Chapter 16:

Innate Immunity

1. Overview of Innate Immunity

2. Inflammation & Phagocytosis

3. Antimicrobial Substances
1. Overview of Innate Immunity
 The Body’s Defenses

The body has 2 types of defense against infection

Innate Immunity
• physical barriers (the skin & mucous membranes)
• immediate, non-specific responses to pathogens, injuries
Adaptive Immunity (covered in ch. 17)
• delayed, highly specific responses to foreign material
 Innate Immunity
The innate immune response is the body’s 1st
line of defense and includes:
1) physical barriers between inside & outside
• the skin and the mucous membranes of the digestive,
respiratory and genito-urinary tracts
• all substances secreted at these barriers and all
of the normal microbiota that live on these surfaces

2) non-specific cellular & physiological responses

• i.e., inborn (innate) general responses to the presence of
pathogens that breach the body’s physical barriers
• independent of prior exposure, response is immediate
• eliminates the vast majority of pathogens that gain entry
 Physical Defenses
Key features of the Skin:
• dry, acidic surface
(resists microbial growth)

• multiple layers of tough yet

dead keratinized cells

• continual loss of outer dead

skin layers removes
potential pathogens

• sebum from hair follicles

(lowers pH) & lysozyme
from sweat resist microbial
growth
Key features of the Eyes:
• tears continually released by
lacrimal ducts
• contain antimicrobial
substances (e.g. lysozyme),
wash away any microbes, debris
on the eye surface

Key features of the Mucous Membranes:

• includes the linings of the respiratory, digestive & genito-
urinary tracts
• vulnerable due to very thin epithelial layer, moist surface
• continually produce mucus, a viscous glycoprotein that
traps microbes and debris
• acidic environment of stomach kills most microbes
Summary of Physical Defenses
 Roles of the Normal Microbiota
The “normal microbiota” are the microorganisms
that live on the body surfaces of a healthy
individual and inhibit the growth of pathogens
in the following ways:
• acidifying body surfaces
• e.g., in the female reproductive tract, inhibits yeast inf.

• the production of bacteriocins and other toxins

• i.e., toxins that are specific for other microorganisms
• e.g., in the large intestine (E. coli)

• out-competing pathogens for nutrients

• on the skin and basically all mucous membranes
Organs of the Immune System
 The Lymphoid Organs
Bone Marrow
• blood cell formation
• “where all blood cells (red & white) are born”

Thymus
• where T cells are “educated”
• weeds out T cells that would react to “self” molecules

Spleen
• immune response to pathogens, foreign
material in blood
 …the Lymphatic
System
Lymph Nodes
• immune response to
pathogens, foreign
material in lymph

Lymph (& Blood)

• fluids through which
immune cells patrol
the body
 Cells of the Immune System…
These include all of the white blood cells (aka
leukocytes), some of which appear “granular”…
Neutrophils
Granulocytes • phagocytes w/strangely shaped nuclei,
poorly stained granular vesicles
Basophils
• release histamine, other mediators of
inflammation, vesicles bind basic dyes
Eosinophils
• phagocytic, attack parasites w/toxic
proteins, vesicle bind acidic eosin dye
Dendritic Cells
• phagocytes with very important roles
in initiating adaptive immune response
 …more Cells of the Immune System
…& others which have an “agranular” appearance
Monocytes/Macrophages
Agranulocytes • monocytes become actively
phagocytic macrophages when
stimulated via infection, injury

Natural Killer (NK) cells

• recognize and destroy cells with
features of tumor cells, cells
with intracellular pathogens

T & B cells
• have central roles in adaptive
immunity (covered in ch. 17)
2. Inflammation & Phagocytosis
 What is Inflammation?
Inflammation is a localized response initiated by
damaged or infected tissues to aid tissue repair
and the elimination of pathogens.

The basic stages of inflammation are as follows:

Vasodilation & increased capillary permeability
• increases blood flow to area, blood fluid in tissue

Migration of phagocytes, phagocytosis

• phagocytes exit the blood, enter affected tissue via
chemotaxis & consume pathogens

Tissue repair
• removal of dead cells, regeneration of the tissue
 Inflammation Triggers
Any type of physical damage to and/or microbial
penetration of a tissue will trigger a local
inflammatory response:
• can be short-lived (acute) or extended (chronic)
• initiated by the
release of
inflammatory
mediators from
cells in the tissue
that is damaged
e.g.
histamine
prostaglandins
leukotrienes
 Vasodilation & Increased Permeability
Increased blood flow due to vasodilation and the
increased permeability of capillaries results in
fluid from blood seeping into affected tissue:
• causes swelling of the region (edema)

• facilitates
clotting

• facilitates
entry of
antimicrobial
proteins,
leukocytes
 Phagocyte Migration (Chemotaxis)

• endothelium of capillaries in
the area expresses proteins
that “stick to” phagocytes
• phagocytes then “squeeze” their way out into the
tissue and follow a “trail” of chemical signals toward
the source (chemotaxis) and gobble up microbes
 Tissue Repair
Once the area has been secured (all pathogens
are destroyed, all breaches are sealed), dead &
damaged cells can be broken down and the
tissue can regenerate.
 What is Phagocytosis?
It’s the process by which a cell ingests a solid
extracellular particle (such as a bacterium) by
engulfing it within a membrane enclosed
vesicle (sometimes called a vacuole).

