Immune System

immune system
1 Constituents: Lymphocytes in blood vessels,
lymphatic vessels and somewhere else,
lymphatic tissues and lymphatic organs.

2 Function: Destroy the invaders, such as

pathogenic orgnisms and other antigens.
Destroy the useless or harmful cells in
human body, such as old RBC, cancer-
transformed cells, etc.
 Lymphocyte
Functionally, lymphocytes can be divided into 3 types:
T cell, B cell and NK cell.

1.T-lymphocyte: educated in thymus and involved in cell-mediated

immune response.
Helper T-lymphocyte----(cluster of the differentiation)CD4+T-lymphocyte.
it can upregulate both cell-mediated immune
HIV response and humoral immune response; Cytotox
ic T-lymphocyte----CD8+T-lymphocyte. a kind of effector cells
cytotoxic/suppressor T- lymphocyte can
downregulate or turn off immune system
2. B-lymphocyte

B-lymphocyte: educated in the bone marrow and

involved in humoral immune response
Ag

B-lymphocyte plasma cell antibody

neutralize antigen
3. Natural killer lymphocyte

NK cell: effector cell.

It can kill abnormal cells directly.
 antigen-presenting cell (APC)

1. function ： sequestering Ag and presenting

it to helper CD4+T lymphocyte to
facilitate immune responses.

2. components ： macrophages,Kuffer cells of liver,

Langerhans’ cells in epidermis,
reticular dentritic cells of spleen
and lymph node,
type II and type III epithelioreticular
cell of the thymus and B lymphocyte
Process of antigen-presenting
MHC (major histocompatability gene complex)

MHC I: expressed on the surface of all

nucleated cells and platelets.

MHC II: expressed on the surface of all APCs.

 Lymphatic tissue
1.defination: the tissue which is mainly composed of
lymphocyte.
2. classification:(1) diffuse lymphatic tissue
(2) lymph nodule: lymph follicle
 lymphatic organs

Primary (central) lymphatic organs

---- thymus and bone marrow
----site that T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes
get educated respectively.

Secondary (peripheral) lymphatic organs

---- lymph node, spleen and tonsil
---- sites that immune responses are initiated.
 1. Thymus
Thymus: capsule ,thymic cortex and medulla
 Thymic cortex

Thymic cortex contains closely packed thy

mocytes in an extensive meshwork of epit
helioreticular cells.

Thymocytes: developing T-lymphocytes.about

98% of them undergo apoptosis.
 Thymic cortex
There are 3 types of epithelioreticular cells in the cortex.

Type I: Located at the boundary of the cortex and capsule.

involved in the formation of blood-thymus barrier.

Type II: Located within the cortex .It is APC with MHC II
molecules which are involved in thymic cell education
.
Type III: Located at the boundary of the cortex and medulla.
Serve as a barrier that isolate cortex and medulla.
A kind of APCs to present Ag.
 Blood-thymus barrier
It is the structure between thymocytes and blood , a ph
ysical barrier to protect developing T-lyphocytes from e
xposure to Ag.
Components: lining endotheium of capillary wall and
its basal lamina;
macrophages in the perivascular C.T.;
type I endothelioreticular cells with
their tight junctions.
Blood-thymus barrier
 Thymic medulla
It contains lots of epithelioreticular cells and
loosed packed T lymphocytes.
T lymphocytes here are mature ones.
There have another 3 types of epithelioreticular cells

Type IV: located between the medulla and cortex;

Create a barrier between the cortex and medulla.
Type V: located throughout the medulla;
provide a cellular framework of medulla;
Type VI: form the thymic or Hassall’s corpuscles in medulla
 Thymic corpuscle
Thymic corpuscle: a characteristic feature of the thymus.
It is a isolated mass of closely packed,
concentrically arranged type VI
epithelioreticular cells .
Found in the thymic medulla.
Function of the thymus

Site of T lymphocyte education

stem cells maturation and
differentiation into T lymphocytes
thymus
 2 .Lymph node
The structure of lymph node: capsule ,cortex and medulla
lymph node
 Cortex
Cortex consists of superficial cortex, paracortex and sinuses

1. superfacial cortex are orgnized into nodules,mainly compo

sed of B-lymphocytes.

