Review of innate immune system Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
1
Q

Adaptive immune response is too slow to protect us from some new pathogens

A

Infected on day 0 by microbe

Adaptive immune response from de novo starts day 5, antibodies take time to accumulate to high levels

Cytotoxic T cells take time to peak and don’t begin until day 3-4

If pathogen replicates slowly, peak replication at 8-10 days, you will be able to respond somewhat with T cells and antibodies because they’re occurring at about same time the pathogen is replicating

If you get infected by pathogens that replicate more quickly e.g influenza, peaks at 2 days or so, before T cells and antibodies can kick in

Innate immunity keeps pathogen under control, but many pathogens eventually do need adaptive immune response to kick in

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What experiment was done in mice to show that both adaptive and innate immune responses are needed to resolve infection?

A

Two experiments done, mouse models of infection by influenza virus

Mice groups – one lacking B and T cells

Other lacking innate immune response

Mice deficient in B and T cells eventually dies – can make innate immune response but can’t make adaptive immune response. Takes long to die but dies.

Mice with intact adaptive immune response but lack innate immune response, these mice die quickly, faster than mice that can’t make B and T cells

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

How does the specifity differ between adaptive and innate immunity?

A

Adaptive immune system - involves specific recognition of infectious agent, makes molecule response to particular epitopes (bit of protein that is pathogen specific)

Innate immunity - no specific antigen recognition. involves recognition of broadly conserved features of different classes of pathogen.

e.g if you are a gram negative bacteria (E.coli) have a common origin and certain features conserved across the class

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What molcule is pattern recognition done through?

A

Pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs)

Molecules present only on pathogens and not on host cells

Essential for survival of pathogens

Invariant structures shared by entire class of pathogens e.g Gram negative bacteria

examples:

Gram negative bacteria: lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) found in outer membrane

Gram positive bacteria; teichoic acid, lipoteichoic acid, peptidoglycan found in outer membrane

Bacterial flagellin

Abnormal protein glycosylation

Abnormal nucleic acids – viruses

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What are pattern recognition receptors / PRRs?

What three types of PRRs are there?

A

Host factors that specifically recognise a particular type of PAMP

Germ-line encoded – unlike antibodies and T cells which are rearranged semantically , there is no rearrangement

Several classes of PRR, but functionally they are either:

Extracellular – recognise PAMPs outside of a cell and trigger a co-ordinated response to the pathogen

Intracellular (cytoplasmic) - they recognise PAMPS inside a cell and act to co-ordinate a response to the pathogen

Secreted – they act to tag circulating pathogens for elimination – macrophages and phagocytes will decorate it in complements and get rid of it

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is the inflammatory response in innate immunity?

What cells are recruited to the site of infection?

A

A generic defence mechanism whose purpose is to localise and eliminate injurious agents and to remove damaged tissue components

Enhanced permeability and extravasation

Neutrophil recruitment – major phagocytic cells, get recruited to site of infection by seeing chemokine gradients generated at the sight of infection

Enhanced cell adhesion – stick to tissues where infection is ongoing

Enhance clotting – cut off blood supply if pathogen is restricted to a site

Triggered by the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines at the sight of infection – cytokines are pro-inflammatory and chemokines create chemical concentration gradient down which particular cell types can migrate

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What cells are phagocytes?

What do they need to know?

A

Dendritic cells, macrophages, neutrophils.

Need to know when they’re infected in order to produce chemokines and cytokines

Molecular recognition events are distinct and use different PRRs

therefore don’t say TOL like receptors are there to make chemokines and cytokines + are involved in phagocytes recognising and eating because they are different types of receptors

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Macrophages and dendritic cells have three distinct roles in immunity

A

Phagocytosis: material is destroyed in lysosomes

Infections can trigger macrophage activation – activated macrophages produce cytokines and chemokines to stimulate both innate and adaptive immune responses – triggers inflammatory response and can promote a local anti-microbial state

APC- Peptides from broken down pathogens can be presented through MHC and promote the development or recall of an adaptive T cell response.

Macrophages can present antigens and trigger recall of something you’ve seen before.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

How is material to be eaten by phagocytes recognised?

A

By detecting phosphatidylserine on exterior membrane surface (cells undergoing apoptosis) - phosphatidylserine is normally meant to face into cytoplasm, when cells start to lose integrity (cells undergoing apoptosis) ability of cell to maintain asymmetry of its phospholipid bilayer breaks down, phosphatidyl serine ends up facing outside of the cell – signal for macrophages to eat it

By detecting atypical sugars (e.g mannose, fructose, B-glucan) on cell surfaces

By scavenger receptors

By “passive sampling”- take up little goblets of extracellular fluid, turn over their membrane of the entire cell in about 10 mins, don’t know what it is but are capable of destroying it

By detecting complement proteins bound to the pathogen surface – complement receptors on surfaces of macrophages which detect pathogens that have complement bound, take them up and destroy them

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is the complement system?

What does it lead to?

A

Biochemically complex antibody-dependent effector mechanism

Complement system acts as secreted PRRs and can be activated by range of PAMPs and by ‘altered self’

Leads to:

Opsonisation – binds and coats pathogen, pathogen can’t go anywhere and is harmless

Recruitment of phagocytic cells, vasoactive function – if you have complement bound it can do recruitment

Punches holes in target membranes (MAC)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What can the complement system see and what pathway does it activate?

