphoid follicles continuously.
T cells stimulated into effector T cells. helper T cells activate B cells to become plasma cells which make IgA against commensals, food antigens, pathogens.