The Innate immune system Flashcards
Where is the innate immune system presents?
- present in all plants, invertebrates and vertebrates
What type of memory response does the innate immune system have?
- non-specific with no memory response
What are the steps in the immune system?
- barrier
- identify
- kill
- remember
Describe barriers in the innate immune system?
- physical barriers against invasion
- inhospitable environments
What are examples of innate barriers?
- eyelids
- mucous and cilia in airways
- earwax (antimicrobials)
- gut
- tears and saliva
What does the gut have to aid in the physical barrier?
- low pH (not good for some bacteria)
- mucous
- proteases
- microbiome
What do tears and saliva have to aid in the physical barrier?
- anti-microbials (lysozyme) - not all animals such as cattle
What does lysozyme do to gram positive bacteria?
- attack peptiodo-glycans in gram positive bacteria cell walls exposing the lipid bilayer in the membrane of bacteria
Innate anti-microbials - what are defensins and what do they do?
- small proteins
- electrostatic attraction and the transmembrane electric field bring the defensin into the lipid bilayer
- the defensin peptides then form a pore
Where are defensins present?
- lungs
- skin
- gut
- tears
- other surfaces
What are defensins effective at protecting against?
- viruses
- bacteria
- fungi
What is the innate immune system important in?
- important in early immune responses to pathogens we haven’t seen before
- also helps initiate adaptive immune responses
What does the innate immune system use to recognise pathogens?
- innate cell receptors that recognise specific non-self molecules
= pattern recognition receptors (PRRs)
What are examples of non-self molecules?
- lipopolysaccharide (only in gram-neg bacteria)
- double stranded DNA
What are non-self molecules collectively known as?
- Pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs)
Name examples of PRRs:
- toll-like receptors
- NOD-like receptors
- lectins (mannose receptor)
- RIG-like receptors
Describe toll-like receptors (TLRs):
- multiple receptors within this family
- recognise a range of PAMPs
What do TLR4 recognise?
- lipopolysaccharides in gram negative bacteria
What do TLR9 receptors recognise?
- unmethylated viral/bacterial DNA
What species are TLRs present in?
- Drosophila
- Horses
- Sheep
- humans
Toll-like receptors can either … or …
- Homodimers
- Heterodimers
Where are TLRs present?
- present on the surface of cells that recognise PAMPs
- some are inside cell in endosomes = specifically the ones that are re -recognising nuclei acids (viruses)
Describe what happens when a PRR is activated by a PAMP?
- TLRs dimerize and induce signalling via adapter proteins
- TLR-initiated signalling activates transcription factors
- These mediate the transcription of specific cytokines such as interferons
What do transcription factors do?
- switch on genes to allow them to be transcribed
What are interferons key in?
- key in early anti-viral response
What are the different types of interferon?
- IFN alpha
- INF beta
What are interferons produced by?
- produced by virally infected cells within hours
Compared to antibodies interferons are not detected until …
- 5-6 days