• cells that normally carry out this function are

referred to as phagocytic, or simply as phagocytes
 Types of Phagocytes
All of the phagocytes in the human body are
types of white blood cells (leukocytes):
Neutrophils
• highly phagocytic cells that rapidly exit the blood into
damaged or infected tissue, “gobble up” bacteria, etc…

Macrophages
• monocytes migrate to damaged, infected tissue from
blood & differentiate into highly phagocytic macrophages
• some are fixed (non-mobile) in various tissues & organs
Dendritic Cells
• found in skin, mucous membranes, thymus, lymph nodes
Eosinophils (occasionally)
 The Phagocytic Process

• all phagocytic white blood cells ingest & destroy

pathogens & other debris by this basic process
 Opsonization
As we learned in the previous chapter, bacteria have
a variety of ways to resist phagocytosis.

2 kinds of molecules involved

in the immune response bind
to pathogens and greatly
enhance phagocytosis:

• antibodies
• complement protein C3b
This process is called
opsonization and such
proteins are called opsonins.
3. Antimicrobial Substances
 Some Antimicrobial Substances
There are many different kinds of antimicrobial
substances, however we will focus our attention
on 2 of the more interesting ones*:
*Complement system
• a set of proteins present in the blood important for
the destruction of pathogenic cells

*Interferons
• a class of cytokines that are especially important in
controlling viral infections

Transferrins (bind & keep iron away from pathogens)

Antimicrobial peptides (cause lysis of microbes)

 The Complement System
The complement system (aka “complement”) is
a set of >30 proteins produced by the liver that
circulate in the blood in an inactive state.

The presence of microbial pathogens activates

the “complement cascade” in 1 of 3 ways to
eliminate the pathogens by:

• cytolysis (cell lysis)

• eukaryotic pathogens, Gram- bacteria (not Gram+)

• triggering inflammation
• enhancing phagocytosis (opsonization)
 The Complement Cascade
• the activation of complement
proteins C3 & C5-C9 as shown
is central to complement carrying
out its roles

• the key event setting off the process

is the splitting of C3 protein into
C3a & C3b fragments
• C3b triggers the cascade resulting in a cytolytic structure…
Cytolysis by Complement
• C3b binds to outer membrane
of Gram- bacteria and splits
C5 into C5a & C5b

• C5b on the outer membrane

then recruits C6, C7, & C8

• the C5b-C8 complex triggers

multiple C9 proteins to complete
the circular membrane attack
complex (MAC)

• MAC formation produces a

hole in membrane & cytolysis
**C3b also functions as an
opsonin to aid phagocytosis**
The Classical Complement Pathway
The “classical” pathway
was characterized first and
activates C3 as follows:

• specific antibody binds to the

surface of a target cell

• this activates C1 which then

splits C2 into C2a & C2b, and
C4 into C4a and C4b

• C2a & C4b form a complex

which then cleaves C3 setting
off the formation of the MAC
Alternative Complement Pathway
The “alternative” pathway activates C3 in a different way:
• spontaneously
formed yet unstable
complexes of C3 &
Factors B, D & P
become stabilized
on the surface of
a pathogen

• stabilized C3-BDP
acts to cleave other
C3 molecules and
trigger cascade

**This is antibody-
independent!**
 Lectin Complement Pathway
Lectins are protein produced by the liver that bind
specific carbohydrate structures
• mannose-binding
lectin (MBL) is
produced during
infections and binds
carbohydrates with
the sugar mannose
on pathogens
• MBL on the cell
surface triggers the
complement cascade
as does C1 in the
classical pathway
**Antibody-independent!**
 Inflammation via Complement

C3a and C5a are powerful inducers of inflammation

• bind to receptors on mast cells triggering the release of
histamine, etc, causing vasodilation, incr. in permeability
C5a is also a powerful chemoattractant for phagocytes
• phagocytes follow gradient of C5a to site of infection
 Interferons
The interferons (IFN-α, IFN-β & IFN-γ) are a class
of cytokines (soluble protein signals) released by
virally infected cells and certain white blood cells
to stimulate other cells to protect themselves
from viral infection:
• the presence of viral proteins, RNA in a cell
triggers IFN production & release
• neighboring cells bind IFNs via specific receptors
• this triggers the expression of various anti-viral
genes in the cell receiving the IFN signal
• the resulting anti-viral proteins (AVPs) degrade
viral RNA, thus protecting cell from infection
Effects of Interferons on Cells
 Key Terms for Chapter 16
• innate vs adaptive immunity
• granulocytes: neutrophils, basophils,
eosinophils dendritic cells
• agranulocytes: monocytes, macrophages,
NK cells, T & B cells
• opsonization, opsonin
• complement: classical, alternative, MBL paths
• lectins, interferons, cytokines, transferrins

Relevant Chapter Questions

rvw: 1-5, 7-9, 12, 13, 15, 16 MC: 1-6, 10