A

Antibody binding to antigen on surface of complement system activates classical pathway.

Classical system also activated by LPS on target of pathogen which binds to C1q

Atypical glycosylation on pathogen surface can be recognised by proteins, mannose binding lectins MBL and ficolins. Triggers complements through lectin pathway.

Cells contain complement control factors on surface membrane, stopping complement from non-specifically attacking host cells

Lack of host control factors is seen as a non-self and activates complements through alternative pathway

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Pamps are recognised by a distinct group of PRRs

TLR, NOD-like receptors, RIG-like receptors

Describe TLR

A

Expressed either on surface of macrophages and dendritic cells

Or expressed in the endosomes, so that their ligand binding domain faces into the endosome

9 in humans, different TLR see different types of PAMP

e.g TLR2 sees LPS

When phagocytosing proteins that are inside endosomes (viral proteins) you can strip off protein coat from outside of virus to unmask RNA or DNA (CPG)

CPG seen by TLR9

Ds RNA seen by TLR3

Specialist receptors for pathogens

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Describe NOD-like receptors (PRRs)

A

If pathogen enters into cytoplasm without going through endosome need to sense that

NOD-like receptors can see bacteria cell walls from intracellular bacteria

Can see viral DNA and RNA

ligand: peptidoglycan from gram positive and negative bacteria, some viral DNA/RNA

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Describe RIG like receptors

A

Main cytoplasmic receptors

Signal viral infection

Bind to viral dsRNA, never made by the host

Or binds to 5’-triphospho RNA , RNA that is improperly capped, foreign not host

outcome: type 1 interferon production

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What do cytokines do?

A

Act to modify the behaviour of cells in immune response

Most of these are called interluekins but not all

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What do chemokines do?

A

Act as chemotactic factors ie they create concentration gradients which attract (or occasionally repel) specific cell types to a site of production/infection

e.g IL-8 recruits neutrophils to site of inflammation

17
Q

Interferons are the main anti-viral cytokines

A

Secreted factors (type I and type II) / immune hormones

  • Type II protects epithelial surfaces like lungs
  • Type I protects other surfaces around bloodstream and tissues

Induced by viral infection – influenza, flu infection etc

Offer cross-protection – the interferon you can turn on in influenza will protect you against completely unrelated infection e.g polio

Widely distributed in evolution, from fish upwards, but species-specific

18
Q

What are anti-microbial peptides e.g defensins?

A

Secreted short peptides (18-45 amino acids)

Usually work by disrupting cell wall leading to lysis

Some are induced by bacterial infection

Offer broad protection like interferons

Bacterial infection makes the cell release AMPs bind to bacteria in the environment and mess up biological survival mechanisms of the bacteria.

19
Q

Describe how the interferon system works

A

No antibodies

No prior knowledge of infection

Cell gets infected, virus replicates, makes lots of new viruses

Viruses will attempt to spread

First they try to kill the cell they’ve infected

Viral progeny will then try and infect new cells in its environment

If the interferon system works properly, the first cell will release interferon (which is made when a cell senses it is infected)

Interferon secreted and binds to receptors in neighbouring cells

Triggers transcriptional response which turns on transcription and subsequent translation of many antiviral genes

when virus attempts to replicate in secondary cells, if they’re in antiviral states as a result of receiving a signal from the first infected cell, cell is now not permissive for replication

20
Q

What are natural killer cells (large granular lymphocytes)?

A

4% white blood cells

Lymphocyte-like but larger with granular cytoplasm

Kill certain tumour and virally infected cells

Target cell destruction is caused by cytotoxic molecules called granzymes and perforins

21
Q

NK cells are activated by loss of self

What is the mechanism by which NK cells detect target cells?

A

Sensitivity conferred by loss of self MHC molecules on target cell surfaces and up regulation of activating ligands.

MHC class 1, molecule that presents peptides that trigger cytotoxic t cell attack, is on the surface of every cell in the body

NK cells have mechanism for recognising MHC class 1

If you take an uninfected cell, which presents rapid self-peptides, NK cells have receptor on their surface of MHC class 1, if they detect it they do nothing

Doesn’t attack cells expressing MHC class 1

Many pathogens don’t have MHC class 1 because it is presenting peptides from the pathogen to T cells and triggering an adaptive immune response

Pathogens, particularly viruses and some bacteria work hard to downregulate MHC class 1 on cells they wish to infect

So MHC class 1 receptor on NK cell doesn’t detect MHC on target cell - infected cell or tumour cell. Seen as non-self.

By this mechanism NK cells recognise that cells shouldn’t be there, engage them, and induce cell death with granules of proteases

22
Q

What are some diseases associated with inherited defects in innate immunity?

A

Complement – core defects (e.g C3) linked to development of autoimmune diseases such as lupus

Complement – non-core defects linked to susceptibility to specific types of pathogens such as Neisseria

Macrophages deficiencies – chronic granulomatous disease (CDG); No oxidative burst for bacterial killing

Macrophage deficiencies – IRF8 mutations linked to susceptibility to TB

Aicadri-Goutières syndrome associated with constitutive production of inflammatory cytokines

Lack of interferon responsiveness – sensitivity to viral infection (e.g measles)

23
Q

Compare innate and adaptive immunity

A
24
Q
A