There are many underlying, innate mechanisms that help the body fight infections and develop immunity against future infections. This topic will introduce students to the defense mechanisms in human hosts and enable them to understand the innate and adaptive mechanisms within the body to protect them on exposure.
Objectives:
- Describe the first-line innate defenses and cells of the immune system.
- Explain the characteristics and roles of surface receptors, cytokines and adhesion molecules, patternrecognition receptors, and the complement system.
- Describe the steps of phagocytosis, inflammation, and fever.
- Explain the structure and properties of antibodies and the outcomes of antigen-antibody binding.
- Compare B-cell response: humoral immunity to T-cell response: cell-mediated immunity.