Lecture: Infection and Immunity
Date: Friday 2nd February
Time: 1 – 2pm
Viruses and the Immune Response to Viral Infection
We are going to discuss how viruses enter the immune system and its response to them.
Learning objectives:
1) Classification of DNA and RNA virus families
2) The influenza virus and its structures effect on getting in and out of the cell.
3) Virus infection via receptors and replication within cells (i.e. polio)
4) Time scale of different responses (innate and adaptive)
5) The role of interferons, natural killer cells and their fight against viral infections
6) The role of the cytotoxic T cells – these are good at recognising an infected cell and
causes it to go into apoptosis.
7) The immune synapse/cell cytotoxicity methods
8) Measurements of cytotoxicity in the lab.
9) The concept of self MHC restriction
Viral classification diagram – size and shapes of viruses.
Classification criteria, split up into RNA and DNA. The shape can either be helical or
icosahedral. Some present as tiny, whereas DNA viruses are large reaching up to 130 -280kb.
Schematic diagram of influenza virus
The outside of this virus has a lipid bilayer; therefore, it is an enveloped virus as it has taken
some of the lipid bilayer from the infected cell.
1) Hemagglutinin – there to bind to sialic acid (a type of sugar). (16 subtypes)
2) Neuraminidase – an enzyme that cuts the plasma membrane and allows the virus to
leave the cell. (9 subtypes)
1
Date: Friday 2nd February
Time: 1 – 2pm
Viruses and the Immune Response to Viral Infection
We are going to discuss how viruses enter the immune system and its response to them.
Learning objectives:
1) Classification of DNA and RNA virus families
2) The influenza virus and its structures effect on getting in and out of the cell.
3) Virus infection via receptors and replication within cells (i.e. polio)
4) Time scale of different responses (innate and adaptive)
5) The role of interferons, natural killer cells and their fight against viral infections
6) The role of the cytotoxic T cells – these are good at recognising an infected cell and
causes it to go into apoptosis.
7) The immune synapse/cell cytotoxicity methods
8) Measurements of cytotoxicity in the lab.
9) The concept of self MHC restriction
Viral classification diagram – size and shapes of viruses.
Classification criteria, split up into RNA and DNA. The shape can either be helical or
icosahedral. Some present as tiny, whereas DNA viruses are large reaching up to 130 -280kb.
Schematic diagram of influenza virus
The outside of this virus has a lipid bilayer; therefore, it is an enveloped virus as it has taken
some of the lipid bilayer from the infected cell.
1) Hemagglutinin – there to bind to sialic acid (a type of sugar). (16 subtypes)
2) Neuraminidase – an enzyme that cuts the plasma membrane and allows the virus to
leave the cell. (9 subtypes)
1