2. Paracortex is the portion of medulla and cortex where is fr

ee of nodules,mainly composed of T-lymphocytes.
It is also thymus-dependent cortex.

3.Sinuses is divided into subcapsular sinuses and trabecular s

inuses where filter the flowing lymph through it.
lymphatic nodule: concentration of lymphocytes
contained in the meshwork of reticular cells.
mainly containing B cells together with some
plasma cells, macrophages,etc..

primary nodule: without germinal center;

Ag
Secondary nodule: with germinal center (B cells
proliferates here rapidly).
Lymph node
Specialized high endothelial venules (HEVs)

Location: in he paracortex

Function: entry of circulating lymphocytes into the

lymph node---enlarging immune response
 recirculation of of lymphocytes
thymu
HEVs s

blood vessels lymph nodes

lymphatic vessels
Bone marrow
lymph node
 Medulla

Medulla consists of medullary cords and sinuses.

Medullary cords: cords of lymphatic tissue containing
B cells,plasma cells and maceophages

Medullary sinuses: similar with the sinuses in the cortex

but with more macrophages.
Lymph node
Medullary cord and sinus
 Functions of lymph node

（ 1 ） filtering lymph ；

（ 2 ） initiate immune responses.

phagocytosis of macrophage;
B cells proliferate and differentiate into
plasma cells and memory B cells.
 3. spleen
the structure of the spleen:capsule,red pulp and white pulp
 Capsule of the spleen

Capsule: C.T. containing myofibroblasts, blood vessels,etc.

 Medullary sinus
Red pulp
Medullary cord

Cord of lymphatic tissue

spleen with lots of blood cells

Periarterial lymphatic sheath(PALS)

White pulp
Paracortex in lymph node

Malpighian body （ splenic nodule ）

Lymphatic nodule in lymph node

spleen
 White pulp

A thick accumulation of lymphocytes

surrounding the artery.
White pulp
 Red pulp

It contains large number of blood cells that it filters

and degrades.
Splenic cord: a meshwork of reticular cells and fibers
containing lots of RBCs, macrophages,
plasma cells,etc.

Splenic sinus: special sinusoidal vessels lined by rod-

shaped epithelial cells. The processes
of macrophages extend into the sinuses.
 Circulation in the spleen
Branches of splenic artery enter the white pulp fro
m trabeculae;

Central artery :sends branches to white pulp

itself and marginal sinuses;
continues to penicillar
arterioles in splenic cord ;

Penicillar arterioles continue with sheathed capilla

ries which are empty the blood in the cord,then the
blood cells enter the splenic sinuses.
 Function of the spleen
It performs both immune and hemopoietic functions

1. filtering blood: killing pathogenic Ag and destroying s

enescent, abnormal RBC ,etc.;
Splenectomy----increasing abnormal RBC in blood
Splenomegaly----malaria

2. initiation of immune responses ；

3. formation of blood cells during early fetal life ；

4. storage of blood.
spleen
 Key points
1.T-lymphocytes get mature in thymus while B-lymphocytes get mature
in the bone marrow.B-lymphocytes can convert to plasma cells whic
h are responsible for producing Ab.

2. The structure and function of thymus: cortex and medulla . Hassall’s

corpuscle and blood-thymus barrier.

3.The structure and function of lymph node;the celular components of l

ymphatic nodule and paracortex.

4.The structure and function of spleen:red pulp and white pulp ( malpig
hian body and ).
 Thymic cortex
There are 3 types of epithelioreticular cells in thymic cortex.

epithelioreticular cells

Type I Type II Type III

Located at the boundary of the cort

Located at the boundary of the
ex and capsule.
cortex and medulla.
Serve as a barrier that isolate thym
A kinds of APCs to present Ag.
ocytes and C.T.

Located within the cortex .

It is APC with MHC II molecules wh
ich are involved in thymic cell educ
ation.