Immune response

– specific & non-specific resistance

Introduction
 Immune System
Defensive mechanisms include :

1) Innate immunity (Natural or Non specific)

2) Acquired immunity (Adaptive or Specific)

Cell-mediated immunity Humoral immunity

 Summary of nonspecific host defenses
Type Mechanism
Anatomic barriers
Skin Mechanical barrier retards entry of microbes.
Acidic environment (pH 3–5) retards growth of microbes.
Mucous membranes Normal flora compete with microbes for attachment sites and nutrients.
Mucus entraps foreign microorganisms.
Cilia propel microorganisms out of body.
Physiologic barriers
Temperature Normal body temperature inhibits growth of some pathogens.
Fever response inhibits growth of some pathogens.
Low pH Acidity of stomach contents kills most ingested microorganisms.
Chemical mediators Lysozyme cleaves bacterial cell wall.
Interferon induces antiviral state in uninfected cells.
Complement lyses microorganisms or facilitates phagocytosis.
Collectins disrupt cell wall of pathogen.
Phagocytic/endocytic Various cells internalize (endocytose) & break down foreign macromolecules.
barriers Specialized cells (blood monocytes, neutrophils, tissue macrophages)
internalize/phagocytose, kill, & digest whole microorganisms.
Inflammatory barriers Tissue damage & infection induce leakage of vascular fluid, containing serum
proteins with antibacterial activity & influx of phagocytic cells into the affected
area.
 Innate immunity
 Innate immunity (less specific), first line of defense
against infection.

 Components of innate immunity are present before

the onset of infection.

 Disease-resistance mechanisms that are not specific

to a particular pathogen.

 Include cellular & molecular components that

recognize the pathogens.
 Innate Immune system

Cellular components Physical Barriers

Phagocytes Natural killer Mucous

Skin
cells membranes

Macrophages, Neutrophils
activated
monocytes
 Cells Ingest & Destroy Pathogens
• Ingestion of extracellular particulate material by
phagocytosis.

• Phagocytosis is the uptake by a cell of material from its

environment.

• In phagocytosis, a cells plasma membrane expands

around the particulate material (may include whole
pathogenic microorganisms), to form large vesicles
called phagosomes.

• Ex: blood monocytes, neutrophils, & tissue

macrophages.

Extracellular molecules are internalized after binding by

specific cellular receptors
Process of Phagocytosis
 Natural Killer Cell

 Natural killer cell are large granular lymphocytes.

 Display cytotoxic activity against tumor cells.

 NK cells acts both against tumor cells & against cells

infected with viruses.

 NK cells constitute 5%–10% of lymphocytes in human

peripheral blood.
 Mononuclear Phagocytes
 Phagocytic system consists of monocytes circulating in
the blood & macrophages in the tissues.

 Monocytes circulate in the bloodstream for ≈ 8 hrs, during

which they enlarge; they then migrate into the tissues &
differentiate into specific tissue macrophages or, into
dendritic cells.
 Granulocytic Cells
Granulocytes are classified on the basis of cellular
morphology & cytoplasmic staining characteristics,
as
I.neutrophils,
II.eosinophils, or
III.basophils
 NEUTROPHILS
 Neutrophils are produced in the bone marrow.
 Circulate in blood for 7–10 hrs & migrate to the tissues.
 During infections, bone marrow releases more number of
neutrophils.
 First to arrive at a site of inflammation.

 Multilobed nucleus &

 Granulated cytoplasm
stains with both acid &
basic dyes;
 Called a
polymorphonuclear
leukocyte (PMN) for its
multilobed nucleus.
 EOSINOPHILS
 Eosinophils are motile phagocytic cells.
 Migrate from the blood into the tissue spaces.
 Phagocytic role is significantly less important than that
of neutrophils.
 Play a role in the defense against parasitic organisms.
 Secreted contents of eosinophilic granules may
damage the parasite membrane.

Have bilobed nucleus &

Granulated cytoplasm
stains with the acid dye
eosin red.
 BASOPHILS
 Basophils are non-phagocytic granulocytes.

 Release pharmacologically active substances.

 These substances play a major role in certain allergic

responses.

 Basophil has a lobed nucleus & heavily granulated

cytoplasm that stains with the basic dye methylene
blue.
 Inflammation Stimulates
Immune Responses
• Tissue damage caused by a wound or by an invading
pathogenic microorganism induces a complex sequence
of events known as the inflammatory response.

