Course Description and Purpose

Current technology is making this a very exciting time for the field of immunology. Although immunology originated with the studies of Edward Jenner in the late 1700s, it wasn’t until the mid- to late 1900s that we had tools capable of discerning the fundamental workings of the immune system. With the groundwork of the discipline already mapped out, we are now free to

explore the detailed machinery that constitutes immunity. Immunology has applications to many biological areas of study, including cellular and molecular biology, genetics, physiology, and other health-related fields. Current technology allows us to measure aspects of the immune response on multiple levels: molecular, cellular and organismal. This course will encompass all three of these approaches to gain a comprehensive view of how the immune system functions.

This course is designed to provide a fundamental understanding of immunology for upper-level undergraduate biology majors who are interested in pursuing further study in the biomedical sciences. Both clinical and basic science aspects of the field will be addressed. Topics to be covered include: monocyte and lymphocyte development, antigen recognition, inflammation, autoimmunity, allergy and transplant rejection.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. Explain how the cells and various factors of the immune system become activated and interact to produce an immune response against pathogenic stimuli

2. Appreciate how deficiencies in immune response regulation may lead to disease

3. Discuss current controversies in the field of immunology by critically reviewing recent scientific literature.

Prerequisites and Course Credit

Introductory courses in Cell Biology and Molecular Biology (or Biochemistry) are required. A Biotechniques course is also highly recommended. This course will meet three times per week and earn three credit hours for the semester.

Text

Cellular and Molecular Immunology, 4^th edition (2000) by Abul K. Abbas et al. will be used as the primary text. This material will be supplemented with current research articles from peer-reviewed journals, which will be selected by the instructor.

Grading

Evaluation of student performance will be determined by performance on lecture exams, participation in paper discussions, and the quality of the review article summary:

Exam #1: 15%

Exam #2: 25%

Final exam (cumulative): 30%

Paper discussion: 20%

Review article summary: 10%

Letter grades will be given based on the UNC undergraduate grading scale.

Student Conduct

Students are expected to adhere to the UNC-CH Student Code of Conduct.

Attachment 2

Lecture Outline

Lecture number	Topic	Important Concepts

INTRODUCTION
1	Course overview and expectations
2	Immunology techniques I: molecular	PCR, cloning, IP, blots, RPA
3	Immunology techniques II: cellular	FACS, CTL and proliferation assays, Abs, MHC tetramer and soluble TCR
4	Overview of an immune response: hands-on lecture
INNATE IMMUNITY
5	Introduction to inflammation	Cells involved (eosinophils, basophils, mast cells, neutrophils, macrophages), hallmarks, initial events (seconds-minutes)
6	Inflammation (cont.)	Later events (hours-days)
7	Complement and the role of cytokines in inflammation
8	Clinical aspects of inflammation	anaphylaxis
9	Catch-up lecture/review
10	Paper discussion
ANTIGEN PRESENTATION: the bridge to adaptive immunity
11	introduction	Cells involved (macrophages, DCs, B cells)
12	Antigen processing	Intracellular and extracellular pathways
13	MHC I and II
14	TCR
15	Catch-up lecture/review
16	Paper discussion
17	EXAM #1
ADAPTIVE IMMUNITY
18	B cell development--generation
19	B cell development--selection
20	B cell function	Ig switching
21	Catch-up lecture/review
22	Paper discussion

23	T lymphocyte development—thymic selection	Positive and negative selection
24	T lymphocyte development—VDJ recombination	RAG1/RAG2
25	T cell differentiation	CD4 vs. CD8
26	T cell maturation
27	Th1 and Th2 responses: cytokines
28	Th1 and Th2 responses: CTL generation
29	Th1 and Th2 responses: B cell generation
30	Peripheral tolerance
31	Lymphocyte trafficking: chemokines
32	Immunological memory
33	Catch-up lecture/review
34	Catch-up lecture/review
35	Paper discussion
36	EXAM #2
CLINICAL ASPECTS
37	Transplantation
38	Autoimmunity: lupus and multiple sclerosis
39	Autoimmunity: diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis
40	Allergy
41	Vaccines I
42	Vaccines II
43	Tumor Immunology I
44	Tumor Immunology II
45	HIV/AIDS
FINAL EXAM