Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology

Q1. What is vaccine?

The word “vaccine” originates from the Latin Areolae vaccinae (cowpox), which
Edward Jenner demonstrated in 1798 could prevent smallpox in humans. All biological
preparations, produced from living organisms, that enhance immunity against disease and
either prevent (prophylactic vaccines) or, in some cases, treat disease (therapeutic
vaccines).
Q2. What are the components of vaccine?
1. entire microorganism
2. some of its components
Q3. Vaccines are constructed in several ways?

1. From living organisms that have been weakened, usually from cultivation under sub-
optimal conditions (also called attenuation), or from genetic modification, which has
the effect of reducing their ability to cause disease
2. From whole organisms that have been inactivated by chemical, thermal or other
means
3. From components of the disease-causing organism, such as specific proteins and
polysaccharides, or nucleic acids;
4. From inactivated toxins of toxin-producing bacteria
5. From the linkage (conjugation) of polysaccharides to proteins (this increases the
effectiveness of polysaccharide vaccines in young children
Q4. what are the types of vaccine
1. Live-attenuated ( measles , mumps , rubella , varicella zoster
2. inactivated ( hepatitis A , influenza , pneumococcal polysaccharide
3. recombinant subunits ( hepatitis B
4. toxoid ( tetanus , diphtheria
5. conjugate polysaccharide (pneumococcal , meningococcal , haemophilus influenza
type B(HIB)

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
6. Vaccines may also contain antigens against several types (or serotypes) of the
same disease-causing organism, providing protection against each type. Polio and
influenza vaccines each protect against 3 types of virus, and some bacterial
vaccines like pneumococcal vaccine protect against up to 23 different serotypes of
Streptococcus pneumonia.
7. Mono and polyvalent vaccines monovalent vaccine contains a single strain of a
single antigen (e.g. Measles vaccine), whereas a polyvalent vaccine contains two
or more strains/serotypes of the same antigen (e.g. OPV).
Q5. What is combination vaccine?
Vaccines against different disease-causing organisms can be combined to provide
protection against several different diseases. These combination vaccines may contain
different types of vaccines. Combination vaccines against different diseases such as
diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Heamophilus influenzae type b, Hepatitis B, and polio, are
commonly used in childhood immunization schedules. These vaccines incorporate both
viral and bacterial vaccines and contain toxoids, purified protein sub-unit vaccine,
conjugated polysaccharide vaccine, recombinant protein vaccine and inactivated viral
vaccine

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology

Q6. What does a vaccine contain?

They are mixed with (formulated) with
1. water
2. saline
3. additives
4. preservatives
5. sometimes adjuvants ; Adjuvants enhance the immune effect of the
vaccine antigen, but do not themselves act as antigens(Aluminum salts
are the most commonly used adjuvant for vaccines)
Vaccinology lecture notes
 Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
6. Antibiotics (in trace amounts) are used during the manufacturing phase
to prevent bacterial contamination of the tissue culture cells in which
the viruses are grown
7. Formaldehyde Used to inactivate viruses (e.g. IPV) and to detoxify
bacterial toxins, such as the toxins used to make diphtheria and tetanus
vaccines, During production, a purification process removes almost all
formaldehyde in vaccines
Q7. What are the purposes of adding these substances to the vaccine?
These ensure the quality and potency of the vaccine over its shelf-life, collectively,
these ingredients are known as the excipients
Q8. Preservatives are added to vaccine preparation during manufacture, why?
1. ensure the sterility of the vaccine over the period of its shelf-life
2. to prevent to prevent microbial contamination
Q9. write briefly about those preservatives , enumerating commonly used types
1. Preservatives used in vaccines are non-toxic in the amounts used
2. do not diminish the potency of vaccines
3. But not all preservatives can be used in all vaccines. Some preservatives will
alter the nature of some vaccine antigens

4. types
(a) phenol ( typhoid , pneumococcal polysaccharide
(b) benzethonium chloride ( anthrax)
(c) phenoxyethanol(inactivated polio
(d) thiomerosal(influenza
Q10. How does vaccine work?

