Immunology Final Exam, 2012
A Week in the Life of a Pathogen
Instructions: This take-home, open-book but closed person exam is due via turnitin.com (instructions to come) no later than 1:30 pm Thursday, May 3 (2012). Each of you will be answering the same question about a different “pathogen”. Do not wait until the last minute to do this test - experience tells me that this will take you longer than 2 hours to complete! (However, 10 pages is truly overkill…aim for around 5). Good luck –and if you are unsure as to what I am looking for, don’t hesitate to ask!
The Question: You are ______(fill-in-the-blank with whatever you pulled from the hat in class). How do you normally enter your intended victim? What cell/tissue types do you effect? Are toxins your major form of damage, or do you directly damage cells?
With this mode of infection/damage in mind, discuss the innate immune system components that you are most likely to have to avoid in order to successfully infect your host (for example, if you are gastrointestinal, you don’t need to discuss lung macrophages!). Be sure to discuss innate barriers as well as immediate and early, induced innate responses, as appropriate.
Which effector lymphocyte type is most likely to attack you (choose one and only one even if more than one is obviously involved)? Discuss all of the developmental stages for that lymphocyte, and how the lymphocyte is stimulated to make the effector molecules that are appropriate to fight you. What effect(s) do those effector molecules have on you? (*NOTE – Do not go into molecular detail regarding the generation of antibody/TCR diversity or regarding the cell-signaling pathways that activate the cell following receptor binding)
Last, but not least, some of you have means of evading host defenses. If you do, discuss one of those mechanisms. If you do not, discuss the mechanism(s) by which either vaccines or drugs could be used to inactivate you (this may take some outside reading).
Your finished final exam must contain the following electronically-signed statement: (Unsigned tests will be given a “0”).
“By turning in this signed final exam, I certify that all of the work on this test is my own, and that I have not conversed with any other person (except Dr. Tobin) regarding the contents of this exam, nor the contents of my answers. I understand that plagiarism will not be tolerated and that all sources of information must be properly cited. Any deliberate deviations from these rules will result in my receiving a zero as a grade for the final exam, and a report will be sent to the Dean of Students Office for possible further judicial action, as outlined in the student handbook.”
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