Immunotechnology I

Course unit title

Scientific direction

Scientific code

Faculty

Department (s)

Immunotechnology

Biology N010

Life Sciences Center

Institute of Biosciences

Total number of credits

8

Mode of studies

Number of credits

Mode of studies

Number of credits

Lectures

0

Consultations

1,5

Self-studies

5

Seminars

1,5

Aims of course

To acquire knowledge about the function of the immune system, about the interfaces between immunology and biotechnology, and about modern technologies that help to create or modulate the desired immune response.

Main topics

Immunotechnology - as an applied branch of immunology. Structure and functions of antibodies. Antigen binding, epitopes, affinity and avidity. Primary and secondary immune response. Polyclonal, monoclonal and recombnant antibodies, their similarities and differences. Polyclonal antibodies: immunization of animals, antigens, preparation of antigens for immunization, adjuvants, monitoring of the immune response. Obtaining antibodies against specific epitopes. Hybridoma technology and the production of monoclonal antibodies. Cultivation of hybridoma cells in vitro and in vivo. Purification of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies. Preparation of antibody fragments using enzymes. Labeling of antibodies with biotin, enzymes, fluorochromes, isotopes. Recombinant antibodies: antibody fragments, bispecific antibodies, bifunctional antibodies, chimeric antibodies, humanized antibodies, nanobodies. Construction of recombinant antibodies using phage, ribosome displays, bacterial, yeast, and mammalian cell surface displays. Technologies for the production of monoclonal antibodies of human origin. Production of recombinant antibodies. Application of antibodies in therapy. Formats of therapeutic antibodies (monovalent, bivalent, Fc-free and Fc-share antibodies). Application of antibodies in immunological methods. The oldest immunological methods: gel immunoprecipitation, agglutination, radioimmunoassay. Currently more widely used immunological methods: ELISA, Western blotting, immunochromatography, immunoprecipitation, ELISPOT, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry for microscopy, flow cytometry. Multiplex immunoassays: antibody array, CBA, Luminex, Immulite. Immunoassays that are based on microfluidic systems as future perspectives.

Production of recombinant cytokines and their use in immunotherapy. Passive and active immunization. Vaccines and their development. Types of vaccines: attenuated, inactivated, toxoid, subunit, multivalent, conjugate vaccines, RNA, DNA vaccines, recombinant virus and bacterial vaccines. Vaccine development from scientific to clinical research. Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.

Using of immune system cells in immunotechnology. Methods for cell isolation. Application of cells in immunotechnology. Dendritic cell vaccines.   Immunogenic and suppressor dendritic cell. CAR T cell technology. The perspectives of application suppressor cells for immunotherapy.

Main literature

• A.K. Abbas, A. H. Lichtman, S. Pillai. Cellular and molecular immunology. 9th edition, 2017,  Elsevier/Saunders
• P. J. Deives, S. J. Martin, D. R. Burton, I. M. Roitt. Roitt’s Essentials Immunology. 13th edition, 2017, Willey-Blackwell Publ.
• Waldman, A.D., Fritz, J.M. & Lenardo, M.J. A guide to cancer immunotherapy: from T cell basic science to clinical practice. Nat Rev Immunol 20, 651–668 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-020-0306-5
• Chen WC and Murawsky CM (2018) Strategies for Generating Diverse Antibody Repertoires Using Transgenic Animals Expressing Human Antibodies. Front. Immunol. 9:460. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.00460
• Varadé, J., Magadán, S. & González-Fernández, Á. Human immunology and immunotherapy: main achievements and challenges. Cell Mol Immunol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41423-020-00530-6
• M. Steinitz (Ed.). Human Monoclonal Antibodies. Methods and Protocols. 2nd edition, 2019, pp 483, ISBN: 978-1-4939-8957-7. Springer Science Business Media, New York, NY, USA

Assessment strategy

Assessment criteria

Exam or seminar

The exam consists of the evaluation of theoretical knowledge (test) or a seminar (scientific report) on a chosen topic.

The theoretical knowledge of the PhD student is tested by orally answering 3 broad questions from the entire immunotechnology course.

A public scientific lecture is prepared for the seminar, in which at least 5 recent scientific articles are summarized. Duration of the presentation - 40-45 min.

After the presentation, the PhD student answers the questions of the commission and the audience.

Evaluation criteria: the content of the lecture, the quality of presentation and answers to questions.

Approved by the Council of Doctoral School of Life Sciences Center No (4.10)600000-KT-… on the 14th of October 2021

dr. Daiva Baltriukienė