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By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe hypersensitivityDefine autoimmunity

This course covers cells and tissues of the immune system, lymphocyte development, the structure and function of antigen receptors, the cell biology of antigen processing and presentation, including molecular structure and assembly of MHC molecules, the biology of cytokines, leukocyte-endothelial interactions, and the pathogenesis of immunologically mediated diseases. The course is structured as a series of lectures and tutorials in which clinical cases are discussed with faculty tutors.
Lecturers
Frederick W. Alt, Marcus Altfeld, Paul Anderson, Jon C. Aster, Hugh Auchincloss, Steven P. Balk, Samuel M. Behar, Richard S. Blumberg, Francisco Bonilla, Bobby Cherayil, Benjamin Davis, David Hafler, Nir Harcohen, Bruce Horwitz, David M. Lee, Andrew Lichtman, Diane Mathis, Richard Mitchell, Hidde Ploegh, Emmett Schmidt, Arlene Sharpe, Megan Sykes, Shannon Turley, Dale T. Umetsu, Ulrich von Andrian, Bruce Walker, Kai Wucherpfennig, Ramnik Xavier, Sarah Henrickson

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Genetics can affect many aspects of human health, in part by influencing the composition of the gut microbiome. The associations between genetic variants and individual microbial taxa are often investigated with genome-wide association studies (GWASs). However, typical GWASs have low statistical power, because they require extensive multiple testing and can’t account for inherent data structure. To help solve this problem, researchers recently developed a new approach: a covariate-adjusted kernel RV (KRV) framework. This framework compares pairwise similarity in genetic profiles to pairwise similarity in microbial profiles therefore reducing the multiple testing burden without obscuring the data structure. In simulation studies, the KRV framework had greater statistical power than other microbiome GWAS approaches in a range of scenarios..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Autoimmune disease happens when the body’s immune system reacts to its own cells and tissues. Central to this process are regulatory T cells (Tregs), which control the inflammatory CD4 T cell response. Understanding how to boost Tregs will help researchers develop new therapies for autoimmunity. In a recent study, researchers zeroed in on a broad regulator of cell differentiation, migration, and proliferation – MKL-1. Using molecular techniques, they examined its interaction with STAT5, a transcriptional activator central to Treg development. After overexpressing or silencing MKL-1 and STAT5 in cell lines, they evaluated protein interactions and Treg gene expression. The results showed that MKL-1 acts a coactivator for STAT5b targets in Tregs. MKL-1 was upregulated during Treg differentiation, and overexpressing MKL-1 enhanced the expression of Treg markers. Silencing STAT5b blocked MKL-1 from activating Treg genes, showing its dependence on STAT5b for its function..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"When it comes to immune functioning, cancers and autoimmune diseases are opposites. The key immune-related defect in cancer is subverting and evading the immune system, while autoimmune disease is, broadly speaking, an overactive immune system targeting the self. The immune system and the gut microbial community have a reciprocal influence on each other. Therefore, it is possible that cancers and autoimmune diseases have analogous but inverted impacts on the gut microbiome. To test this, researchers conducted a systematic literature review. The included studies covered over 10,000 people from 27 countries. This data revealed a set of microbiome features that show consistent, opposite changes in cancers compared to autoimmune diseases. Fusobacterium and Peptostreptococcus were the most consistently increased bacterial genera in cancer cases. While Bacteroides stood out as a group increased in autoimmune disease and decreased in cancers..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"RXRβ is one of three types of retinoid X receptors, which play important roles in how cells grow, differentiate, and die and might be targets for the treatment of conditions such as insulin resistance, autoimmunity, and neurodegeneration. A recent study into the physical behavior of RXRβ could bring researchers closer to that possibility. A combination of lab experiments and computer modeling revealed the unique properties of the receptor’s AB region. This region, common to this family of receptors, enables the activation of target genes. But in RXRβ, researchers found, the AB region also supports liquid-liquid phase separation a biochemical phenomenon that is fundamental to the compartmentalization of the cell. As a driver of RXRβ’s physical behavior, this capacity for phase separation could also influence the receptor’s transcriptional behavior. Understanding how could give researchers a better idea of RXRβ’s role in disease and how it might be modulated to promote human health..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Type 1 diabetes (T1D), a lifelong autoimmune disease, is on the rise in adults and children. The disease is commonly associated with altered gut microbiota and reduced production of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). SCFAs have many beneficial properties on the gut and immune system and are able to prevent diabetes in mice. A recent study explored a novel anti-T1D approach, a specially designed dietary supplement that could restructure the gut microbiota, boost the production of SCFAs, and change the human immune system across time. The study shows that after six weeks of supplementation, the patients’ stool and plasma concentrations of the SCFAs acetate, propionate, and butyrate were significantly increased. Circulating B and T cells and antigen-presenting cells developed a more regulatory phenotype during and post-intervention..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Cancer and autoimmune disease are two sides of the same coin Autoimmune diseases, such as diabetes, arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease, are caused by overactivation of the immune response while cancer cells downregulate the immune response in order to promote their own growth One attractive therapeutic target, lymphotoxin β receptor (LTβR) on the cell surface, is central to both processes but its detailed signaling mechanisms have remained unclear, making it difficult to target the pathway Now, researchers have identified a way to alter the strength of LTβR-mediated signaling Using drugs to lower the cholesterol levels in the plasma membrane they showed that the lipid content of the cell membrane affects LTβR-dependent signaling and LTβR internalization Depleting membrane cholesterol caused increased LTβR signaling through the well-known canonical NF-κB signaling pathway suggesting that cholesterol depletion could be used to augment LTβR-based therapies for cancer and choles.."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.