Immune System Video and Reading Notes

Who created the modern smallpox vaccine?

Edward Jenner

How did Edward Jenner create the vaccine?

Using pustules of cowpox was scratched on an individual’s skin

What are monoclonal antibodies?

commercially produced; type of antibody is mass produced in a lab

What are some pathogens can be treated by monoclonal antibodies?

rabies, anti-venom, cancer, Covid

What are some pathogens that can be diagnosed by monoclonal antibodies?

HIV, flu, COVID, strep (and pregnancy)

What animal is used to produce them (monoclonal antibodies) in labs?

mice

Hybridoma

fusion of B cell and tumor cell

Why are tumor cells needed to make monoclonal antibodies?

they divide rapidly

What hormone can be detected by monoclonal antibodies?

human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)

is blood or urine used for the most common type of pregnancy test?

Urine test

Why is there always a control on the test?

To show that the test is working properly/ not defective

What is the first step of a pregnancy test? (Positive result)

If hCG is present in urine, it attaches to free antibodies attached to a dye

What is the second step of a pregnancy test? (Positive result)

hCG-free antibody complex moves up the stick (capillary action) → then binds to immobilized hCG antibodies to create a positve result in the first window (closest to urine)

What is the third step of a pregnancy test?

Free antibodies with dye continue to move upwards and bind to immobilized antibodies that make the control mark in the second window

What happens between a pregnancy test and non-pregnant urine?

The urine won’t make a mark in the first window, but will still move up to cause the free antibodies to bind to immobilized antibodies that can make a control mark in second window

Why does non-pregnant urine not make a mark in the first window?

Because there’s no hCG

What is the full name of the HIV virus?

Human immunodeficiency virus

Does the virus HIV survive long outside a body?

doesn’t survive long

In what type of body fluids is HIV found?

found in blood, semen, vaginal fluids, rectal secretion, and breast milk

How is HIV spread (transmitted)?

• sex without a condom (abrasions to the mucus membranes can cause minor bleeding)

• sharing of hypodermic needles by intravenous drug users

• transfusion of infected blood

• blood factors like Factor VIII

• childbirth and breastfeeding

What type of lymphocyte does HIV destroy?

helper T-cells

When is a person considered to be HIV positive?

when it’s detected that the immune system is making antibodies against HIV

AIDS

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

What is one of the rarer opportunistic infections/diseases that people with AIDS get?

Kaposi’s sarcoma

Why is Kaposi’s sarcoma a marker for HIV infection?

marks when antibody production becomes ineffective which allows infections to strike

What does it mean when the antibody production becomes ineffective?

Infections that could be fought by a healthy immune system

What is a retrovirus? (What does it contain?)

genes are made of RNA

What enzyme needs to be involved to produce DNA?

reverse transcriptase

Summarize some of the ways that antiviral drugs work on HIV

• inhibit reverse transcriptase

• others target the enzyme necessary for protein coat/ insertion of DNA into host cell’s chromosomes