Immunology

http://www.microbiology.ubc.ca/system/files/MICB%20302%20-%20Immunology.pdf


Learning objectives: By the end of the course, you should be able to:
1. Identify the major mechanisms (inflammatory responses, cytotoxic T cells, antibodies) by which
immune cells protect us from different types of pathogens (viruses, extracellular bacteria,
intravesicular bacteria, parasites) or from cancer cells.
2. Understand how immune cells detect the presence of pathogens and cancer cells (pattern
recognition receptors, antigen receptors, antigen presentation pathways, NK cell receptors).
3. Describe processes that lead to the elimination of pathogens (e.g. opsonization, phagocytosis,
neutralization, complement activation, cell-mediated cytotoxicity).
4. Describe the structure and function of key molecules that mediate immune responses including
antibodies, antigen receptors, Toll-like receptors, MHC proteins, cytokines, chemokines.
5. Describe the main cell types of the immune system including their development, function, and for lymphocytes, how they generate antigen receptors.
6. Describe how defects in immune cell regulation can lead to immunodeficiency diseases or
autoimmune diseases.
7. Describe the topics of current immunological interest including vaccines, immune tolerance,
allergies, and transplantation.
8. Describe the basis for and application of current experimental approaches in immunology
including flow cytometry, monoclonal antibodies, immunofluorescence, knockout and transgenic
mice, adoptive transfer of immune cells, and gene expression profiling.
9. Relate processes that occur in immune cells to similar processes that occur in all cell types and which have been described in previous cell biology courses (e.g. mRNA splicing, protein
secretion, receptor signaling).

http://www.microbiology.ubc.ca/Murphy