When inactivated or weakened disease-causing microorganisms enter the body,

they initiate an immune response. This response resembles the body’s natural response to

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
infection. But unlike disease-causing organisms, vaccines are made of components that
have limited ability, or are completely unable, to cause disease

The induced immune response to either a disease-causing organism or to a

vaccine configures the body’s immune cells to be capable of quickly recognizing, reacting
to, and subduing the relevant disease-causing organism. When the body’s immune system
is subsequently exposed to a same disease-causing organism, the immune system will
contain and eliminate the infection before it can cause harm to the body

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology

Q11. what are the factors that determine the effectiveness and duration of vaccine
1. the nature of the vaccine constituents
2. the manner in which they are processed by the immune system
3. Some disease-causing organisms, such as influenza, change from year to year, requiring
annual immunization against new circulating strains
4. In very young children, the immune system is immature and less capable of developing
memory. In this age group, duration of protection can be very short-lived for
polysaccharide antigens.
Q12. Write short notes about the history of vaccine?
1. The first attempts to prevent disease by using the disease–causing organism against
itself are reported from 7th century India where Buddhist monks drank snake venom in
order to develop immunity against snake bites
Vaccinology lecture notes
Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
2. Variolation, the practice of inoculating the dried pustules of smallpox (caused by the
Areolae virus) from a sick individual into a healthy individual, to prevent the healthy
individual from developing the disease, developed in Central Asia in the second
millennium. The practice then spread east to China and West to Turkey, Africa, and
Europe.
3. In 1798, in England, Edward Jenner published the results of his experiments on
“vaccination”, the practice of inoculating the cowpox virus (closely related to the human
smallpox virus), Areolae vaccinae, to prevent smallpox in humans
4. At the end of the 19th century, Louis Pasteur began to apply the concept of vaccination
to other diseases. He demonstrated that the harmful nature of disease-causing
organisms could be weakened (or attenuated) in the laboratory. He first demonstrated
the effectiveness of vaccines against chicken cholera and anthrax in animals, before
developing his vaccine against rabies for use in humans in 1885.

Q13. What impact do vaccines have on society?

1. reducing human mortality and increasing population size and labor force
2. The prevention of disease has had an enormous impact on economic development by
limiting the costs of curative care and saving billions of dollars in countries where
diseases have been well controlled or eliminated
3. protecting entire populations from exposure to infectious diseases
Q14. How safe are vaccines?
1. The benefits of vaccination are indisputable
2. vaccines can cause some discomfort because of the immune reactions that they induce
3. The vast majority of adverse events associated with vaccines are minor and transient
4. These are typically pain at the injection site, or mild fever
5. More serious adverse events occur rarely.

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
6. Some individuals may be sensitive to some components in some vaccines, such as eggs,
antibiotics, or gelatin.
7. It is believed that rare and very rare adverse events are associated with individual
differences in immune responses.
Q15. what is immunization and vaccination
Means both receiving a vaccine and becoming immune to a disease, as a result of being
vaccinated,
Vaccination means having a vaccine

Q16. What are the aims of an ideal vaccine?

1. To produce the same immune protection which usually follows natural infection but
Without causing disease
2. To generate long-lasting immunity
3. To interrupt spread of infection

Q17. WHAT ARE the routes of vaccines administration?

The route of administration is the path by which a vaccine (or drug) is brought into
contact with the body.
This is a critical factor for success of the immunization
1. Intramuscular (IM) injection: administers the vaccine into the muscle mass. Vaccines
containing adjuvants should be injected IM to reduce adverse local effects.
2. Subcutaneous (SC) injection
3. Intradermal (ID) injectionBCG is the only vaccine with this route of administration.
Intradermal injection of BCG vaccine reduces the risk of neurovascular injury. Health
workers say that BCG is the most difficult vaccine to administer due to the small size of
newborns’arms.
4. Oral administration
5. Intranasal spray application
Vaccinology lecture notes
Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology

Q18. what is immunity

Is the body defense against foreign pathogen that provides protection from
infectious diseases

Q19. what is pathogen

Any microbe that is capable of causing damage to human tissues

Q20. what are the two basic branches of immunity

1. cellular
2. humeral
Q21. write down the most noticeable features of immunity
1. Self-vs. non self-recognition
2. Protection from infectious disease
3. Usually indicated by the presence of antibody

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
Q22. Where, when and how are vaccines used?
1.
2. Most vaccines are used because the risk of disease for an individual greatly outweighs
the possible adverse effect of the vaccine, and the cost of the vaccine is far less than the
cost of not giving it - E.g. Flu vaccines are given to those most at risk, including the
elderly
3. Vaccines may not be given to some groups because they don’t work in that group, even
if they are at risk
- E.g. Babies under 2 months old may not respond adequately to some vaccines.
4. If enough people get vaccinated, the chance of an infection circulating in the community
is reduced. This is sometimes called ‘population’ or ‘herd’ immunity.

