Medical and Veterinary Immunology
MICR 492/VET 592 Topics-Immunology
Spring 2011
Internet Course.
Course Format:
Credits.
Required Texts:
On-line Lecture and Individual Study
3 credits
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-https://d2l.sdbor.edu
Choose MICR492 SO1D-2011Sp Tp-Immunology
Instructor
Dr. Christopher Chase
Office:
ADRDL Rm 125
Tel:
605-688-5652
E-mail:
Christopher.Chase@sdstate.edu
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 (john.howard@sdstate.edu).
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)
Final Exam
60 points
Total
150 points
60% - 20% Each
40%
100%
Grading Scheme (Graduate)
Term Tests (3)
Essay Assignment
Final Exam
Total
50% - ~17% Each
17%
33%
100%
90 points (30 points/each)
30 points
60 points
180 points
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 selfcheck 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 6884032.
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 4, 2011. 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 29,
2011 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 4, 2011. 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:
1. 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?).
2. Discuss the relevance of the paper to immunology as a whole (How does this
relate to the immune system?).
3. 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).
4. 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?).
5. 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 2011 MICR 492/MICR 592
Lecture
Reading*
1
Introduction: Innate Immunity
Chapter 1, 3
2
Innate Immunity/Complement
3
4
Complement/Acquired Immune Response
Inflammation/Acquired Immunity/Cells of the
Immune System
Cells of the Immune System
Organs of the Immune System
Chapter 3
Chapter 7
Chapter 3
Chapters 3 and 7
5
6
7
8
9
Test 1
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Leukocyte Migration/Homing
Antigenicity/Immunogenicity
Adjuvants
Antigen Recognition/Haptens/Immunoglobulin
Term Test 1-Must be completed by Monday Feb
7, 2011 by 5 PM
Immunoglobulins
B cell Receptor Structure, Monoclonal Antibody
Technology
Immunoglobulin Gene Structure
Chapter 13
Chapter 4
Immunoglobulin Gene Rearrangement, Class
Switching
Antigen-Antibody Interactions
Chapter 5
Major Histocompatibility Complex:
Major Histocompatability Complex
Antigen Presentation
Antigen Presentation
Term Test 2- Must be completed by Friday,
March 4, 2011 by 5 PM
T cell Receptor
T cell Activation and differentiation
T cell Maturation
B cell Maturation/Activation
B cell Activation
Cytokines
Cytokines/Complement Revisited
Cell-Mediated Responses
Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 10,
Chapter 11
Chapter 11,
Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Chapter 14
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
Cell-Mediated Responses
Term Test 3- Must be completed by Monday,
April 4, 2011 by 5 PM
Immune Response to Infectious Disease
Inflammation
Vaccines
Hypersensitivity Reactions
Hypersensitivity/Transplantation
Autoimmunity
AIDS and Other Immunodeficencies
Cancer and Immune System
Review
Final Exam- Must be completed by Friday May 6,
2011 by 5 PM
*Numbers refer to chapters in Kuby’s Immunology ,6th edition
Chapter 14
Chapter 18
Chapter 13
Chapter 19
Chapter 15
Chapter 17
Chapter 16
Chapter 20
Chapter 21