4. The graphic below depicts changes in the blood plasma concentration of severa

Question

4. The graphic below depicts changes in the blood plasma concentration of several proteins after an infection. (12 pts) 30,100 0,000 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 C-reactive protein/MBL Serum amyloid A Fibrinogen C3 Albumin 14 21 Time after inflammatory stimulus (days) a. What is the source of these proteins (name an organ, tissue or cells) and what specifically is triggering this response by this source? b. Is the immune response to infection enhanced or impaired by the changes in these blood proteins? Explain how? c. Is the depicted response part of innate or adaptive immunity? Justify your answer.

Explanation / Answer

a.The source of the protein -

C-reactive protein - liver; serum amyloid A - liver and blood plasma,albumin - blood,fibrinogen - liver and blood plasma.

These are acute phase proteins which are triggered by a raised body temperature on account of an inflammation or infection.

b.The immune responses are enhanced by the changes in these acute phase proteins.For example,serum amyloid A which is a high density lipoprotein interacts with various cell receptors such as Toll like receptors to activate cells to produce inflammatory cytokines.Therefore an increased level of serum amyloid A can be viewd as an acute immune response by amplyfying the state of inflammation first triggered by the pathogens.

Similarly,increased levels of C reactive protein can be viewd as a stratergy to overcome the population of pathogens.

c.The depicted response is a part of innate immunity as these elevated acute phase proteins provides the early line of defense against pathogens.Also these response from acute phase proteins are not specific to a particular pathogen unlike adaptive immune response.

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