Medical and Veterinary Immunology
MICR 492/VET 592 Topics-Immunology
Spring 2012
Internet Course.
Course Format: On-line Lecture and Individual Study
Credits. 3 credits
Required Texts: Kuby’s Immunology, Sixth Edition, Goldsby et al., (ed) 2006.
Auxiliary Suggested References:
Handbook of Vertebrate Immunology, Pastoret et al. (ed) 1998
Trends in Immunology (serial) Elsevier Press,
Course URL-
Choose MICR492 SO2D-2012Sp Tp-Immunology
Instructor
Dr. Christopher Chase
Office: ADRDL Rm 125
Tel: 605-688-5652
E-mail:
Office Hours: By appointment
Contact Information: I prefer e-mail contact, and check it frequently. Please use my SDSU and not the d2l site. This provides us with a record of your communication, and you with a guarantee that I received it (I reply to all e-mails). Due to my extensive travel schedule, all communications will be via my SDSU email account. All emails will be answered within 24 to 48 hours. Any technical issues can be addressed to John Howard via his SDSU email account ().
Course Objectives.
1. Gain an understanding of the host response to antigens, cancer, and infectious agents by studying the function of inflammatory cells, B cells, T cells, and antigen-presenting cells. Many of these studies are performed at the organismal, cell, and molecular levels.
2. Acquire a working knowledge of theoretical experimental and diagnostic techniques used to assess immune function.
3. Introduce senior-level students to the primary literature in immunology.
4. Develop and apply concepts and terminology.
5. Reinforce skills in critical thinking and communication (written, oral, and computer).
A piece of advice. Immunology is in integrated subject. What we start with is what we end with. We often look at the same topic from several angles, which are often scattered among several chapters of the textbook. It is your responsibility to learn the material in the textbook, under the guidance of the instructors. While we will not cover all the material in the book, we will cover material from each individual chapter. There is therefore a large amount of new vocabulary and processes to learn. Nevertheless, it is important to understand that material covered in this course builds upon a pre-existing knowledge of basic molecular biology, microbiology, and chemistry. Use the book, especially the index, to look up material prior to lecture. It will take a significant portion of your time to make sure you have topics organized. While it is important to know proper names and terms for things we discuss, if you think in terms of processes the material will be much easier to understand.
Grading Scheme (Undergraduate):
Term Tests (3) 90 points (30 points/each) 60% - 20% Each
Final Exam 60 points 40%
Total 150 points 100%
Grading Scheme (Graduate)
Term Tests (3) 90 points (30 points/each) 50% - ~17% Each
Essay Assignment 30 points 17%
Final Exam60 points 33%
Total 180 points 100%
For most students, exams will be taken on-line. The exception will be those students who are repeating Immunology at SDSU. They will take a short answer exam that will be administered in the Veterinary Science Department. Please contact me prior to taking the exam so arrangements can be made. All exams will be timed and will be 50 minutes. The Final exam will be 120 minutes.
In general, grading for this course will be firm, based on the following standards:
- 80.0 – 100.0% = A
- 70.0 – 79.9% = B
- 60.0 – 69.9% = C
- 50.0 – 59.9% = D
- 0.0 - 49.9% = F
Practice Exams and Assignments: Practice exams are available to download. Online self-check practice assignments will not be used.
Term Tests will be multiple choice. Each test will consist of approximately 30 multiple choice, best-answer questions. For those students who are reenrolled in the class, the exams will be short answer and multiple choice.For those students who are reenrolled in the class, the exams will be short answer and multiple choice and will not be on-line. They will be individual scheduled at SDSU by contacting Dr. Chase.
Final Exam: Similar in format to the term tests, with 60 questions total. Material will be largely based upon lecture material covered during the last 25% of the course, but will require a comprehensive understanding of concepts covered in the first 75% of the course.The final exam will be individual scheduled at SDSU by contacting Dr. Chase.
ADA statement: Students are entitled to “reasonable accommodation” under the
provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Those in need of such accommodation
should notify the instructor and make appropriate arrangements with the SDSU Office of
Disabilities Services, Wintrode Student Success Center (SWSC) 110, 688-4504 or 688-4032.
Freedom in learning:
Students are responsible for learning the content of any course of study in which they are
enrolled. Under Board of Regents and University policy, student academic performance
shall be evaluated solely on an academic basis and students should be free to take
reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study. Students who
believe that an academic evaluation is unrelated to academic standards but is related
instead to judgment of their personal opinion or conduct should first contact the instructor
of the course. If the student remains unsatisfied, the student may contact the department
head and/or dean of the college, which (sic) offers the class to initiate a review of the evaluation.
Writing Assignment (Graduate Students Only): Review of a Primary Paper from the Biomedical Literature
This paper will be approximately 2000 words, and be a comprehensive, referenced, and thoughtful analysis of a recent paper in the field of immunology from the mainstream literature.
Deadlines: Topics are due on Friday. March 2, 2012. For your topic, I expect a pdf copy of the paper you are reviewing, complete with the abstract of the. You will lose 10% of the final grade each day that your topic is late. Final essay is due on Friday, April 27, 2012 by 5 PM. You will lose 10 points/day for each day that the essay is late.