• A molecular component of a microbe, such as LPS, may

trigger an inflammatory response via interaction with cell
surface receptors.

• Result of inflammation may be the marshalling of a

specific immune response to the invasion or clearance of
the invader by components of the innate immune system.
 Inflammation
Four Major Symptoms of Inflammation:
1. Redness
2. Pain
3. Heat
4. Swelling
May also observe:
5. Loss of function
 Functions of Inflammation
1. Destroy & remove pathogens

2. If destruction is not possible, to limit effects by

confining the pathogen & its products.

3. Repair & replace tissue damaged by pathogen &

its products.
 Adaptive Immunity
• Adaptive immunity is capable of recognizing &
selectively eliminating specific foreign
microorganisms and molecules.

Four characteristic attributes:

1. Antigenic specificity
2. Diversity
3. Immunologic memory
4. Self/non-self recognition
 Adaptive immunity
 Adaptive immunity (specific), does not come into play
until there is an antigenic challenge to the organism.

 Responds to the challenge with a high degree of

specificity & “memory.”

 Response against an antigen comes within 5 or 6 days

after the initial exposure to that antigen.

 Major agents of adaptive immunity are lymphocytes &

the antibodies & other molecules they produce.
 Lymphocytes
 Lymphocytes are white blood cells produced in the bone
marrow.

 Produce & display antigen binding cell-surface receptors.

 The 2 major populations of lymphocytes—

B lymphocytes (B cells) &
T lymphocytes (T cells).
 B-Lymphocytes
 B lymphocytes mature within the bone marrow
 Expresses a unique antigen-binding receptor on its
membrane. B-cell receptor is a membrane-bound
antibody molecule.
 Antibodies are glycoproteins, consist of two identical
heavy polypeptide chains & two identical light
polypeptide chains.
Differences in the primary and secondary response to injected
Exposure to the same antigen some time in the future results
in a memory response: the immune response to the second
challenge occurs more quickly than the first, is stronger & is
often more effective in neutralizing and clearing the pathogen.
 When a naive B cell first encounters the antigen that matches
its membrane bound antibody, the binding of the antigen to
the antibody causes the cell to divide rapidly; its progeny
differentiate into memory B cells & effector B cells called
plasma cells.

 Memory B cells have a longer life span than naive cells & they
express the same membrane-bound antibody as their parent
B cell.

 Plasma cells produce the antibody in a form that can be

secreted.

 Plasma cells live for only a few days.

 Single plasma cell can secrete more than 2000 molecules of

antibody per second.
 T -LYMPHOCYTES
 T lymphocytes also arise in the bone marrow.
 But T cells migrate to the thymus gland to mature.
 T cell express a unique antigen-binding molecule, called
the T-cell receptor, on its membrane.
 T-cell receptors can recognize only antigen that is bound
to cell-membrane proteins called major
histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules.
 MHC molecules functions in recognition event, which is
termed “antigen presentation”
 Two major types of MHC molecules:

 Class I MHC molecules, expressed by nearly all

nucleated cells of vertebrate species.

 Class II MHC molecules, are expressed only by

antigen-presenting cells.
Role of MHC molecules in antigen recognition
by T cells
(b) TH cells recognize only antigen bound to class II MHC molecules.
(c) TC cells recognize only antigen associated with class I MHC
molecules.
Processing & presentation of exogenous and
endogenous antigens
 There are 2 well-defined subpopulations of T cells:
T helper (TH) &
T cytotoxic (TC) cells.

 T helper & T cytotoxic cells can be distinguished from one

another by the presence of either CD4 or CD8 membrane
glycoproteins on their surfaces.

 T cells displaying CD4 generally function as TH cells,

whereas those displaying CD8 generally function as TC cells.
 TH cell recognizes and interacts with an antigen– MHC class II
molecule complex, the cell is activated—and secretes cytokines.

 Secreted cytokines play an important role in activating B cells, TC

cells, macrophages, and various other cells that participate in the
immune response.

 Under the influence of TH-derived cytokines, a TC cell that

recognizes an antigen–MHC class I molecule complex proliferates
and differentiates into an effector cell called a cytotoxic T
lymphocyte (CTL).

 CTL generally does not secrete many cytokines & instead exhibits
cell-killing or cytotoxic activity.

 Cells that display foreign antigen complexed with a class I MHC

molecule are called altered self-cells; these are targets of CTLs.
(virus-infected cells, tumor cells, and cells of a foreign tissue
graft)
Thank You