Review of effector immune mechanisms

Q23. what are the two major arms of immunity

A. Humeral Immunity
I it means immunity in body secretions
II Always involves the production of antibodies
III Antibodies play a major role in humeral immunity
B. Cell-Mediated Immunity
I Involves many different cell types, macrophages TH, TC,NK ,granulocytes
Q24. what is the major functional division of immunity and its properties
1. innate system
I first line of defense
II non-specific
III resistance is static, i.e. doesn't improve with repeated exposure, no memory
First.physical defenses
A. skin & epithelial surfaces, cilia
B. commensal flora
C. acidic gastric contents
Vaccinology lecture notes
Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
D. fever
Second. biochemical defenses
A. soluble (lysozyme, acute phase reactants, complement, interferon)
B. cellular (natural killer cells, phagocytes)
2. adaptive system
I second line of defense
II is specific to the infective agent
III exhibits memory with an enhanced response to subsequent challenge
IV include both cellular and soluble factors

Q25. acquired immunity are subdivided into two branches

A. Active Acquired
1. Natural; in response to the entry of a live pathogen into the body (i.e., in response
to an actual infection)
2. Artificial ; immunity acquired in response to vaccines
B. passive acquired
1. natural ; immunity acquired by fetus through placenta as maternal
antibodies and colostrum
2. artificial ; acquired when a person receives antibodies in antiserum or
gamma globulin
Q26. what is lysozyme
I distributed widely in secretions( tears , saliva , vaginal secretions)
II act by cleaving bacterial cell wall proteoglycans
Q27. what is the complement
I series of > 15 plasma proteins, acting sequentially
II functions include
I chemotaxis (C5a, C567)
II mast-cell degranulation(C3a, C5a) leads to histamine release
III opsonization (C3b)
Vaccinology lecture notes
Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
IV cytolysis (C56789) membrane attack complex
V viral neutralization C1, C4
Q28. how is complement activated
A. classical pathway
I involves Ag-Ab interaction (IgG, IgM)
II effectively a part of the adaptive system
B. alternate pathway
I recognition of repetitive sugar moieties, i.e. bacterial cell walls
II part of the innate system

Q29. what are interferons

I a group of serum proteins produced by virally infected cells
II They act on target cells to inhibit viral replication, thereby
Vaccinology lecture notes
Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
Blocking the spread of infection
III IFN-alpha and IFN-beta are the major types
IV activate natural killer cells and enhance cytotoxic action
V Are not virus-specific. Are species-specific (e.g., mouse IFN versus human IFN)
Q30. what are the ways by which interferons inhibit viral protein synthesis
o Through activation of an RNAendonuclease, this digests viral RNA.
o By activation (by phosphorylation) of protein kinase that inactivates eIf:2 Inhibiting
viral protein synthesis
o Exogenous human IFN (produced by recombinant DNA technology) may be used in
antiviral
Therapy for chronic, active HBV and HCV infections
Q31. what are Acute Phase Reactants
I Group of plasma proteins which increase rapidly following trauma, infection,
neoplastic growth, and immune hypersensitivities.
II CRP, which is probably produced by the liver, recognizes and binds to a wide variety
of
Bacteria & fungi. Acts as an opsonin, enhancing phagocytosis, and activates
complement
III Hepatocytes change protein secretion in response to the cytokines IL-1, IL-6, and
TNFα release by macrophage located at the inflammatory site
IV Proteins such as C-reactive protein, serum amyloid, ceruloplasmin, complement
factor-3, haptoglobin, fibrinogen, and α1-antitrypsin increase in secretion

Q32. The acute-phase response represents a group of proteins released from the liver
as part of innate
Immunity. Name the function of the following acute-phase proteins:
I C-reactive protein ; Clears necrotic debris and may activate the classical complement
pathway
Vaccinology lecture notes
Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
II Haptoglobin Conserves body iron by binding hemoglobin
III Fibrinogen Limits spread of bacteria'
Q33. What immune cells are involved in innate immunity
I NK cells
II macrophages
III neutrophils
Q34. Neutrophils and monocytes engulf bacteria and kill them by what mechanism
1. Oxygen-dependent (respiratory burst)
2. muramidase, lactoferrin, low pH,lysozyme

