Immunology Fundamentals Study Guide: 84 Flashcards on Antibodies, Neonatal Immunity and the Danger Model
Memorize immunology fundamentals with 84 real flashcards: innate vs adaptive immunity, antibodies, maternal IgG via FcRn, neonatal deficits and autoimmunity.
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Deck FL7109 on Flip It covers immunology as a discipline: 77 cards on autoimmunity, immunotherapy, neonatal IgG and the danger model, plus what is missing.
Most immunology courses start with the same wall of terms: antigen, antibody, innate vs adaptive, humoral vs cell-mediated, self vs non-self. Then they branch into areas that textbooks rarely tie together — neonatal immunity, hormonal effects at puberty, ecoimmunology, cancer and reproductive immunology. The Immunology Fundamentals deck on Flip It (deck code XS4645) is built exactly along that path, with 84 flashcards that go from Mechnikov's phagocytosis to the FcRn receptor and the danger model.
Study this deck: Immunology Fundamentals
1 / 10Immunology
Tap the card for the answer · swipe right if you knew it, left if not
Cards you will meet in the deck
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| What phenomenon did Mechnikov first observe? | Phagocytosis, in which the body defends itself against a foreign body |
| How is the immune system divided? | Into a more primitive innate immune system and, in vertebrates, an acquired or adaptive immune system |
| Two components of adaptive immunity | Humoral (or antibody) and cell-mediated components |
| Do antibodies directly kill pathogens? | No, they identify antigens as targets for destruction by other immune cells such as phagocytes or NK cells |
| Main immunoglobulin present at birth | Maternal IgG transferred from the placenta via the FcRn (neonatal Fc receptor) |
| Why are IgM, IgD, IgE and IgA almost undetectable at birth? | Because they do not cross the placenta |
| Mean level of C3 in a newborn compared to adults | Approximately 65% of that found in adults |
| What cytokines do newborn T cells produce in very small amounts? | IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-12 and IFN-γ |
| Most well-known disease that affects the immune system itself | AIDS, an immunodeficiency characterized by suppression of CD4+ T cells, dendritic cells and macrophages by HIV |
| Danger model in immunology | A theoretical framework suggested by Polly Matzinger that has been very influential in immunology |
Everything the 84 cards cover
- History and definitions — the plague of Athens (Thucydides, 430 BCE), Mechnikov, Paul Ehrlich's ricin and abrin experiments, lymphoid organs (thymus, bone marrow, spleen, tonsils, lymph nodes, adenoids), self/non-self recognition, antigens as antibody generators.
- Diagnostic and clinical immunology — antibody labelling (radio, fluorescent, enzyme), cross-reactivity and false positives, immunotherapy for allergies, Crohn's disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis and rheumatoid arthritis, immunodeficiency vs autoimmunity, chronic granulomatous disease, lupus, myasthenia gravis, transplant rejection and allografts.
- Theory — clonal selection and its two-signal update, the danger model, autopoietic and cognitive immune views, discontinuity theory.
- Developmental immunology — physiological immunodeficiency of neonates, protein vs polysaccharide antigens, Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas infections, opsonic activity, integrin and selectin receptors, ATP-poor monocytes, maternal IgG and breast-milk IgA, 18-month passive protection, vaccination schedules, Th1 responses.
- Puberty and hormones — 17-β-estradiol, testosterone, DHEA, thymic involution.
- Ecoimmunology and beyond — behavioural immunity (Mark Schaller), Monarch butterflies and toxic milkweed, symbiont-mediated defence in aphids, the thylacine, cancer immunology and inflammation, reproductive immunology and pre-eclampsia.
Study tips for this specific deck
Treat the newborn as a checklist of deficits. About a quarter of the deck is about neonatal immunity, and every card answers the same hidden question: what is missing or weaker in a newborn? Build one mental list — less C3 (65%), poor opsonisation, sluggish monocytes with low ATP, few cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-12, IFN-γ), no IgM/IgD/IgE/IgA, only maternal IgG through FcRn — and each card becomes a single item to retrieve rather than a separate fact.
Sort every disease card into one of three bins. The deck names a lot of conditions. Ask each time: is it immunodeficiency (AIDS, chronic granulomatous disease), autoimmunity (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto's, myasthenia gravis) or hypersensitivity (asthma, allergies)? The deck gives you the framework early; apply it to every later card and you will not confuse the categories on an exam.
Suggested pace
Do the first 30 cards (history, definitions, clinical) in one sitting — they are mostly one-line answers. Spend a second session on developmental immunology alone, then a short third one on hormones and ecoimmunology. Flip It's spaced repetition will bring back the neonatal numbers (65%, 18 months, one year) just before you would forget them.
Log in at flip-it.app and look up Immunology Fundamentals (XS4645) in the library.
Related reading: our general pathology guide on cellular injury, inflammation and neoplasia covers the inflammation side of the same story.
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