BMB512: Teoretical Immunology (5 ECTS)

STADS: 01008501

Level
Bachelor course

Teaching period
The course is offered in the autumn semester.

Teacher responsible
Email: kskjoedt@health.sdu.dk
Email: ckoch@health.sdu.dk

Timetable
Show entire timetable
Show personal time table for this course.

Prerequisites:
None

Academic preconditions:
Fundamental Molecular Biology, Fundamental Biochemistry, Protein Chemistry + Enzymes and Membranes give useful knowledge but are not required.

Course introduction
The general purpose of the course is to give the students a thorough understanding of the immune system as a defence mechanism that has been developed as protection against threats from the environment, primarily by hindering the entry and spread throughout the body of potentially disease-inducing micro-organisms. The course consists of 15 two-hour lectures - based upon the most up-to-date text-book currently available - in which the entire immune system is described.

Qualifications
The course is constructed in such a way that it provides the background knowledge of immunology necessary for the study of medicine as well as of the biomedical and biological sciences. The objective is to give the student so thorough an understanding of the immune system’s structure and function that he/she will be able to comprehend issues concerning the immune system’s action in both infectious diseases and non-infectious disorders.

Expected learning outcome
When the course is completed, the student should be able to:

• describe the organization and individual components of the innate and adaptive immune systems
• account for the recognition mechanisms of the innate immune system and the consequences of its activation
• account for the inflammatory reaction and describe the function of the main cytokines
• account for the genetic mechanisms behind development of the repertoire of specificities in the B-and T-cell systems
• describe the maturation of B lymphocytes in the bone marrow and of T-lymphocytes in thymus and explain the mechanisms that cause tolerance to self
• account for the effector mechanisms in the adaptive immune
system and describe the different types of effector cells
• identify or characterise autoimmune diseases and their consequences
• identify and describe the four types of hypersensitivity
• identify and describe infectious diseases in which the micro-organism avoids the immune system

Subject overview
Introduction to the immune system
Cells and organs of the immune system
Innate immunity, including complement
Antigens (Ag) and antibodies (Ab)
Immunoglobulin genes
The Ag-Ab interaction
MHC and Ag-processing and presentation
The T cell receptor (TCR) and T cell maturation
B cell maturation
Cytokines
Cell-mediated responses and leukocyte activation
Hypersensitivity reactions and response to infections

Literature
There isn't any litterature for the course at the moment.

Website
This course uses e-learn (blackboard).

Prerequisites for participating in the exam
None

Assessment and marking:
a) A compulsory project report evaluated internally by teacher. Pass/fail.
b) Written exam. External marking. Marks according to the Danish 7-scale.

Reexamination in the same exam period or immediately thereafter.

Expected working hours
The teaching method is based on three phase model.

Undervisningen vil bestå af forelæsninger (15 dobbeltforelæsninger, ialt 30 timer).
Educational activities

Language
No recorded information about the language used in the course.

Course enrollment
See deadline of enrolment.

Tuition fees for single courses
See fees for single courses.