Host Defenses to Viruses

Q35. what are the primary host defenses to viruses

o Skin barrier (dead keratinized cells impervious to viruses)
o Skin has acids and other inhibitors produced by normal bacterial flora
o Mucociliary action of saliva , tears and cilia
Q36. mention the innate immune responses to viruses
o Interferon
o Complement.
o Natural killer cells
o Inflammation limits the spread of virus from an infection site. And results in
unfavorable environmental conditions for viral replication (e.g., antiviral substances,
low pH, elevated temperatures
Q37. what are the adaptive responses to viruses
o Antibody
o cytotoxic T cells
Q38. what are the outcomes of viral infection of the cell
o death is probably due to inhibition of macromolecular synthesis
I Inhibition of host cell protein synthesis at first
Vaccinology lecture notes
Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
II Inhibition of DNA and RNA synthesis
o Fusion of cells to form multinucleated cells as in herpes viruses and
paramyxoviruses
o malignant transformation
o Cytopathic effects include the stopping of mitosis, lysis, and the formation of
inclusion bodies, cell fusion, antigenic changes, chromosomal changes, and
transformation
o No apparent morphologic or functional change

Q39. Define antigen \

Any foreign substance that can stimulate a specific immune response and it can react
specifically with the substances of immune system stimulation (Abs or TCR)

Q40. Define epitope ( antigenic determinant)

1. are small chemical groups on the antigen molecule that can stimulate and react with
antibody

2. The larger the antigen, the more determinants it will have

3. An antigen can have one or more determinants (epitopes). Most antigens have many
determinants; i.e., they are multivalent.

4. A determinant is roughly five amino acids or sugars in size

5. Antigens that share one or more identical or similar epitopes are said to be cross-
reactive antigens.

6. The binding of an antibody to an antigen other than the one that induced its formation
is called a cross-reaction.

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
7. Not all epitopes of an antigen are equally effective in stimulating an immune response;
those that dominate the antibody response are called immunodominant epitopes.

8. Each antibody reacts with a single epitope ; there for , an antigen stimulate the
production of numerous antibody molecules, each with its own specificity

Q41. What is the meaning of Antigens are multivalent

That is an antigen molecule carries a number of different epitopes
Q42. Define valence of antigen
The valence of an antigen is equal to the total number of epitopes the antigen have

Q43. Define Immunogen

Any substance capable of inducing an immune response wither humeral or cellular or both.
Most Immunogens can activate both when introduced into an animal

Q44. Define Hapten

Any substance small in molecular size having no ability to stimulate the immune system by
itself but can do so and react specifically with products of immune system stimulation (Abs)
with a larger molecules . Poison ivy, penicillin, and many other drugs may act as haptens

Q45. Immunogenicity?
It is the ability of a substance (Immunogen) to induce specific immune response
resulting in the formation of specific Abs (humeral response) or cell mediated
response. Or it is the inherent ability of a substance (Immunogen) to induce a specific
immune response

Q46. Antigenicity:

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
It’s the ability to combine specifically with the final products of the above response (Abs or
TCR). Although all molecules having the property of immunogenicity also have the property
of antigenicity the reverse is not true. Haptens for example have the antigenicity and lack
immunogenicity.

Q47. Why haptens are not immunogenic although antigenic?

1. Haptens are not immunogenic because they are too small to cause stimulation of an
immune response.

2. Haptens are not immunogenic because they cannot activate helper T cells.

Q48. Why are haptens incapable of activating TH cells?

The failure of haptens to activate is due to their inability to bind to MHC proteins; they
cannot bind because they are not polypeptides and only polypeptides can be presented by
MHC proteins.

Q49. When will hapten become immunogenic?

When they are coupled with a large body protein (carrier) they become immunogenic.

Q50. What are the Factors that determine antigenicity?

1. Chemical nature of Immunogen ; proteins act as the most active Immunogen followed
by polysaccharides , lipids and nucleic acids of an infectious agent they generally don’t
serve as Immunogen unless coupled to proteins or polysaccharide

2. Foreignness: any molecule that is not exposed to immature lymphocytes during thymic
development will be later recognized as foreign or non-self

3. Size: there is a correlation between the size of the molecule and its immunogenicity
because this provides an opportunity for more chemical complexity (more epitopes). Small
molecules are considered as a bad Immunogen. The large molecular size molecules are

Vaccinology lecture notes

 Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
considered as good Immunogen. the best Immunogen have a molecular weight of 10,000
Dalton

4. Chemical complexity: any substance to be considered as a good Immunogen must have

certain degree of chemical complexity

Q51. Why protein substance which contains more than 5 amino acids is considered
as a good Immunogen?

