week 4 transplant and infection in immunocompromised people Flashcards
What technique identified blood group substances in the cell membrane of all vascular endothelial cells, and certain epithelial cells?
Immunofluorescent staining
What type of isoagglutinins do normal individuals have?
Have naturally occurring anti-A or anti-B
What is the prognosis for transplants performed between blood group incompatible individuals?
Poor outcome
What is MHC?
Set of genes found in all vertebrate species
What is the function of MHC?
Important role in immune function, disease susceptibility and reproductive success.
Where are the proteins of MHC expressed and what is there function?
Proteins encoded by the MHC are expressed at the cell surface and function to present ‘self’ and ‘nonself’ antigens for inspection by T cell antigen receptor
How many MHC molecules on a average cell?
50,000 – 100,000 MHC molecules on the average mammalian cell –> big target for the immune system to see if the cells are foreign or not
What is the role of MHC in transplantation?
Role in histocompatibility, major influence on graft survival.
What does Histocompatibility mean?
Compatibility between the tissues of different individuals, so that one accepts a graft from the other without giving an immune reaction.
Is MHC polymorphic?
Very
What 3 divisions is MHc divided into?
class I region encodes HLA-A, B, C (‘classical’) antigens
class II region encodes HLA-DR, DQ, DP antigens
class III region encodes HSP70, TNF, C4A, C4B,
Which of the classes of MHC is not important in transplantation?
class 3
On what chromosome is MHC found?
Short arm of chromosome 6 (6p21.3
Class 1 and 2 MHC genes are roughly how many kb?
Class 1 - 3-6kb
Class 2 - 4-11kb
What is the human version of MHC?
Human Leucocyte Antigens
On what cells is class 1 MHC found?
found on all nucleated cells –> involved in endogenous antigens
On what cells is class 2 MHC found?
primarily expressed on B lymphocytes but expression can be induced on T lymphocytes and other cells
What is the structure of HLA class 1 and 2?
Membrane bound glycoproteins Have a rough structure of different domains making up a discrete protein binding groove
How is HLA inherited?
Mendelian inheritance
En-bloc from each parental chromosome
Each individual inherits two antigens at a given locus.
Codominant expression. All of the inherited antigens are displayed on the cell surface
Is the level of HLA same throughout the body and what affect does this have?
The level of expression of HLA is at different levels across tissues, has implications for the transplanted tissue
What makes MHC highly polymorphic?
Large number of allelic variants at each locus
How is the high polymorphic state of MHC maintained?
Allelic variation maintained at population level due to survival advantage
Why is it significant that there is high polymorphism in MHC?
Significant in terms of capacity of individual to mount an immune response in response to an antigenic challenge
What are the different types of HLA Matching?
Serology (Broad)
Serology (Split)
Molecular (Low)
Molecular (High)