Microbiology and Immunology

Cell Biology (BI-1113)

D. Male, J. Brostoff, D. Roth , I. Roitt , Immunology 7th Edition Edition, Published By Elsevier
P. Murray, K. Rosenthal And M. Pfaller. Medical Microbiology, Published By Elsevier

Microbiology And Immunology On-line. University Of South Carolina, School Of Medicine

The course is intended to cover the knowledge of microbial agents, clinical microbiology, public health and food microbiology and immune system structure and function. The course is designed to enable the students with technical expertise in handling, examination, isolation and identification of microbes by participating in problem-based laboratory exercises.

Demonstrate the nature of Viruses, bacteria and fungi and basic criteria used in the Classification / taxonomy
Understand the modes of transmission and the mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis and the outcomes of infection, including chronic microbial infections
Demonstrate practical skills in fundamental microbiological techniques
Present and interpret results obtained from using these techniques.
Immune system structure and function
Diseases associated with abnormal function of the immune system

An introduction to the structure of the bacterial cell

• Bacterial identification in the diagnostic laboratory versus taxonomy.

• Taxonomic characterization of bacteria. Approaches to rapid diagnosis

• Anaerobic and aerobic metabolism.
• Metabolism of sugars and fatty acids.

• Structure and synthesis of the cell walls of gram-positive and gram negative bacteria

• The general composition and structure of bacteriophage.
• The infectious process and the lytic multiplication cycle.
• The lysogenic cycle and its regulation.

• The mechanisms of gene transfer in bacteria.
• The nature of transposable genetic elements and plasmids.
• The significance of gene transfer, transposable genetic elements and plasmids.

• The structure and transcription of bacterial genes.
• The molecular mechanisms that bacteria use to regulate gene activity.
• Inducible and repressible operons.
• The molecular mechanisms involved in catabolite repression and attenuation.
• The ways bacteria regulate enzyme activity.

• Exotoxins
• Endotoxins
• Transmission
• Adhesion
• Immunopathology

• An introduction to viruses, their nature, structure and classification. VIRUS REPLICATION STRATEGIES

• Adsorption
• Penetration
• Uncoating nucleic acid
• Protein synthesis, assembly, maturation and release.

• Replicative strategies employed by animal DNA viruses.
• Identification of virus prototypes associated with different DNA virus replication schemes.

• Replicative strategies employed by animal RNA viruses.

• Identification of virus prototypes associated with different RNA virus replication

• Viruses that cause cancer and the mechanisms by which they do so: DNA cancer viruses (polyoma, herpes, papilloma, hepatitis, adenovirus).
• RNA cancer viruses (retroviruses) schemes.

• Host specific and nonspecific defense mechanisms involved in resistance to and recovery from virus infections.
• Role of interferon in viral infections.
• Mechanisms by which interferon exerts its antiviral activity.
• Contributions of various host defense mechanisms in viral infections.

• History of vaccines especially smallpox and polio.
• New methods: subunit vaccines, anti-idiotype and DNA vaccines.
• Molecular approaches to the development of viral vaccines

• Amebiasis (amebic dysentery, amebic hepatitis)
• Giardiasis (lambliasis)
• Epidemiology
• Morbidity
• Mortality
• Morphology of the organisms.
• Life cycles, hosts and vectors.
• Disease, symptoms and pathogenesis.
• Diagnosis, Prevention and control

• The non-specific or innate immune system
• Anatomical barriers
• Secretary molecules
• Cellular components

• The complement system consists of more than 20 proteins in serum capable of lysing antibody-coated cells.

• Antigens are substances that induce a specific immune response and subsequently react with the products of a specific immune response

• Different types of antigen recognized by T and B cells.
• Cell biology and significance of different pathways for antigen processing and presentation by class I and class II MHC.
• Experimental basis for self MHC restriction.
• Role of the thymus in determining T cell receptor repertoire.
• Superantigens as anomalous antigens

• Immunoglobulins are protein molecules that are produced by plasma cells in response to an antigen and which function as antibodies.

• The nature of antigen/antibody reactions
• Antibody affinity and avidity.
• The basis for antibody specificity and cross reactivity.
• The principles of commonly used tests for antigen/antibody reactions.

• Characteristics of the specific immune response.
• Primary and secondary antibody responses.
• The molecular events involved in class switching and membrane immunoglobulin expression

• Major histocompatibility complex molecules
• The T cell receptor (TCR)
• The CD3 complex
• Accessory
• Costimulatory molecules.

• Th1 and Th2
• Cytokines and class (isotype) switching.
• Cytokine activation of macrophages and functions.
• Maturation and mechanism of killing by cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL).
• Characteristics of killing mechanisms of other cytolytic cells Immunoregulatory processes.

• Cell-cell interactions in specific immune responses
• Helper T cell-B cell interactions for antibody formation against hapten-conjugated proteins and complex proteins.
• Thymus- independent antigens

• Concept and significance of tolerance
• Factors that determine induction of tolerance
• Mechanism of tolerance induction
• Concepts of autoimmunity and disease
• Features of major autoimmune diseases
• Theories of etiology of autoimmune disease

Hand outs and Research Articles