Thus is because they are built from 20 or more amino acids and therefore they contain
many different epitopes.

Q52. Why Most polysaccharides are weak antigens or even non antigenic?

Because polysaccharides often are constructed of only a few monosaccharides, they don’t
have sufficient chemical diversity for full immunogenicity, while carbohydrates which
contain up to 40 molecules of simple monosaccharide may act as Immunogen. With the
exception of pure lipids, most organic substances are Immunogens

5. Genetic constitution of the host: the human beings or animal ability to respond to
particular antigen depends on the genetic makeup. it has been known that in sometimes
pure polysaccharides molecules may be considered as a good antigen when injected into
mice and human beings at the same time its bad Immunogen when injected into guinea
pigs

6. Antigen dose : small doses of antigen may not be able to stimulate the immune system ,
while excessively large or repeated doses of antigen may impair the immune response ,
this is especially true with polysaccharides antigens

Q53. Define Adjuvants:

o Are substances that when mixed with and antigen and subsequently injected with it,
increase the immunogenicity of that antigen. They are often used to boost the
immune response.

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
o Adjuvants are compounds included in killed vaccines to make them more effective;
they are not needed in live vaccines
o can increase effectiveness up to a thousand fold

Q54. List down some examples for adjuvants?

1. complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) containing killed mycobacteria

2. aluminum salts

Q55. How do adjuvants boost the immune response?

1. Prolong antigen persistence by causing slow release of Immunogen

2. Stimulate lymphocyte proliferation

3. Enhance uptake of Immunogen by antigen-presenting cells. Some human vaccines

contain adjuvant such as aluminum hydroxide or lipids.

Q56. Write short notes about Super antigens

1. Are classes of molecules that are polyclonal activators of TH cells?

2. They function by cross-linking the TCR /3chain to the MHC class II molecule on an
antigen-presenting cell (APC

3. The nonspecific, tight binding induced by the super antigen will initiate T-cell activation.

Q57. Enumerate two well-characterized super antigens?

1. toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST-I)

2. The streptococcal exotoxins.

Q58. What are the types of antigen

1. Thymus –dependent antigens

2. Thymus – independent antigens

Vaccinology lecture notes

 Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
Q59. What are thymus –independent antigens

1. contain no peptides ( they are not proteins )

2. stimulate only lgM ( weak immune response ) they act as B-cell mitogens

3. Create no memory.

4. include lipopolysaccharide from the cell envelope of gram-negative bacteria and

polysaccharide capsular antigens

Q60. Define mitogens?

Activate many clones of B cell and are used clinically to assess lymphocyte function

Q61. Write few notes about vaccine

1. nonpathogenic Immunogen that, when inoculated into a host, induces protective immunity
against a specific pathogen

2. To be effective

A. induce long-standing immunity

B. safe

C. inexpensive

D. easy to store and administer

3. Some useful vaccines consist of live, naturally occurring microbes that share important
antigens with a pathogen but are not pathogenic themselves. For example, vaccinia
(cowpox) virus, a relative of the smallpox virus, causes an in apparent, self-limiting
infection in normal people while inducing immunity against smallpox as well as against
itself

Q62. What are the types of vaccines?

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
1. Killed vaccines; prepared from pathogenic microbes that have been killed with
heat or chemical treatment. they have lost the ability to produce disease in. killed
vaccines induce humeral but not cell-mediated immunity humans

Q63. How are viruses killed for vaccines

o using heat
o or formaldehyde

2. Attenuated vaccines induce both types of immunity and are generally much
more potent and efficacious than killed vaccines.

