Overview of autoimmunity development & autoimmune disease Flashcards
What controls Autoreactive T & B cells ?
Peripheral tolerance mechanisms
What can result when peripheral tolerance fails?
Autoimmune diseases may result
What is the purpose of positive selection of T cells ?
- If TCRs are incapable of binding, the T cell will undergo a type of cell death celled apoptosis( so low affinity lacks cytoplasmic signalling domains)
- If a T cell’s TCR successfully binds to the MHC complexes on the thymic cells, the T cell receives survival signals and is positively selected.
- Also determines whether the T cell will be CD4 or CD8
- If binds to MHC class 1= CD8
- MHC class II = CD4
What is the purpose of negative selection of T cells ?
- With negative selection we are eliminating T cells that recognize and attack our own cells i.e self reactive T cells
- TCRs that bind TOO strongly to the MHC complexes lead to apoptosis
How is diversity introduced to TCRs
- Precursor T cells (thymocytes) rearrange their TCR genes in the thymus
- Cutting and splicing of the chains occurs at random
- 3 regions involved ( V,D,J)
- D to J rearrangement
- V to DJ rearrangement
What is central tolerance and what is important to note about it?
- Central tolerance is the process of thymic selection involving positive and negative selection
- It is important to note that central tolerance does not delete all potentially dangerous lymphocytes
- So some escape and are self- reactive
What is central tolerance?
- Needed as thymic selection is not complete
- Self-reactive (autoreactive) CD4 t cells can be detected in the peripheral blood of healthy humans
- Looks for T cells that react with myelin basic protein (MBP)
What is the significance of MBP in multiple slcerosis
-Patients with MS have autoreactive T cells that react with MBP; they are specific to be able to attack and destroy the myelin sheath leading to nerve disruption & paralysis
-MBP is part of the myelin sheath
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Why do only a small proportion of the developing T cells come out as successive naive T cells that are fully formed?
-Because there are 2 selection processes that result in apoptosis for some of them.
Outline the different layers of self tolerance, their mechanism and their site of action
Type: Central tolerance
Mechanism: Deletion, editing
Site of action: Thymus, bone marrow
Type: Antigen segregation
Mechanism: Physical barrier to self-antigen access to lymphoid system
Site of action: peripheral organs eg thyroid, pancreas
Type: Peripheral anergy
Mechanism: cellular inactivation by weak signalling without co-stimulus
Site of action: Secondary lymphoid tissue
Type: Regulatory cells
Mechanism: Suppression by cytokines, intercellular signals
Site of action: secondary lymphoid tissue and sites of inflammation
Type:Cytokine deviation
Mechanism: Differentiation to TH2 cells, limiting inflammatory cytokine secretion
Site of action: Secondary lymphoid tissue & sites of inflammation
Type: Clonal exhaustion
Mechanism: apoptosis post activation
Site of action: secondary lymphoid tissue & sits of inflammation
What is secondary lymphoid tissue
- Sites where lymphocytes interact with each other and non-lymphoid cells to generate immune responses to antigens
- These include the spleen, lymph nodes, and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues (MALT).
What is ankylosing spondylitis ?
-A chronic condition in which the spine & other areas of the body become inflammed
What is Goodpastures syndrome?
- Aka anti-glomerular basement membrane disease
- rare autoimmune disease in which antibodies attach to the basement membrane in lungs & kidneys, leading to bleeding from the lungs and kidney failure
- patients have autoabs to type IV collagen i.e type II hypersensitivity reaction
- Present in basement membranes throughout the body including lungs, kidney and inner ear
- All patients get glomerulonephritis; only 40% get lung hemorrhage; none get ear problems
How does autoantigen availability explain the disease pattern exhibited by goodpastures syndrome?
- Glomeruli filter plasma so the BM is accessible
- Cochlear BM not accessible to autoabs ( eq of antigen sequestration-immunological ignorance)
- In lung, Bm separates alveolar epithelium from capillary endothelium- so 40% lung disease caused by damage due to smoking
State the different mechanisms used for activation of autoreactive T & B cells by infectious agents
- ) Molecular mimicry
- ) Viral & bacterial superantigens
- ) Enhanced processing and presentation of auto-Ags
- ) Bystander activation
- ) Lymphotrophic viruses eg B cells with Hep C> ABS> IC