A normal immune response is composed of which three sequential phases?
What is vaccination?
Deliberate exposure to a pathogen-related antigen to induce immunological mediated response and to acquire immunological memory
What do memory cells allow for?
A rapid response when the same pathogen invades a second time
Symptoms will be eradicated or dampened down in second exposure
Memory cells can remain dormant and reactivate when foreign antigens previously detected are present
Effector cells are more quickly produced this way via clonal proliferation and differentiation of memory cells
What must occur for antibodies to be produced?
An antigen specific cell must be encountered
What is the first antibody produced in response to infection?
IgM
IgM production will change to production of what other antibody class during the adaptive response?
IgG
What is the reason for the change between IgM production to IgG production?
IgG has the same, but added functionality to IgM
What is the lag period?
This is the time when antibody levels are low as they gradually build
Pathogen proliferation is very high at this stage
Symptoms will likely be experienced at this stage
Where do long-lived plasma cell retreat after infection is eradicated and what do they do?
They retreat to the bone marrow
They will secrete antigen specific antibodies for an extended period of time
In a secondary response to an infection, which antibody class(es) are activated from the beginning?
IgG and IgM
How can IgG activate complement?
Via the classical pathway
Why is it often effective to swtich to IgA production during the secondary response?
IgA can form dimers which can cross epithelial tissues and that are able to block bacterial attachment to ucous membranes
What is unusual about how the immune system combats diptheria?
The toxin produced by the infection is targeted - not the microorganism
This means the toxin can be cleared, by the individual will still be a carrier
What happens to effector cells (non-memory B and T cells) when no antigen is present for binding?
They will undergo apoptosis
Why can memory B cells produce more functional differentiation than in the primary response?
They have already undergone Ig class switching (IgM to IgG) and hypermutation
How are memory cells superior to primary B cells produced?
Why do memory cells encounter antigens faster?
They are present in secondary lymphoid tissues unlike naive cells
This is because they have receptors on their surface which allows for binding with chemokines which causes entrapment within such tissues
What is active immunity?
This is protection obtained solely from an individual’s own immune system and can be stimulated by vaccine or occur naturally
What is passive immunity?
This is temporary immune protection transferred form one individual to another such as secretory IgA in breastmilk
Describe the methodology behind inactivated vaccines?
Why will there be a relatively weak T cell response to attenuated vaccines?
There are no live components for which T cells can act upon
How can an attenuated vaccine be created?
What are the two main problems associated with attenuated vaccine preparation?
What are the main benefits to attenuated vaccines?