3. Toxoid vaccines induce antitoxin antibodies but no immunity against the bacteria
themselves. For example, the tetanus and diphtheria vaccines contain only
inactive forms of the soluble bacterial toxins responsible for these diseases

4. Subunit vaccines, such as the hepatitis B vaccine, consist of only a single

immunogenic protein from the pathogen of interest, usually produced in
laboratory bacteria, yeast, or cultured cells using recombinant DNA techniques

5. DNA vaccines These are based on the discovery that when DNA encoding a
chosen microbial protein is injected intramuscularly or intradermally, host cells
can take up these artificial genes and express the foreign protein for several
weeks. Depending on the protein expressed, this can induce specific humeral or
cellular immunity

Q64. give examples of live attenuated vaccines

o bacteria BCG
o oral polio virus
o measles
o rotavirus
o yellow fever
Q65. which one is more effective live or killed vaccine

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
o Live microorganisms provide continual antigenic stimulation, giving sufficient
time for memory cell production
o Attenuated pathogens are capable of replicating within host cells
o Attenuated pathogens can revert to original form and cause disease.
o Potential harm to individuals with compromised immune systems (e.g. HIV).
o Sustained infection (BCG - local lymphadenitis).
o Usually not given in pregnancy
o

Q66. How to produce an attenuated virus?

1. The usual method of attenuating a virus is to grow it for prolonged periods in cells
from a species other than its usual host

2. over time, the virus accumulates mutations that favor growth under the new
conditions but which often reduce its growth and virulence in the original host

3. This approach was first developed by Pasteur

Q67. What is the disadvantage of attenuated vaccines?

1. very rarely, further mutations allow the virus to revert to a pathogenic form

Q68. Which Diseases Do Vaccines Prevent and Who Receives Them

A. Infants and Children (0 through 6 years of age)
o Hepatitis B: This is usually the first vaccine given as it is recommended for
newborns
o Measles, Mumps and Rubella; combination of measles, mumps and rubella
vaccines
o given as a series of two doses at 12 to 15 months of age and at 4 to 6 years of
age
o Varicella: Also known as chickenpox
Vaccinology lecture notes
Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
o Hepatitis A
o Meningococcus
o Pneumococcus
o Polio
o influenza
o Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis is a combination of diphtheria, tetanus and
pertussis vaccines given in a series of five doses at 2 months, 4 months, 6
months, 15 to 18 months and then at 4 to 6 years of age
o Haemophilus influenzae type b
o Rotavirus: This is the only orally administered vaccine.
B. Children and Teens (7 through 18 years of age)

o Influenza
o Meningococcus
o Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis
o Human Papillomavirus

C. Adults

o Human Papillomavirus
o Varicella
o Shingles or Herpes Zoster: Administered to people age 60 or older.
o MMR
o Influenza
o Pneumococcal
o Hepatitis A
o Hepatitis B
o Meningococcus

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
Cancer immunology

Q69. define tumor

Collection of cells whose growth has gone unchecked (out of control), when the tumor to
grow and invade nearby tissues, in this case it's called cancer

Q70. How malignant tumor is distinguished from benign one?

o rapid growth
o metastasis ( a process by which tumor cells dislodge from main tumor , travel
through blood and lymph reaching distant organs and tissues ) , thereby giving
rise to secondary tumors at other sites)
Q71. Tumors are classified into three types according to embryonic origin of tissues
from which malignant cells are derived, what are these types?
o carcinoma : from endodermal or ectodermal tissues (skin ,gland) ,constitute the
majority of malignant tumors
o sarcoma : develops from bone or cartilage , much lower incidence than carcinoma
o lymphoma : malignant haemopoietic cells , but grow as solid tumor within lymphoid
tissues such as bone marrow and lymph nodes

Q72. What is malignant carcinogen? define and enumerate them

Carcinogen it's any substance, chemical, microbe that is capable of inducing
tumor
o Radiation (X-rays, UV light, ionizing radiation ). Ionizing radiation
directly injures cellular DNA, resulting in mutation, chromosomal breaks,
abnormal rearrangement and cancer.
o UV light induces skin cancer on sun-exposed parts as in xerderma
pigmentosa which results from defective repair mechanism for UV-
induced DNA damage

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
o oncogenic viruses ( herpes , adenovirus , HPM ,hepatitis B and C , Epstein
bar virus , retroviruses
o aromatic hydrocarbons ( bladder cancer and aniline dyes )
o DNA- altering chemical as benzene ,
Q73. how can oncogenic virus initiate tumor

Oncogenic viruses infect host cells, this result in integration of viral DNA into host genome.
This process leads to expression of only some viral genes so the lytic particles are not
formed. Malignant transformation results from direct stimulation of host oncogene by
integrated viral DNA, or from aberrant splicing of transcribed viral RNA to produce new
proteins that promote malignant transformation

