Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Basic organization of the immune system, including structure, function and genetics of antibodies, T-cell receptors, innate immune receptors, and the complement system; structure and function of lymphoid tissues. Development of cells and tissues involved in immune responses. Innate and adaptive antibody and cellular immune responses and their orchestration, including mucosal immunity. Students with credit for MBB 426 or HSCI 426 or HSCI 726 may not complete this course for further credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

The course will consist of lectures, based almost entirely on the readings in the required textbook, weekly in-class activiites, an in-class 20-min presentation of a primary paper from the primary immunology literature by each grad student, and accompanying 3-4 page summary of it, as well as attendence and participation in some of the undergrad tutorials (those in which students present papers from the primary literature).

Should the class decide, there will be 4 in-class, non-comprehensive quizzes, and no final examination (otherwise the last quiz will be taken during exam week).

Further details and a schedule of lectures, readings, presentations and in-class activities will be provided in a syllabus that will be uploaded to the course website.

Lectures	Topic	Chapters
1	Properties and Overview of Immune Responses	1
2-3	Cells & Tissues of the Immune System	2
4-5	Leukocyte Circulation & Migration into Tissues	3
6-8	Innate Immunity	4
9-10	Antibodies & Antigens	5
11-12	MHC & Antigen Presentation to T cells	6
13-14	Immune Receptors & Signal Transductio	7
15	B-lymphocyte Development & Antigen-receptor Gene Rearrangement	8
16	Overview of Tolerance & B-lymphocyte Tolerance	15
17-18	T-lymphocyte Development  and Tolerance	8 & 15
19	Activation of T cells	9
20	Differentiation & Functions of CD4+ T-effector Cells	10
21	Differentiation & Functions of CD8+ T-effector Cells	11
22-23	B-cell Activation & Antibody Production	12
24-25	Effector Mechanisms of Humoral Immunity	13
26-27	Specialized Immunity at Epithelial Barriers & in Immune Privileged Tissues	14

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

This 4-credit course will be a lot of work, but you will learn a lot of very cool immunology. My intention is for you to develop a firm foundation in the basics of the immune system and how it functions, which will prepare you for advanced immunology courses (e.g., Immune System II (MBB/HSCI 427/727) and Vaccine Immunology (HSCI 477/727)). My goal is for you to become a more independent learner, to become fluent in concepts in the current immunology literature, and to learn to effectively research topics in immunology and communicate the results of that research. In short, I hope to provide you with the basic knowledge and skills to think critically in immunology, and to function successfully in a graduate immunology program (or, really, in any graduate program in cell/molecular biology).

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

RECOMMENDED READING: