Molecular Immunology Saverio Minucci

General informations PPT slides Exams: Official books: none X info: home page: http://users.unimi.it/minucci/index.htm Click on “didattica” : http://users.unimi.it/minucci/didattica.htm Anche su ARIEL Exams: team presentation of articles related to the topics discussed during the lessons 1 written test at the end of the course (open essay: 1 topic of your choice, 1 topic chosen by me) Official books: none Abbas/Lichtman (Basic Immunology- or italian translation) Pier/Lyczak/Wetzler (Immunology, infection and immunity –or italian translation) Whatever… X info: saverio.minucci@ieo.it o saverio.minucci@unimi.it Fabio.santoro@ieo.it alessandra.marinelli@guest.unimi.it

A few questions for you… What’s the difference between innate and adaptive immunity? What can you say about innate immunity Describe phagocytosis How is the phagocyte attracted by its target? How many types of adaptive immune responses do you know? Can you give me one example of passive immunity?

Let’s define together the cardinal features of adaptive immune responses Specificity Diversity Memory Non reactivity to self

Adaptive immune response What is a “naïve” T (or B) cell? How is it that immune cells are able to avoid killing “self” cells? What is the difference between a CD4+ and a CD8+ cell? Which is the cell that is the main producer of antibodies?

Lymphocytes What’s the CD nomenclature? What is the main difference among B and T lymphocytes? Which are the main classes of effector T lymphocytes? What is an APC? What’s the name of the most important class of APCs?

Phases of adaptive response Antigen recognition Lymphocyte activation Effector Phase

Response to infective agents: an example

Topics to be addressed in the course Vaccinations Immunodeficiencies Autoimmune diseases Allergy Microbiota Cancer immunotherapy

Presentation Be “sharp” In general, calculate 20’ max to discuss each article-review Coordinate your work with the colleagues discussing the other papers Ideally, the paper should be the stimulus to read also other papers….

How to structure the presentation Reviews Define the scope of the review Define the biological problem tackled Try to explain why it is important Summarize the main findings described Summarize what is in your opinion the “core message” of the review, what did you get out of it

How to structure the presentation Article Summarize the main findings Why did the authors start this study? Which are the key technologies used? Describe the main results Study the figures, try to find “weaknesses” in the paper Summarize the conclusions Does this paper in your opinion represent an incremental increase of our knowledge, or is it a ”great” paper, innovative in its field? What did you get out of it