Q74. what are the common properties of tumor cells

o failure to respond to regulatory signals that are responsible for normal growth
and tissue repair
o autonomous growth without an absolute requirement for exogenous growth
signals
o metastatic growth in distant organs
o invasive growth through normal tissue boundaries
o monoclonal origin , arisen from a single cell
Q75. what is oncogene , and its types

Oncogene is a cellular gene that stimulates cell division, it was noticed that increased of
proteins encoded by oncogenes results in uncontrolled cellular proliferation, they were first
discovered in viruses. They either be

o growth factors and growth factor receptors

o transcription factors
o examples ; SRC ( stimulant of cell division ) , MYC ( DNA- binding protein) , RAS ( GTP-
binding protein)

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
Q76. what are viral oncogene , and how can they initiate malignant transformation
• retroviruses (RNA viruses) induce malignant transformation through
injection of oncogene (cancer –causing gene )
• example for viral oncogene V-SRC , rous sarcoma
• cells have counterparts of retroviral oncogenes , they are called proto-
oncogene or cellular oncogenes( they code for growth-controlling
proteins)
• inserting retrovirus into tissue culture results in malignancy
• conversion of cellular proto-oncogenes (C-SRC) into cancer-promoting
(V-SRC) occurs by mutation or translocation that places oncogene next
to an active cellular gene
• mutation is a change in polynucleotide sequence of DNA
• this change is accompanied by change in cellular growth
• several human DNA viruses contain oncogenes and associated with
malignancies
I EBV and Burkett's lymphoma
II Hodgkin's disease and nasopharyngeal carcinoma
III HPV and cervical and skin carcinoma
o Retroviruses such as HTLV-1 which is endemic in southern japan and causes T-cell
leukemia. retroviruses contain genes for a polymerase called reverse transcriptase ;
which permits use of viral RNA as template for transcription of DNA copy , and
subsequently integrated into host genome
Q77. define tumor suppressor genes
o they are also called anti-oncogenes
o they are inhibitors of cell division
o when tumor suppressor genes are inactivated through mutation , the ability to
suppress cell growth is lost , resulting in uncontrolled cell growth
o RB ( retinoblastoma suppressor) , P53 (nuclear protein that suppresses tumor growth

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
o apoptotic regulators such as Bax ( stimulates apoptosis ) whereas BCL-2 is inhibitor of
apoptosis

Q78. what are the risk factors for cancer development

o aging
o tobacco smoking
o sun exposure
o radiation exposure
o chemicals asbestos
o family history of cancer
o alcohol
o diet poor in vegetables and fruits
o obesity
Q79. what is the immune surveillance theory
o cancer cells frequently arisen within the body , but are normally eliminated before
they multiply efficiently to become detectable
o tumors arise only if they are able to survive , and escape the immune surveillance
o the immune system constantly scans the body for cells showing signs of neoplastic
growth , and attempts to kill them before the proliferate to become threat

Q80. what are the cells that can play main role in anti-tumor immunity
A. Natural killer cells (NK)
o they are sub group of lymphocytes in vitro acting as cytotoxic
cells for neoplastic cells
o this ability is associated with the presence of granules inside
NK cytoplasm ( granzyme , perforin )
Q81. How do NK cells identify infected cells?

