Cells of the Immune System

For Immunology Chapter 2 (Day 1) 

1. Explain the characteristics of primary vs secondary vs tertiary lymphoid organs. 
2. What is special about cells that that are characterized as “Lin- Sca+ c-Kit-1+” (aka “LSK”). 
3. Using two colors of pen (preferably pink and purple), make large drawings of the H&E-stained cell images in figures 2-2, 2-3, and 2-4.
4. Why do the basophils and mast cells look similar?  The plasma cell in figure 2-4 is a lymphocyte, but what looks different about panels a and c? 
5. Compare and contrast the prominent activities of granulocytes and professional antigen-presenting cells.   
6. According to the textbook, what is the relationship between monocytes and macrophages?  
7. Where would you find: 
   • Inflammatory monocytes 
   • Patrolling monocytes 
   • Osteoclasts 
   • Microglial cells 
   • Kupffer cells 
   • Alveolar macrophages 
   • Langerhans cells 
8. Macrophages are “big eaters”.  What sorts of things do they tend to “eat”?  How would make some cell or particle look “tastier” to macrophages? 
9. The textbook says, “Dendritic cells perform the distinct functions of antigen capture in one location and antigen presentation in another.”  Describe this idea using more words.  Be sure to be more specific than “one location” and “another”. 
10. Describe the stragglers: follicular DCs, erythrocytes, megakaryocytes/platelets.
11. (Bonus) Since neutrophils have phagocytic capacity, do you think they could be professional antigen-presenting cells, too?  How would you test this idea?  (Hint: Read about lymphocytes before answering this question.) 
12. Write a questions about a topic from this reading assignment that you think is important, but that Dr. Graff forgot to cover.  Write a few sentences defending the importance of this topic.