Section 2: Innate Immunity (Complement) Flashcards
Pathogens
-can vary greatly in their strategies to live and replicate within the human body
-also possess various strategies of harming the body
-important distinction is made by the immune system when recognizing pathogens based on where they might exists during infection
-innate and adaptive immune systems utilize different strategies to combat these pathogens depending on the physiological compart they infect
3 mechanism by which pathogens cause tissue damage
- exotoxin release (ex: vibrio cholerae, cholerae)
- endotoxin release (ex: yersinia pestis, plague)
- direct cytopathic effect-virus replicates until cell dies (Influenza virus, Influenza)
extracellular pathogen
infections and pathogens that replicate in the spaces between outside of cells
intracellular pathogens
infections and pathogens that replicate inside of cells
extracellular innate immune response in interstitial spaces, blood, lymph
organism: viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, worms
defense mechanism: complement system, neutrophils, macrophages
extracellular innate immune response in epithelial surfaces
organisms: Neisseria gonorrhea, candida Albicans, worms
defense: antimicrobial peptides
intracellular innate immune response in cytoplasmic
organisms: viruses, listeria, protozoa
defense: NK cells
intracellular innate immune response in vesicular
organism: mycobacteria, trypanosomes, cryptococcus neoformans
defense: activated macrophages
complement system
-the first thing to respond in innate immune response
-is a system of plasma proteins that mark pathogens for destruction
-they circulate in fluids and tissues generally that are actively searching for pathogens
-can think of the complement proteins as proteases (proteolytic enzymes)
-complement proteins circulate in an inactive state
-more than 30 proteins make up the complement system
proteases
are enzymes that perform proteolysis, that is they break the peptide bond linking amino acids in proteins
(proteins that break other proteins)
zymogen
the inactive form of a complement protein
what is the most important protein in the complement system
complement component 3 (C3)
What happens when the complement is activated by infection?
cleavage of C3 occurs
- C3–> C3a + C3b
- a subunit is always the smallest and flushes off and does something else
- b subunit always the largest and bind to other things and lyse/cleave something
-just the presence of C3b alone can clear bacteria
complement fixation
covalent binding of the C3b subunit to the pathogen
-C3b marks the pathogens to be phagocytized
-C3a acts as the chemoattractant (chemokine) recruiting white cells to the site
alternate pathway
predominately at the start of the infection, and occurs the most often
- in the plasma circulating C3 spontaneously hydrolyzes (binds with water) and forms into a complex (convertase C3) where it can cleave itself and deposit onto the membrane at low frequency to microbial surfaces (thioester bond of C3)
-this binding initiates a cascade of effects resulting in the enhanced deposition of C3b on pathogen surfaces and release of C3a as a chemoattractant
-the complex formed is C3bBb
lectin pathway
-requires time to gain full strength
-needs mannose-binding lectin (produced by the liver)
-2nd pathway activated
classical pathway
-is part of both the innate and adaptive immunity
-requires binding of antibody (Ab) or C-reactive protein (CRP) to an antigen on the pathogen surface
-happens the least of the three pathways and the last one to occur
What occurs after C3b binds to the pathogen surface?
- recruitment of inflammatory cells
- optimization of pathogens, facilitating uptake and killing by phagocytes
- perforation of pathogen cell membranes