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
o NK cells identify virus-infected cells and tumor cells by failing to identify host
major histocompatibility complex I (MHC-I)
o MHC-I molecules are normally present on the surface of host cells and inhibit
NK cell killing, but are down-regulated when infected by viruses and other
intracellular pathogens
Q82. How do NK cells kill infected cells?
o NK cells (and cytotoxic T cells) use perforins (create pores in the cell
membrane) and granzymes (induce apoptosis).
o malignant cells may reduce the expression of MHC I
B. macrophages
o it’s the most important cell that can act tumor cells especially
early in stages of tumor development
o macrophages is activated by special factor called macrophage
–activating factor (MAF)
o MAF is one of the lymphokines that activates macrophages to
produce specific cytokines to kill tumor cells
o activated macrophages kill tumor cells by
I nitric oxide
II hydrolytic enzymes
III oxidative products H2O2
IV Tumor necrotic factor TNF; activated macrophages
release TNF-α, β, У.TNF stimulates tumor cell necrosis.
TNF- α inhibits angiogenesis ; which is the growth of
new blood vessels by decreasing blood flow to the
tumor
V Secrete IFN α, β which increase expression of MHC I
expression on the surface of tumor cells (they are
normally down regulated to evade immune response.
IFN – У may also directly inhibit proliferation
Vaccinology lecture notes
Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
C. T lymphocytes
o T cells responses is the most important for controlling the
growth of antigenic tumor cells
o mediate their effects by secretion of interleukins and IFN- У.
also it also activates cytotoxic T cells and NK cells
D. CD8+ lymphocytes : mediates their effect by direct lysis of tumor cells
Q83. what are the mechanisms of immune escape by tumors
o losing the expression of their Ages
o switching off expression of MHC molecules
o secrete cytokines the suppress immune responses ( IL-10, TGF-B )
o defective Ag processing machinery
o rate of tumor growth is greater than immune system ability to destroy it
o A tumor can have many cell types of cells, each with different cell-surface antigens
those cells are derived from each patient and display few if any antigens that are
foreign to that individual. This makes it difficult for the immune system to distinguish
cancer cells from normal cells

Q84. define tumor Ags

o tumor cells express Ags on their surfaces
o either tumor –specific transplantation Ags ( TSTA) ; they are not found on normal
somatic cells , but result mutation of genes , and the resulted altered protein
expressed by tumor cells
o Some of them have diagnostic value as alpha feto protein (AFP) which is used for the
diagnosis of liver cancer. carcinoembryonic antigen ( CEA) which is found in fetal liver
and serum of patients with colorectal cancer
o common acute lymphocytic leukemia Ag (CALLA, CD10 ) found on human leukemic
cells

Vaccinology lecture notes

Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
o Or tumor –associated transplantation Ag (TATA); they are not unique to tumor cells,
but their expression on tumor cells is altered. they may be expressed by normal cells
at particular stage of differentiation
Q85. Tumor vaccine, a possible reality?
o Is a vaccine that either treats existing cancer or prevents development of cancer?
o Vaccines that treat existing cancer are known as therapeutic cancer vaccine
o Traditional vaccines against those viruses, such as the HPV vaccine and the hepatitis
B vaccine, prevent those types of cancer
o One approach to cancer vaccination is to separate proteins from cancer cells and
immunize patients against those proteins, in the hope of stimulating the immune
system to kill the cancer cells
o Another approach is to generate an immune response in situ in the patient
using oncolytic viruses.
o Oncolytic virus is a virus that preferentially infects and kills cancer cells. As the
infected cancer cells are destroyed by oncolysis, they release new infectious virus
particles or virions to help destroy the remaining tumor
o Oncolytic viruses are thought not only to cause direct destruction of the tumor cells,
but also to stimulate host anti-tumor immune system responses
o Most current oncolytic viruses are engineered for tumor selectivity, although there
are naturally occurring examples such as reovirus and the Seneca virus, he first
oncolytic virus to be approved by a national regulatory agency was genetically
unmodified ECHO-7 strain enterovirus RIGVIR, which was approved in Latvia in 2004
for the treatment of skin melanoma , the approval was withdrawn in 2019
o An oncolytic adenovirus, a genetically modified adenovirus named H101, was
approved in China in 2005 for the treatment of head and neck cancer
o (OncoVex, T-VEC), an oncolytic herpes virus which is a modified herpes simplex virus,
became the first oncolytic virus to be approved for use in the U.S. and European
Union, for the treatment of advanced inoperable melanoma
Q86. what are the possible obstacles and challenges to cancer vaccines
Vaccinology lecture notes
Al Qadisiyah university Collage of biotechnology
o Disease stage too advanced, The most suitable stage for a cancer vaccine is likely to
be early, when the tumor volume is low, which complicates the trial process
o Tumors are heterogeneous and antigen expression differs markedly between tumors
(even in the same patient). The most effective vaccine is likely to raise an immune
response against a broad range of tumor antigens to minimize the chance of the
tumor mutating and becoming resistant to the therapy
o Prior treatments. Patients who are immune suppressed by chemotherapy are not
good candidates for vaccines
o Some tumors progress rapidly and/or unpredictably, and they can outpace the
immune system. Developing a mature immune response to a vaccine may require
months, but some cancers (e.g. advanced pancreatic) can kill patients in less time.

Vaccinology lecture notes