Skin Immunology Flashcards
1
Q
What is the skins physical barrier to pathogens
A
Keratin layer
2
Q
What is the role of keratinocytes in skin immunology
A
- Sense a pathogen via cell surface receptors
- Produce antimicrobial peptides that directly kill pathogens
- Help mediate an (innate) immune response
- Produce cytokines & Chemokines (recruit immune cells)
3
Q
What is the main skin resident immune cells & what are they?
A
Langerhans cells - Dendritic APCs interspersed with keratinocytes in the epidermis
4
Q
What organelles are characteristic of langerhans cells
A
Birbeck granules
5
Q
What is the function of langerhans cells
A
- Act as sentinels in the epidermis
- Process lipid Ag and microbial fragments
- present them to effector T cells to help activate them
6
Q
What type of T cells are found in the epidermis
A
Mainly CD8+ T cells (CTLs) found in the epidermis
7
Q
What type of T cells are found in the dermis
A
CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (& NK cells) are found in the dermis
8
Q
What immune cells are found in the dermis
A
- Dermal dendritic cells
- Plasmacytoid dendritic cells
- T cells
- Macrophages
- Neutrophils
- Mast cells
