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32 Cards in this Set

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  • Back
What proteins do RBCs contain? What are their functions?
Spectrin: maintains the biconcave shape. The tail ends of spectrin bind to actin and band 4.1 protein.

Ankyrin: attaches to spectrin and band 3 protein

Band 3 protein: anion transporter that allows HCO3- to cross the RBC membrane in exchange for Cl-.

Glycophorin: membrane spanning protein that is rich in sialic acid, giving the RBC a very hydrophilic charge. This enables RBCs to circulate without adhering to other cells or vessel walls.
If blood is centrifuged, what are the three layers?
Top: Plasma
Middle: Buffy coat containing leukocytes and platelets
Bottom: RBCs
What is Hydrops fetalis? What are the symptoms?
Most severe form of α-thalassemia.
Causes severe pallor, generalized edema, and massive hepatosplenomegaly. Invariably leads to intrauterine fetal death.
What is the most severe form of β-thalassemia?
β-Thalassemia major. Causes a severe, transfusion-dependent anemia.
What do the primary (azurophilic) granules of neutrophils contain?
Primary (azurophilic) granules are lysosomes that contain acid hydrolases and myeloperoxidase (produces hypochlorite ions).
What do the secondary granules of neutrophils contain?
lysozyme, lactoferrin, alkaline phosphatase, and other bacteriostatic and bacteriocidal substances.
What is the respiratory burst oxidase?
A membrane enzyme of neutrophils which produces hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide, which kill bacteria.
What attracts neutrophils to the site of tissue damage?
Complement C5a
Leukotriene B4
What proteins are found in the eosinophil granules?
Eosinophil granules contain major basic protein, eosinophil cationic protein, histaminase, and peroxidase.
What type of receptors do eosinophils have?
IgE antibody receptors.
What are the functions of eosinophils?
Parasitic infection
Reducing the severity of allergic reactions (by secreting histaminase and PGE1 and PGE2, which degrade histamine and inhibit mast cell secretion, respectively).
What do the basophilic granules contain?
Sulfated proteoglycans
What type of antibody receptors are found on basophils?
IgE antibody receptor.
What type of hypersensitivity reactions do basophils play a role in?
Immediate (type I) hypersensitivity reactions:
Anaphylactic reactions
Allergic rhinitis (hay fever)
Some forms of asthma and urticaria
What are macrophages called in the following tissues:
Connective tissue
Liver: Kupffer cells
Connective Tissue: Histiocytes
Brain: Microglia
Skin: Langerhans cells
Bone: Osteoclasts
What do the granules of monocytes contain?
Acid hydrolases
Aryl sulfatase
Acid phosphatase
What do the granules of platelets contain?
Platelet factor 4
Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)
Factor V

What is the thymus derived from?
Endodermal pharyngeal pouch 3
What composes the thymic cortex?
a) Thymic epitheliocytes
b) Thymocytes (T stem cells, pre-T cells, and immature T cells)
c) Macrophages
What do the thymic epitheliocytes secrete?
Thymotaxin: attracts T stem cells from the bone marrow into the thymus
Serum Thymic factor
Thymopoietin: transforms immature T cells into mature T cells.
What is the thymic medulla composed of?
Thymic epitheliocytes
Mature T cells (CD4+ helper T cells, CD4+ or CD8+ suppressor T cells, CD8+ cytotoxic T cells)
Thymic (Hassall's) corpuscles
What is the blood-thymus barrier?
Only found in the thymic cortex, it assures that immature T cells undergo positive and negative selection in an antigen-free environment. This barrier consists of tight junctions between nonfenestrated endothelial cells, basal lamina, and thymic epitheliocytes.
What happens when pharyngeal pouches 3 and 4 fail to develop embryologically?
Congenital thymic aplasia (DiGeorge syndrome)
Infants have no T cells and have recurrent infections.
What is found in the outer cortex of the lymph nodes?
a) Mature (virgin) B cells: organized into lymphatic follicles that may contain germinal centers.
b) Follicular dendritic cells
c) Macrophages
d) Fibroblasts (reticular cells): secrete Type III collagen
Germinal centers are evidence of what?
Germinal centers are evidence of activated B cells that begin the transformation into plasma cells.
What is found in the inner cortex of the lymph nodes?
AKA Paracortex
a) Mature T cells
b) Dendritic cells
c) Macrophages
d) Fibroblasts
What is found in the medulla of the lymph node?
a) Lymphocytes
b) Plasma cells
c) Macrophages: very numerous
d) Fibroblasts
What is the flow of lymph?
Afferent lymphatic vessels with valves entering at the convex surface -> subcapsular sinus -> cortical sinuses -> medullary sinuses -> efferent lymphatic vessel with valves exiting at the hilum.
What is the function of white pulp in the spleen?
White pulp immunologically monitors the blood where T cells and B cells interact to form a large number of plasma cells that migrate to the red pulp and produce Igs.
What does the white pulp consist of?
a) Mature (virgin) B cells organized into lymphatic follicles
b) Mature T cells organized into periarterial lymphatic sheath (PALS)
Where in the spleen does the immune response start?
Marginal zone, between the white pulp and red pulp.
What is the function of the red pulp? What is the structure of the red pulp?
Red pulp removes senescent, damaged, or genetically altered RBCs and particulate matter from the circulation by macrophages.

Red pulp is organized into splenic (Billroth) cords that are separated by splenic venous sinusoids.