Immunology class outlines

Note (9 Nov. 08):  Since all outlines are on slides, no more outlines will be posted on this page.

Mon., Sept. 8: Immunology as an experimental science

Immunity

Designing an immune system

Biology 257 overview

Immunological hypothesis testing: “The Grease”

Wed., Sept. 10: Overview: Themes of Immunology

Two major arms of the vertebrate immune system

  • Innate immunity
  • Adaptive immunity

Themes for the semester

  •     Specificity through clonal selection
  •     Cooperation among immune system components
    • Cell-cell communication
    • Two-key systems
    • Bordet experiment
  •     Recognition vs. effector mechanism

Mon., Sept. 15: Antibody structure and function

Immunogens vs. antigens

Probing antibody structure

  •     Current view of antibody structure
  •     Four important early experiments about antibody structure
  •     Fine structure by x-ray crystallography
    • Monoclonal antibody production
    • Antibody crystal structures
    • Roles of covalent and non-covalent interactions

Variations on the Immunoglobulin Theme: Structure and Function

Mon., Sept. 22: Antibody-antigen interactions as research tools

Increasing immunogenicity: Adjuvants
Antibody specificity and cross-reactivity

Antibody effector mechanisms: Cooperation with innate immune system

Tools for research and diagnosis

  • Disease exposure--searching for antibodies
    • Indirect ELISA to test for HIV infection
    • Tracking Ebola virus by immunofluorescence microscopy
  • Studying antigens
    • Sandwich ELISA (&competitive ELISA)
    • Western blot
    • Flow cytometry
    • Precipitation reactions

Using Antigen-antibody interactions in scientific problem solving

Wed., Sept. 24: Generation of Antibody Diversity

Ouchterlony assay set up (click here for handout)

Antibody “types”

The puzzle of antibody diversity

  • Historical hints: the predictive power of the genetic code
  • Kappa light chain immunoglobulin rearrangement
  • Early evidence for antibody gene rearrangement
  • Heavy chain immunoglobulin rearrangement

Mechanisms for antibody diversity

Mon., Sept. 29: Antibody Diversity finale and introduction to MHC molecules and antigen presentation

Antibody diversity

  • Class switching
  • Allelic exclusion
  • Brainstorming: in what ways are antibodies diverse?

Major histocompatibility complex gene cluster
What proteins do the MHC genes encode?

  • MHC class II features
  • MHC class I features

Where do MHC molecules get antigens?

  • MHCII and exogenous antigens
  • MHCI and endogenous antigens

Wed., Oct. 1: MHC molecules and T cell receptors

Dealing with potential MHC competition for peptide binding
Distinguishing self vs. non-self: MHC restriction

  • Doherty and Zinkernagel experiment

T-cell receptor and antibody molecules: Compare and contrast

  • Structure
  • Cooperation with other cell-surface molecules
  • T-cell receptor gene structure
  • Comparison to immunoglobulin genes