Question

Timmy, a 13-year-old boy lands himself in a rose thorn bush while playing football with his friends. A large thorn protrudes from his bloody finger, which starts to swell, turn red, feel warm to the touch and throb with pain. Timmy doesn’t go home to have the cut cleaned and bandaged, and instead continues to wrestle around in the dirt and ignore his sore finger. The next morning, Timmy’s finger doesn’t look any better and he has a slight fever, greenish-pus and swelling down his finger. It seems Timmy’s has a bacterial infection. Answer the questions below regarding how Timmy’s immune system attempts to prevent and fight the infection.

Which innate non-specific system uses a set of proteins to kill the bacteria causing Timmy’s infection?

Answer 1

The infection that may cause to Timmy is Clostridium tetani. Clostridium tetani is a rod-shaped, gram positive bacterium which can be found in the soil or in the intestinal tracts of animals. It can sometimes cause the severe disease tetanus. Disease generally begins with spores entering the body through a wound. In deep wounds, such as those from a puncture, can result in a very low-oxygen environment, allowing C. tetani spores to germinate and grow.

This tetanus toxin is a 150-kDa protein closely related to botulinum toxin, produced by Clostridium botulinum. Unlike botulinum toxin, which remains at the neuromuscular junction to cause a flaccid paralysis, tetanus toxin is transported within the motor nerves to the central nervous system (CNS). There, the toxin acts by blocking the release of the inhibitory neurotransmitters such as glycine and gamma-aminobutyric acid at motor nerve endings. This blockade leads to the widespread activation of motor neurons and spasming of muscles throughout the body.