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Questions and Answers
What is the main goal of bone marrow transplants in recipients with leukemia?
What is the term for the process by which the immune system responds to cancer cells?
What is the characteristic of stem cells that makes them valuable for medicine?
What is the term for the transfer of a tissue from one person to another without the transfer of the blood supply of the grafted tissue?
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What is the term for the disease that can result from bone marrow transplants, where the immune system of the transplanted tissue attacks the recipient's body?
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What is the term for the process by which the immune system targets and eliminates specific cells or tissues?
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What type of immunity is acquired through vaccination?
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What is the term for the relative amount of antibody in serum?
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Which type of autoimmune reaction is characterized by multiple sclerosis?
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What is the term for the transfer of antibodies from a mother to a fetus during pregnancy?
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Which type of immunity is acquired through infection and can last for a long period of time?
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What is the term for the disease caused by the immune system acting in response to self-antigens?
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What is the primary response in the adaptive immune system?
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What is the main difference between humoral immunity and cellular immunity?
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What is the function of IgG antibodies?
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What is the role of epitopes in the immune response?
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What is the function of haptens in the immune response?
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What is the main difference between IgM and IgA antibodies?
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What is the function of cytotoxic T lymphocytes in cancer?
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What is the main mechanism of action of immunotoxins in cancer treatment?
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What is the primary cause of congenital immunodeficiencies?
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What is the term for the time between HIV infection and the appearance of detectable antibodies?
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What is the primary mechanism of HIV transmission?
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What is the purpose of Herceptin in cancer treatment?
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Study Notes
Autoimmune Diseases
- Myasthenia gravis: a disease where muscles become progressively weaker, leading to respiratory arrest and death.
- Systemic lupus erythematosus: a systemic autoimmune disease involving immune complex reactions, resulting in deposits of immune complexes in the kidney glomeruli.
- Rheumatoid arthritis: a disease where immune complexes of IgM, IgG, and complement are deposited in the joints.
- Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: a common condition caused by immunological destruction of insulin-secreting cells of the pancreas.
- Psoriasis: an autoimmune disorder characterized by itchy, red patches of thickened skin, treated with immunosuppressants that target T cells.
Stem Cells
- Stem cells are capable of renewing themselves and can be differentiated into other organ-specific specialized cells.
- Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can be harvested from a blastocyst, attracting great interest in medicine.
- Bone marrow stem cells: used in bone marrow transplants to enable recipients to produce healthy red blood cells, but can result in graft-versus-host (GVH) disease.
Grafts
- Graft: transfer of a tissue from one part of the body to another, or from one person to another, without the transfer of the blood supply of the grafted tissue.
- Types of grafts: autograft, isograft, allograft, and xenotransplantation products (tissues or organs transplanted from animals).
Immune System and Cancer
- Cancer cells: normal cells that have undergone transformation, dividing uncontrollably, and possessing tumor-associated antigens.
- Immunological surveillance: the response of the immune system to cancer.
- IgE antibodies: involved in allergic reactions, binding to mast cells and basophils.
Immunological Memory
- Antibody titer: the relative amount of antibody in serum.
- Primary response: the peak IgG titer occurs 10-17 days after exposure to an antigen.
- Secondary response: the peak titer occurs 2-7 days after exposure.
Types of Adaptive Immunity
- Naturally acquired active immunity: resulting from infection, long-lasting.
- Naturally acquired passive immunity: resulting from antibodies transferred from a mother to a fetus (transplacental transfer) or to a newborn in colostrum, lasting up to a few months.
- Artificially acquired active immunity: resulting from vaccination, long-lasting.
- Artificially acquired passive immunity: resulting from humoral antibodies acquired by injection, lasting for a few weeks.
- Serum containing antibodies: often called antiserum or gamma globulin.
Autoimmune Diseases (continued)
- Multiple sclerosis: a neurological disease in which autoantibodies, T cells, and macrophages attack the myelin sheath of nerves, causing fatigue, weakness, and eventual severe paralysis.
- Graves' disease: a condition where the thyroid gland is stimulated to produce increased amounts of thyroid hormones.
- Cytotoxic autoimmune reactions: autoimmune disease caused by autoantibodies, T cells, and macrophages.
- Immune complex autoimmune reactions: autoimmune disease caused by deposits of immune complexes in tissues.
Adaptive Immunity
- Adaptive immunity: the body's ability to react specifically to a microbial infection.
- Primary response: the body's response to the first contact with a particular antigen, involving specific cells activated to destroy the antigen.
- Memory cells: respond to subsequent contact with the same antigen.
Antigens and Antibodies
- Antigen: a chemical substance that causes the body to produce specific antibodies.
- Epitopes: specific regions on antigens that antibodies are formed against.
- Haptens: low-molecular-mass substances that cannot cause the formation of antibodies unless combined with a carrier molecule.
- Antibodies: proteins produced by B cells in response to an antigen, capable of combining specifically with that antigen.
- Immunoglobulin classes: IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD, and IgE, each with distinct functions.
Immunotherapy for Cancer
- Prophylactic vaccines against liver and cervical cancer are available.
- HPV and HBV vaccines protect against some cancers.
- Herceptin: monoclonal antibodies against a breast cancer growth factor.
- Immunotoxins: chemical poisons linked to a monoclonal antibody that selectively locates the cancer cell for release of the poison.
Immunodeficiencies
- Immunodeficiencies: can be congenital or acquired.
- Congenital immunodeficiencies: due to defective or absent genes.
- Acquired immunodeficiencies: caused by various drugs, cancers, and infectious diseases.
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS): caused by HIV infection.
HIV Infection
- HIV: a retrovirus, genus Lentivirus, RNA virus.
- Glycoprotein spikes: gp120 and gp41.
- Subtypes of HIV: HIV-1 (99% of cases worldwide) and HIV-2 (endemic in West Africa).
- The stages of HIV infection: categorized by clinical phases, including asymptomatic, indicator opportunistic infections, and CD4+ cells < 200 cells/μl.
- Diagnostic methods: serological blood tests to detect HIV antibodies, rapid tests, PCR, and seroconversion.
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Description
Test your knowledge of various autoimmune diseases, including myasthenia gravis, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
