Get an in-depth look at how the body fights disease – and how new therapies can help.
Microbial life forms are an ever-present, extremely dangerous threat to our survival, against which
the immune system must constantly defend.
In Fundamentals Immunology, you’ll learn about the processes that enable our immune systems to
respond to evolving threats, and learn about new, immunology-based disease treatments.
Course Topics
Overview
– Course introduction
– Meet the faculty
Innate Immunity and Inflammation
– Sentinel cells and circulating leukocytes
– Inflammatory events and signaling
– The formation of pus
Microbial Recognition and Responses in Innate Immunity
– Pattern recognition receptors
– Innate immune signaling
– The antiviral state
– The complement system
Antibodies – Structure and Function
– B lymphocytes
– Antibody structure and function
– How antibodies can cause disease
Lymphocyte Development and Diversity
– Lymphocyte development
– Clonal selection and expansion
– Differences between B and T lymphocytes
– The generation of lymphocyte receptor diversity
T Cell Activation by Antigens
– The role of dendritic cells
– The lymphatic system and delivery of antigen to lymph nodes
– Adaptive immune activation in secondary lymphoid tissues
– Costimulation and inhibitory signaling
– Antigen presentation
T Cell-Dependent B Cell Responses
– T Cell activation of B cells
– The germinal center reaction
– Isotype switching and affinity maturation
Helper T Cells
– Helper T cell functions
– Helper T cell subsets
– The role of helper T cells in disease
Cytotoxic T Cells
– Cytotoxic T cell functions
– Selection and expansion of cytotoxic T cells
– Contraction and memory
– Therapies that target cytotoxic T cell functions
Failures of the Immune System
– Immunodeficiencies
– Mechanisms of tolerance and loss of self-tolerance
– Autoimmune diseases
– Allergic diseases
Immunology-Based Therapy of Diseases
– Transplantation and transfusion
– Vectored immunoprophylaxis and chimeric antigen receptor T cells
– Neoantigen discovery and checkpoint blockade
Course Instructors
Andrew Lichtman, MD, PhD
Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School
Senior Pathologist, Brigham and Women’s Hospital