Imperial College London

Immunology: Adaptive Immune System

Malgorzata (Maggie) Trela
Sophie Rutschmann

Instructors: Malgorzata (Maggie) Trela

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Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.7

(55 reviews)

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

8 hours to complete
3 weeks at 2 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.7

(55 reviews)

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

8 hours to complete
3 weeks at 2 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • In this course, you will explore the two main types of adaptive immune cells, T and B lymphocytes.

  • You will understand how their various sub-sets contribute to the overall immune response.

  • Finally, you will explore the effect of age on the function of the immune system.

Details to know

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Assessments

13 assignments

Taught in English

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This course is part of the Immunology: The Immune System and its Failures Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
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There are 6 modules in this course

In module one, learners will discover who B lymphocytes are and how they contribute to our immune response against pathogens. Together, we will explore how they develop, commit to becoming functional effector cells and what their effector mechanisms are. We will also investigate how the immune system prevents them from over-reacting against health cells.

What's included

7 videos4 readings2 assignments

In module two, learners will discover how T lymphocytes develop, differentiate into two main sub-types and how these contribute to the orchestration of the adaptive immune response and the direct destruction of infected cells. We will also discuss the mechanism that our body has put in place to prevent these very powerful cells from turning against the host’s healthy cells.

What's included

2 videos2 readings3 assignments

In module three, we will explore the ability of some T lymphocytes to directly kill infected and tumour cells. We will learn about the mechanisms that activate them, contrast this with other complementary immune mechanisms of direct killing, and understand how their activation is kept under tight control to avoid the destruction of healthy cells.

What's included

1 video2 readings2 assignments

In module four, we will explore the development and function of a particular type of T lymphocytes, regulatory T cells, whose main role is to regulate the overall immune response to avoid serious detrimental outcome for the host. We will look at their mechanisms of action in more details and discuss their therapeutic application for human health.

What's included

1 video2 readings2 assignments

In module five, learners will be taken on a travel journey into our body to understand how the correct immune cells get to the correct site of infection. This will involve understanding the mechanisms by which immune cells migrate from the blood stream to infected tissues and sites of activation. Importantly, together with our expert here at Imperial, we will also explore the importance for this ability to be tightly regulated.

What's included

2 videos2 readings2 assignments

In module six, we will explore the impact ageing has on the immune system. We will identify what inflammaging is, its causes and its consequences on the immune system. We will reflect on what this means in terms of therapeutical approaches for human health.

What's included

1 video2 readings2 assignments

Instructors

Instructor ratings
4.3 (13 ratings)
Malgorzata (Maggie) Trela
Imperial College London
5 Courses12,801 learners
Sophie Rutschmann
Imperial College London
5 Courses12,801 learners

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4.7

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