The Immune System

There are physical, chemical, and cellular defenses against invasion by viruses,
bacteria, and other agents of disease.

During the early stages of an infection, there is an inflammatory response

 Non-specific attack
 Phagocytes active ("eat" pathogen)

During later stages, leucocytes produce immune responses

 Antigen - a foreign substance which triggers an immune response

 Some WBC's produce antibodies in huge amounts
o Antibodies - substances which bind to specific antigens and tag them
for destruction
o Other WBC's (executioner cells) directly destroy body cells

Surface coverage - the first line of defense

 The body is protected from pathogens by the skin and mucous membranes
o Skin - dead cellular layer - dry, low pH
o Mucous membranes contain lysozymes (enzymes which break down
bacteria)
o Other cells contain cilia which filter pathogens and particulates
 Breaks in the protective barrier
o Digestive openings
o Reproductive openings
o Respiratory openings
o Sensory Organs

Non-specific responses - the second line of defense

 Non-specific responses are generalized responses to pathogen infection -

they do not target a specific cell type
 The non-specific response consist of some WBC's and plasma proteins
 Phagocytes - cells which "eat" foreign material to destroy them
 o Phagocytes are formed from stem cells in bone marrow (stem cells
are undifferentiated WBC's)
 Neutrophil - phagocytize bacteria
 Eosinophils - secrete enzymes to kill parasitic worms among
other pathogins
 Macrophage - "big eaters" phagocytize just about anything

Macrophage destroying bacterial cells

 Non-phagocytic leucocytes - 
o Basophil - contain granules of toxic chemicals that can digest foreign
microorganisms.  These are cells involved in an allergic response
o Mast Cells - similar to basophils, mast cells contain a variety of
inflammatory chemicals including histamine and seratonin.  Cause
blood vessels near wound to constrict.
 Complement proteins - plasma proteins which have a role in nonspecific
and specific defenses
 o Form a cascade effect - if only a few are activated, they will trigger
others to become active in great numbers
 Some punch holes in bacterial walls (forms holes where
cellular components leak out)
 Some promote inflammation
 Concentration gradients attract phagocytes to irritated
or damaged tissue
 Encourage phagocytosis in phagocytes (promotes
"eating")
 Some bind to the surface of invading organisms
 Chemokines - create a chemical gradient to attract neutrophils and other
leucocytes to the wound site
 Inflammation
 o Causes localized redness, swelling, heat, and pain
o Changes in capillary wall structure allow interstitial fluid and WBC's
to leak out in tissue
o Promotes macrophage (phagocytic WBC's) activity
o Macrophages secrete Interleukins (communication proteins among
WBC's)
 Interleukin-1: increases body temperature (i.e. causes a fever)
 This enhances the WBC's ability to protect the body
 Causes drowsiness - reduces the body's energy usage
and stress

The Immune System (Specific Responses) - the third line of defense

 Called into action when nonspecific methods are not enough and infection
becomes widespread

Types of cells involved in the immune system:

  Macrophages - engulf foreign objects
o Inform T lymphocytes at a specific antigen is present
 Helper T cells - produce and secrete chemicals which promote large
numbers of effector and memory cells
 Cytotoxic T cells - T lymphocytes that eliminate infected body cells and
tumor cells
 B cells - produce antibodies (secrete them in the blood or position them on
their cell surfaces)

Each type of virus, bacteria, or other foreign body has molecular markers which
make it unique

 Host lymphocytes (i.e. those in your body) can recognize self proteins (i.e.

those which are not foreign)
 When a nonself (foreign) body is detected, mitotic activity in B and T
lymphocytes is stimulated
o While mitosis is occurring, the daughter populations become
subdivided
 Effector cells - when fully differentiated, they will seek and
destroy foreign
 Memory cells - become dormant, but can be triggered to
rapid mitosis if pathogen encountered again

Thus, immunological specificity and memory involve three events:

(1) Recognition of a specific invader

(2) Repeated cell divisions that form huge lymphocyte populations

(3) Differentiation into subpopulations of effector and memory cells

 Antigen - a nonself marker that triggers the formation of lymphocyte

armies
 Antibodies - molecules which bind to antigens and are recognized by
lymphocytes

Antigen-presenting cell - a macrophage which digests a foreign cell, but leaves

the antigens intact. It then binds these antigens to MHC molecules on its cell
membrane. The antigen-MHC complexes are noticed by certain lymphocytes
(recognition) which promotes cell division (repeated cell divisions)
 Molecular cues that stimulate lypmphocytes to create an immune response

T cells (Helper T cells and Cytotoxic T cells)

 T cells arise from stem cells in the bone marrow - they then travel to the
thymus where the differentiate and mature. At maturity, they acquire
receptors for self markers (MHC molecules) and for antigen-specific
receptors. They are then released into the blood as "virgin" T cells.
 T cells ignore other cells with MHC molecules and they ignore free-floating
antigens. However, they will bind with a antigen-presenting macrophage (a
macrophage possessing a MHC-antigen complex). This binding promotes
rapid cell division and differentiation into effector and memory cells (all
with receptors for the antigen)
  Effector helper T cells secrete interlukins (stimulate both T and B cells to
divide and differentiate)
 Effector cytotoxic T cells recognize infected cells with the MHC-antigen
complex. They then destroy the cell with perforans (enzymes which
perforate the cell membrane, allowing cytoplasm to leak out) and other
toxins which attack organelles and DNA

Cell-mediated immune response

B cells and Antibodies

 B cells also arise from stem cells in the bone marrow. As they develop and
mature, they start synthesizing a single type of antibody
 Antibodies are proteins which recognize antigens
 The virgin B cell produces antibodies which move to the cell surface and
stick out
 The B cell floats in the blood - when it encounters the specific antigen it
becomes primed for replication
 The B cell must receive an interleukin signal from a helper T cell which has
already become activated by a macrophage with a MHC-antigen complex.
This promotes rapid cell division.
 The B cell population then differentiates into effector and memory B cells
 The effector B cells then produce a staggering amount of free-floating
antibodies
o When these free-floating antibodies encounter an antigen, they tag
it for destruction by phagocytes and complementary proteins
o These types of responses are only good for extracellular toxins and
pathogens - they cannot detect pathogens or toxins located inside of
a cell
 Antibody-mediated immune response

Where do all of these interactions take place? - in the lymph nodes.

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