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03377 - Immunogenetics

Academic Year 2018/2019

                
                        Docente:
                        Stefano Salvioli
                    
                        Credits:
                        3
                    
                        SSD:
                        MED/04
                    
                        Language:
                        Italian
                    
                        Teaching Mode:
                        Traditional lectures
                        
                            Campus:
                            Bologna
                        
                            Corso:
                            Second cycle degree programme (LM) in
                            Pharmaceutical Biotechnology (cod. 8519)

                            Teaching resources on Virtuale

Learning outcomes

At the end of the classes, the student shall have knowledge of the basic physiological mechanisms that regulate the functioning of the immune system as well as the capability to understand the different types of immune responses and their biological significance. In particular, the student: - will know about genetic strategies that allow the diversification of the immune responses to antigens; - will be able to understand the principle of the vaccine strategy; - will know about the main therapeutic strategies in which the immune system is involved: vaccines, use of monoclonal antibodies and immunosuppression in case of organ transplantation.

Course contents

• Introduction to Immunology. Cells and tissues of the Immune System. Adhesion molecules and molecular mechanisms of cellular homing.

• Regional Immunity. Interactions between immune cells and gut microbiota. Organization of genetic loci for the receptors of NK cells. Memory of the innate immunity: trained immunity.

• Synthesis of monoclonal antibodies. Uses in diagnostics and clinic practice of monoclonal antibodies. Nomenclature CD. Immunophenotypization. Chimeric receptors: CAR T cells.

• Organization of genetic loci for antibodies and TCR. Generation of receptor repertoire: mechanisms of combinatorial differentiation (somatic recombination), and junctional differentiation.

• Organization of MHC genetic locus. Polymorphism of MHC genes. Genes for MHC I, II and III. HLA genotyping. Antigen presentation on MHC class I or II molecules. MHC in diagnostics: the tetramers.

• Activation of B lymphocytes. Molecular mechanisms of the isotypic shift; affinity increase and somatic hypermutation.

• Tolerance breakdown. Autoimmunity. Immunopathologiy: classification of hypersensitivities. Allergies: features and pathogeneic mechanisms; desensitising therapies towards allergens. Type II-VII hypersensitivities.

• Outline of immunodeficiencies. HIV virus and AIDS. Mechanisms of HIV infection. Cellular an molecular targets of HIV. Response to HIV infection.

• Cancer Immunology: immunological features of tumors. Cancer Antigens. Cancer Immunotherapy. Escape mechanisms from IR of tumors.

- Epigenetics of the immune system. DNA methylation, technical notes and experimental results.Age-related modifications of DNA methylation.

• Aging of the immune system: immunosenescence and inflammaging. Cell senescence and SASP.

Readings/Bibliography

Peter Parham: IL Sistema Immunitario, 2017 (seconda edizione) EdiSES.

Abbas, Lichtman, Pillai, Immunologia Cellulare e Molecolare, 2015 (ottava edizione), Ed. Elsevier-Masson.

Abbas, Lichtman, Pillai, Cellular and molecular immunology, 2018 (ninth edition), Elsevier (in english).

Teaching methods

frontal lectures

Assessment methods

oral examination

Teaching tools

files di power point available at https://campus.unibo.it/cgi/search/simple?q=salvioli&_action_search=Search&_order=bytitle&basic_srchtype=ALL&_satisfyall=ALL

Office hours

See the website of Stefano Salvioli