Description
This module will cover all aspects of basic immunology, from barrier defence to innate and adaptive immune responses.
You will learn about:
- How the immune system is organised into barrier defence, soluble factors and cellular components.
- How the immune system is divided into innate and adaptive immunity.
- The kinetics of a primary and secondary immune response.
- The different ways in which the innate and adaptive immune systems recognises pathogens and the factors released following immune cell activation.
- T cells and B cells and explain how these cells recognise foreign antigens.
- The structure of antibodies and antibody function, antigen recognition and their therapeutic use.
- B cell and T cell development and the mechanisms by which diversity is generated.
- The roles of different cytokines and chemokines in the orchestration of immune responses.
- How T cells recognise antigen and co-stimulation.
- Compare the structure and polymorphism of MHC class I and MHC class II molecules and describe how this relates to antigen presentation and antigen processing pathways.
- Different T cell subtypes, the factors involved in T cell differentiation and the function of different T cell subtypes.
- How immune memory is generated and its importance for long-term immune protection.
- The ways in which the adaptive immune system responds to different pathogens.
- The mucosal immune system and the systemic immune system and describe how mucosal immune responses are generated.
- How protective immune responses are elicited by vaccines.
- The central concept of immune tolerance and how this is related to the development of autoimmunity and tissue transplant rejection.
Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 19th August 2024.
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