NEUROIMMUNOLOGY

PSYCHOLOGY 396ER, 2003

Edward Roy, Instructor. Office: 318G RAL. 3-3375, e-roy@uiuc.edu. Office hrs 3-4 Monday.

Class Meets Monday, 1:00 - 2:50 in Room 608 Psych Bldg.

No required text, Janeway's Immunobiology recommended as background. Readings will be on the web via the psych home page.

The overall theme for the course is ways that the nervous system affects the immune system, and ways the immune system affects the nervous system. The class format will be readings, weekly quizzes based on the readings, student presentations, one short paper, and one final review session. Everyone will be responsible for reading the assigned papers BEFORE coming to class. Each week, I will write a quiz of 5 questions (multiple choice or short answer), on essential points from the readings. At the beginning of each class, we will take the quiz, then grade them in class.

The remainder of each class will consist of discussion of the readings and four short (about 5 minutes) presentations by students: (1) one will be an evaluation of one of the papers cited in the assigned review, (2) one will be a current paper found by using Science Citation Index on references in the review, (3) one will be a current paper found on PubMed using search terms from the week's topic, and (4) one will be an explanation of one of the techniques or experimental methods used in neuroimmunology. You can use PowerPoint or overheads. These presentations should include your opinion of why the paper is significant or interesting, what was novel or insightful. These papers should be primary research papers (not reviews). Ask me if you're not sure what this means. Each student will have four short presentations during the semester.

The paper takes the form of a grant proposal to the Roy Foundation. You get to assume the identity of anyone in the field, and use some of their published data as pilot data. The grant should have specific aims (<1 page), background (at least 5 pages), methods (about 2 pages), proposed experiments and interpretation of potential results (about 3 pages), and a budget with justification (1 page, can be whimsical or serious). This will be due on Reading Day.

There will be an ungraded cumulative final exam, in the form of a team contest, on the assigned readings, and the presentations. The losing team will pay for pizza. This comprehensive review may help you to retain the information. Grades will be based on the quiz grades (30%), the presentations (30%), the grant proposal (30%), and class participation in discussions (10%). Adequate performance will earn a B.

The assigned readings are subject to change, but any changes will be reflected in an updated syllabus online.

Jan 27	Organizational meeting
Feb 3	Antigen presentation in the CNS Becher: Brain-Immune Connection, immuno-regulatory properties of CNS-resident cells. Glia 29 (2000) 293-304. Aloisi. Microglia Glia 36:165-179,2001.
Feb 10	Lymphocyte trafficking and the BBB Harling-Berg, Role of cervical lymphatics in CNS, J. Neuroimmunol. 101 (1999) 111-127. Hickey Basic principles of immunological surveillance of the normal central nervous system GLIA 36:118-124,2001.
Feb 17	Cytokine and Chemokine Expression and actions in the CNS Bajetto, R. Characterization of chemokines and their receptors in the central nervous system: physiopathological implications. J. Neurochem. 82 (2002) 1311-1329. Kronfol. Cytokines and the brain: implications for clinical psychiatry. Am J Psychiatry. 2000 May;157(5):683-94.
Feb 24	Viral infections of CNS and prions Lokensgard Glial cell responses to herpesvirus infections: role in defense and immunopathogenesis. Mabbott The immunobiology of TSE diseases J Gen Virol 2001. 82:2307-2318. Optional: Nicotera, P, A route for prion neuroinvasion. Neuron. 2001 Aug 16;31(3):345-8.
Mar 3	Multiple sclerosis I Causes Hemmer, B. New concepts in the immunopathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 3 (2002) 291-301. O'Connor, KC. The Neuroimmunology of Multiple Sclerosis: Possible Roles of T and B Lymphocytes in Immunopathogenesis. Journal of Clinical Immunology, 21(2001)81-92.
Mar 10	Multiple sclerosis II Treatments Steinman, L. Multiple Sclerosis: Deeper Understanding of Its Pathogenesis Reveals New Targets for Therapy. Ann. Rev. Neurosci. 25 (2002)491-505..
Mar 17	Immune responses to CNS tumors Pollack, IF Exploitation of immune mechanisms in the treatment of central nervous system cancer. Seminars in Pediatric Neurology 7 (2000)131-143. Walker, PR. All in the head: obstacles for immune rejection of brain tumors. Immunology 107(2002)28-38.
	(Spring Break)
Mar 31	Neural and sympathetic influences on immune system Tracey, KJ. The inflammatory reflex. Nature 420 (2002) 853-859. Sternberg, Neural-immune interactions in health and disease. Ann NY Acad 966 (2002) 20-27.
Apr 7	Neuroendocrine influences on immune system Webster JI, Tonelli L, Sternberg EM. Neuroendocrine regulation of immunity. Annu Rev Immunol. 2002;20:125-63.
Apr 14	Immune influences on Psychological function Maier, SF Yirmiya R, Illness, cytokines, and depression. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2000;917:478-87.
Apr 21	Psychological influences on immune function and health Marsland Stress, immune reactivity and susceptibility to infectious disease. Physiol Behav 77 (2002) 711-716. Luecken Stress, coping, and immune function in breast cancer. Annals of Behavioral Medicine 24 (2002) 336-344.
Apr 28	Transplantation Larsson, Neural tissue xenografting. Scand. J. Immunol. 52 (2000) 249-256.
May 5	Glia mediated neurotoxicity, AIDS Dementia and Alzheimer's disease Eikelenboom, Neuroinflammation in Alzheimerπs Disease and Prion Disease GLIA 40:232≠239, 2002. Garden Microglia in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Associated Neurodegeneration GLIA 40:240≠251, 2002.
FINAL	Papers Due on Reading Day.