Topic A
1. Indicate to which branch(es) of theimmune system the following statements apply.
Explain your answer.
a) Involves macrophages
b) Responds to viral infection
c) Involves T cells
d) Responds to bacterial toxins
e) Most likely responds following an organ transplant
f) Involves cytotoxic T cells
g) Involves B cells
h) Involves complement
i) Responds to extracellular bacterial infection
j) Involves secreted antibody
k) Kills virus infected self cells
I) Involves the thymus
m) Involves the bone marrow
2. You are given two solutions, one containing protein A and theother the antibody to this protein both at about 5mg/ml. When youadd 1 ml of anti-A to 1 ml of protein A, a precipitate forms.However, when you dilute the antibody solution 20 fold and then mix1 ml of the diluted anti-A with 1 ml protein A, no precipitateforms.
Explain why no precipitate formed with the diluted antibody.
3. An energetic immunology student has isolated protein X.
The student believes it is a new isotype of humanimmunoglobulin.
a)What structural features would protein X have to have in orderto be classified as an immunoglobulin?
b) You prepare rabbit antibodies to (i) whole human IgG, (ii) tohuman û chain and (iii) to human ó chain.
Assuming protein X is in fact a new immunoglobulin isotype,which of these antibodies will bind to protein X? Explain why?
TOPIC B
4. a) Describe the time course of a typical antibody response totetanus toxoid
b) Outline a vaccination schedule that makes effective use ofthis information.
5. a) Tetanus immunoglobulin from the horse can be used toprotect an individual against tetanus. How is the treatmentadministered and what are the advantages/disadvantages of this formof immunisation? 2
b) Is it possible to confer cell mediated immunity on anunsensitised recipient by transferring cells?
c) Would this be a practical method of immunisation, and whatproblems may be encountered in this type of experiment?
6. If you inject a rabbit with a large protein antigen X andsubsequently harvest the antiserum from the animal, would youexpect the antibodies to X in the antiserum to be monoclonal orpolyclonal?
TOPIC C
7. a) Why, if the immune system is so efficient, do we continueto suffer from infectious diseases?
b) Speculate on the consequences if the immune system were tolose its ability to distinguish self-antigens from foreignones.
c) If a child is born without a thymus gland, what will be thenature of the child's illness
d) If a child were born with a defect in the complement system,say a deficiency in function C3, what would be theconsequences?
8 Considering only combinational joining of gene segments andassociation of light and heavy chains, how many different antibodymolecules potentially could be generated from germ line DNAcontaining 500VL and 4JL gene segments and 200VH. 10DH and 4JH genesegments?
9 During an immune response to antigen, the antibodies producedduring a secondary and subsequent responses have a greater affinityfor antigen than those produced during a primary response toantigen
Explain what is meant by "affinity"
Explain in principle the mechanism which explains the aboveobservation re increasing antibody affinity for antigen insecondary and subsequent responses
