Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunobiology
Credit: 3 units
Instructor(s): Pradhan
Offered: Spring
Prerequisite: M4000 or M4100
Lecture Topics:
- Innate and adaptive immunity
- Immune cell functions
- Complement system and other antimicrobial molecules
- Recognition of microbes by the immune system
- Cycle of microbial diseases
- Acquisition and regulation of bacterial virulence genes
- Molecular strategies developed by bacterial pathogens to infect their host
- Airborne and foodborne bacterial diseases
- Mechanisms used by diverse pathogens to escape the immune defense and cause diseases: pathogenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella species, Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Bacillus anthracis, Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Vibrio cholerae, and Clostridium botulinum.
- Mechanisms and limitation of antimicrobial drugs
Learning Outcomes:
After completion of the course, successful students will understand...
- Key mechanisms involved in the immune defense
- How the immune system distinguishes between self and foreign organisms
- Differences and connections between the innate and adaptive immune responses
- The beneficial roles of microbes that compose the human microbiota
- How to study microbial disease mechanisms
- What particular attributes microbes must display in order to breach the host physical barriers and immune defense mechanisms
- How human behavior influences the emergence and reemergence of infectious diseases
- Unequal distribution of infections across the world
- Why bacterial pathogens rapidly overcome the activity of antimicrobial drugs
- The spread of nosocomial and community acquired infections
- Challenges we are currently facing for the prevention and treatment of infections
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