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Immunity
Chapter 16
Functions of Lymphatic System
1. Draining interstitial fluid
2. Transporting dietary lipids
3. Protection
Lymphatic Vessels
• Begin as closed ended lymph capillaries in
tissue spaces between cells
• NOT A CIRCULATING FLUID
• Interstitial fluid drains into lymphatic
capillaries, forming lymph.
• Lymph capillaries merge to form
lymphatic vessels
•Lymphatic vessels carry lymph into and out
of lymph nodes
• and finally back to the vascular system.
Lymphatic capillaries
• Made of a single layer of squamous
epithelial cells
• Slightly larger than blood capillaries
• Cells overlap and act as one-way valves
• Opened by pressure of interstitial fluid
• Anchoring filaments attach cells to
surrounding tissue
Lymphatic vessels
• Resemble veins (same 3 layers)
• Found throughout body except:
– Avascular tissues
– Central nervous system
– Splenic pulp
– Bone marrow
Lymphatic vessels join to form lymphatic trunks.
Lymphatic trunks join to form :
Thoracic duct (3/4 of body)
Right lymphatic duct (drains right arm,
and right side of head, neck and upper torso)
These empty into subclavian veins at junction
with internal jugular vein.
Formation of lymph:
Fluid leaves capillaries by diffusion and
filtration
Escaped proteins
Three phases:
1. Chemotaxis
2. Adherence
3. Ingestion
Natural Killer Cells
• Next line of defense (with phagocytes)
• Lymphocytes – but do not respond to
specific antigens
• Can kill a variety of microbes plus tumor
cells.
• May release perforins, or attack directly
• Cell may not display correct MHC antigens
Immunity
• Specific resistance to disease involving
the production of a specific lymphocyte or
antibody against a specific antigen.
• An antigen is any substance that elicits an
immune response. Best antigens are:
– Large
– Complex
– Recognized as foreign
Haptens are molecules that are small, foreign
and complex. To elicit an immune response,
they must piggy-back on a larger molecule,
often blood proteins.
Epitopes: a foreign protein may result in
several different antibodies. Each antibody
recognizes a different portion of the protein.
These regions are called epitopes.
Two forms of immunity:
Humoral or antibody mediated immunity
B cells (mature in bone) make
antibodies: specific proteins that bind to
specific antigens
OR
Cell-mediated immunity
Tcytoxic lymphocytes attack virus
infected or tumor cells directly
“The Story”
• Macrophage destroys a bacterium
• Takes bacterial antigen and fuses it with
MHC II complex
• MHC II complex and antigen are placed on
cell membrane.
• Displays antigen (like a proud cat) – so it
is called an antigen presenting cell.
It shows antigen to helper T cells, until it finds
one that has a receptor that matches the
antigen complex.
The helper T cell binds to the antigen complex,
and the macrophage is stimulated to produce
the cytokine Interleukin -1
A cytokine is a protein hormone which
regulates normal cell functions, like growth and
differentiation.
Every step needs 2 signals to proceed.
IL-1 binds to receptors on the helper T cell,
causing helper T-cell to clone itself and
produce IL-2.
IL-2 causes lymphocytes to multiply.
These steps are common to both humoral
and cell-mediated immunity.
Humoral or Antibody mediated
immunity
In order for B cells to become activated
and make antibodies against an
antigen, two things must happen:
1. B cell must encounter the antigen
2. IL-2 produced by helper T cell must
be present.
When both signals are present (the antigen
and IL-2). The B cell becomes activated
and forms two types of cells: plasma cells
and memory cells.
Plasma cells produce large quantities of
their specific antibody into the blood.
Memory cells lie in wait for the next
infection.
Antibodies