Basic Concepts and Components of the immune system

Ziad Elnasser, MD, Ph.D

Questions to Answer

How does our body defend itself against pathogens. How a pathogen succeeds in breaching the bodys defenses eliminated. How our body remember a prior exposure.

Innate or non adaptive

Skin and mucus membranes (physical barriers). Phagocytic white blood cells. Complement components. Interferons.

Adaptive or Acquired Immune Response

T and B lymphocytes. Cytokines. Antigen. Slow (7-10) days. Self vs non self. Antigen recognition molecules. Antigenic determinants (epitopes) B and T cell receptor MHC antigens

Adaptive or Acquired Immune Response

Immunoglobulins or antibodies. Clonally distributed. Modification of self antigen and disease. Memory and vaccination. Influenza is very evasive.

Medical Successes
Vaccinations. Organ transplantations. Treatment of hereditary defects in the immune system. Drugs that controls allergies. Monoclonal antibodies. Treatment of Cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Innate

Phagocytosis and MBL of the C system. Neutrophiles, Macrophages and NK cells. Interferons. Innate and Adaptive are interconnected.

Adaptive

Specific, distinguishes self from nonself. Diversity of antigen recognition molecules. Large number of genes for antigen recognition molecules. Somatic mutation. Receptors prior exposure to antigens. Clonal expantion and clonal selection theory. Self receptors must be deleted or inactivated

Components of the Immune System

Specificiy, diversity and memory. Cells and soluble molecules. All cells and their function. Cell mediated immunity. Humoral immune response. Antigen presenting cells and function.

Active and passive immunity

Direct role in responding to an antigen. Immunity transfer from one individual to another. Either cellular or humoral.

Phases of an immune response

Cognitive phase. Activation phase.

Effector phase.