Doug Christensen, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Biology Immunology (BIO 486/586) SPRING 2003 Credit - 2 hrs   Office:  Phone:  Office Hrs:  Lecture:  CS 223 (402) 375-7345 MWF 1-2 p.m., TR 9-10 a.m. M 6:00-7:50 P.M. (CS 130)

The topics for this course will include the biological, physical and chemical properties of antigens and antibodies, host-antigen interaction, humoral and cellular response mechanisms, serologic reactions, mechanisms of antibody formation, hypersensativity.  Graduate students will be required to do perform an in-depth literature review and write a paper.

Course Goals and Objectives:

This course will provide students with a basic understanding of how the body fights off invasions by foreign particles, yet does not destroy its own cells.  This will include an understanding of how various immune system associated cells are produced by the human body and how an extremely diverse population of antibodies can be presented by a single human being.

The Immune System,
Author, Peter Parham
Publisher, Garland

Chapter 1: Elements of the Immune System and Their Roles in Defense

This section will discuss innate and adaptive immunity, those cells involved in both and the primary and secondary lymphoid organs that house these cells.

Chapter 2:  Antibody Structure and the Generation of B-cell Diversity

This section will detail to the physical structure of an antibody and how that structure was discovered.  Detail as to gene rearrangements and how they result in a wide variety of each class of antibody will also be examined.  The role of each class of antibody will be discussed.

Chapter 3:  Antigen Processing and Presentation

This section will detail the characteristics of a good antigen and how that antigen is handled by Macrophage Cells, Dendritic Cells and B-Cells.  We will discuss the role of the two classes of Major Histocompatability Complexes and their interaction with Cytotoxic and Helper-T Cells.

Chapters 4 and 5:  The development of B and T lymphocytes

This section will discuss where each cell type is produced, where they mature and the details of the maturation process including positive and negative selection.

Chapters 6 and 7:  T and B-cell mediated immunity

Diapedesis and the Complement System will be examined is some detail.

Chapter 8: The Body's Defenses Against Infection

To this point, most of our discussion will have focused on specifics of each cell type.  Chapter 8 will emphasis how all these cells can work together to clear infections.

Chapters 9 and 12:  Failures of the Bodies Defenses/Manipulation of our Immune System

This section will describe how HIV, Cancer and various pathogens evade our immune system and current research going on that seek to manipulate our immune system to provide a better defense mechanism.

Course grades will be based solely on three exams.  Each exam will account for 33.3 % of your overall grade.  Exam dates are tentatively set as follows:

Exam 1 - Feb. 10
Exam 2 - Mar. 24
Exam 3 - May 5

NOTE:  THOSE STUDENTS REGISTERED FOR BIO 586 WILL BE REQUIRED TO WRITE A LITERATURE REVIEW STYLE PAPER IN ADDITION TO THE THREE EXAMS LISTED ABOVE.  THE PAPER WILL BE WORTH 25% OF YOUR GRADE MAKING ALL EXAMS WORTH 25% OF YOUR GRADE ON A INDIVIDUAL BASIS.

Grades will be awarded based on the following averages:

Avg.                            GRADE

93-100 90-92 87-89 83-86 80-82 77-79 73-76 70-72 67-69 63-66 60-62 <60

A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- F

I hope you enjoy your semester and feel free to come and see me with any questions or concerns.

This page is valid through the Spring 2003 semester.