Background: Veterinarians, physicians, and laboratory workers must stay apprised of recent developments in the biomedical literature. This requires the ability to choose relevant papers from the large number published each week, to read those papers and assimilate the data into their own interests, as well as to the field as a whole, and to evaluate the quality, significance, and impact of the data.
The Assignment: Select a paper relevant to immunology from a mainstream journal, published within the last 2 years. Mainstream journals include (but are not limited to)
Nature, Science, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Journal of Immunology, New England Journal of Medicine, Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology, Developmental and Comparative Immunology, European Journal of Immunology,
Immunity, Cell, Lancet, Proceedings of the New York Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Mainstream journals DO NOT include: Weekly World News, National Enquirer, The Star, Time, Newsweek, Scientific American. and other popular press publications.
REMEMBER ALL PAPERS TO BE REVIEWED MUST BE APPROVED BY Dr. Chase PRIOR TO Friday March 2, 2012. Provide Dr. Chase with a pdf copy of your selected paper, Aside from the fact that this is required, it is in your best interest to check with him first, as he can provide assistance with resources to help you in your report.
The essay of approximately 2000 words must critically discuss the paper of choice. You should:
- Summarize the main points of the paper.(What did they do, how did they do it, what did they find, and what are their main conclusions?).
- Discuss the relevance of the paper to immunology as a whole (How does this relate to the immune system?).
- Discuss the relevance of the paper to a specific area of immunology (most papers discuss a detailed subtopic within immunology, such as a disease, or specific biological process).
- Assess the quality and impact of the paper (i.e. do you believe it, and should anybody care-does it advance the field-if so, how does it build on previous work? Could the authors have improved their experiments?).
- What should be done next? Why?
The essay should be fully referenced. At least SOME of these references should come from sources OTHER than the original paper. In other words, you are expected to compare references from alternate sources (including Medline) with your selected paper.
Recommended Alternate Sources: While the paper that you will review must have been published within the last 2 years, you are free (and encouraged) to use older review articles to establish the relevance and background information necessary to fully appreciate the paper. You may wish to establish the topic of the paper, and search Medline for reviews in some of the following sources:
Trends in Immunology/Immunology Today (highly recommended-publishes general but detailed reviews of topics in Immunology)
Seminars in Immunology (each issue presents a number of reviews on a specific topic)
Annual Review of Immunology (published once each year, it contains a number of highly detailed reviews on topics in immunology)
The Immunologist (like Immunology Today)
Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology (less detailed reviews, usually short and containing some new data)
A second starting place would be to read other papers published by either the first or last author. In biomedical science, the first author normally is the person who did most of the work and wrote the paper (a graduate student or a postdoctoral fellow) and the last author is the lab-head (who directs the research in the laboratory). Studying previous papers (which are frequently cited in the article) will give an indication of how the work evolved, and where it is going.
Tentative Schedule- Spring 2012 MICR 492/MICR 592
Lecture / Reading*1 / Introduction: Innate Immunity / Chapter 1, 3
2 / Innate Immunity/Complement / Chapter 3
Chapter 7
3 / Complement/Acquired Immune Response / Chapter 3
4 / Inflammation/Acquired Immunity/Cells of the Immune System / Chapters 3 and 7
5 / Cells of the Immune System / Chapter 2
6 / Organs of the Immune System / Chapter 2
7 / Leukocyte Migration/Homing / Chapter 13
8 / Antigenicity/Immunogenicity
Adjuvants / Chapter 4
9 / Antigen Recognition/Haptens/Immunoglobulin / Chapter 4
Test 1 / Term Test 1-Must be completed by Monday Feb 6, 2012 by 5 PM
10 / Immunoglobulins / Chapter 4
11 / B cell Receptor Structure, Monoclonal Antibody Technology / Chapter 4
12 / Immunoglobulin Gene Structure / Chapter 5
13 / Immunoglobulin Gene Rearrangement, Class Switching / Chapter 5
14 / Antigen-Antibody Interactions / Chapter 6
15 / Major Histocompatibility Complex: / Chapter 8
16 / Major Histocompatability Complex / Chapter 8
17 / Antigen Presentation / Chapter 8
18 / Antigen Presentation / Chapter 8
Term Test 2- Must be completed by Friday, March 2, 2012 by 5 PM
19 / T cell Receptor / Chapter 9
20 / T cell Activation and differentiation / Chapter 10
21 / T cell Maturation / Chapter 10,
22 / B cell Maturation/Activation / Chapter 11
23 / B cell Activation / Chapter 11,
24 / Cytokines / Chapter 12
25 / Cytokines/Complement Revisited / Chapter 12
26 / Cell-Mediated Responses / Chapter 14
27 / Cell-Mediated Responses / Chapter 14
Term Test 3- Must be completed by Monday, April 2, 2012 by 5 PM
28 / Immune Response to Infectious Disease / Chapter 18
29 / Inflammation / Chapter 13
30 / Vaccines / Chapter 19
31 / Hypersensitivity Reactions / Chapter 15
32 / Hypersensitivity/Transplantation / Chapter 17
33 / Autoimmunity / Chapter 16
34 / AIDS and Other Immunodeficencies / Chapter 20
35 / Cancer and Immune System / Chapter 21
36 / Review
Final Exam- Must be completed by Friday May 4, 2012 by 5 PM
*Numbers refer to chapters in Kuby’s Immunology ,6th edition