Paper Topics for Immunology
As stated in the syllabus,
the paper you write should specifically focus on the cellular immunology of the
topic you choose and there should be current journal articles written on the
subject. For many of you the topic
you that you will cover will be related to disease. While it is fine to briefly describe the important symptoms,
it is absolutely required that you discuss the pertinent immunology of
the subject you are studying in your paper. Ideally, the biology will explain the resulting symptoms and
you should make this link clear in your paper.
I can provide you with
more specifics on the topics listed below so please feel free to come and talk
with me. Please do not feel
constrained by these suggestions. Follow
your own creative idea!
Staphylococcus and Streptococcus: Superantigens and their effect
LPS and endotoxic shock: Neisseria meningitidis
Hemorrhagic fevers and their effects through the immune system:
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Ebola virus
Immune evasion strategies of viruses: HIV, herpes simplex, Epstein-Barr, HHV-8
Living within the macrophage: Salmonella, Mycobacterium, Legionella
Induction
of lymphocyte apoptosis by bacteria: Yersinia
Escaping the immune response: Listeria
Influenza: antigenic drift/shift, vaccine design
Anthrax pathogenesis related to the immune system
West Nile virus pathogenesis related to the immune system
Why do some HIV infected individuals (nonprogressors) never develop AIDS?
Role of CTLs in HIV infection
How does HIV decrease T cell counts so dramatically?
Macrophages as a reservoir of HIV in infection
HIV vaccine: design and ethics
HIV immune evasion and problems for treatment/vaccine
Immune evasion of HIV
AIDS dementia
Perinatal HIV transmission
Large increase in asthma
How do animals become tolerized to the foods they eat?
Food intolerance
New therapies for allergies
balancing the TH1 vs. TH2 response
oral tolerization to antigens
Specific allergic reactions: peanuts, shellfish, poison ivy
Autoimmunity (there
are others besides these!)
Diabetes mellitus
Systemic lupus erythematous
Hashimoto's thyroiditis (apoptosis as a mechanism of autoimmunity)
Rheumatoid arthritis
How do animals become tolerized to the foods they eat?
Oral tolerization to antigens
Neuroimmunology
Multiple schlerosis and experimental allergic encephalomyeltis as a model
AlzheimerÕs disease
Dementia in AIDS
Stress and the immune system
Immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer: cell immunotherapy
Humanized monoclonal antibodies: Herceptin, anti-lymphoma antibody
How do tumors cells evade/defeat the immune system?
KaposiÕs sarcoma:and herpes virus (HHV-8)
Papilloma virus and cervical cancer
Cancers of immune cells: HodgekinÕs, leukemias
Bone marrow transplantation
Smallpox vaccine: development strategies, long-term immunity, herd immunity
Anthrax vaccine
Mucosal immunity and vaccines
Vaccine development strategies/safety
viruses/bacteria as vectors for vaccine delivery
peptide vaccines
DNA vaccines
Why is it so hard to make effectives vaccines against parasites? (e. g. malaria)
Edible vaccines
Xenografting: possibilities, problems, and ethics
Transplantation and infection: West Nile virus, Epstein-Barr virus, Hepatitis B/C
Immunosupression: new ideas on preventing rejection
Bone marrow transplants: graft versus host disease (GVHD)
Immunodeficiences (there are others besides these)
Lack of B and/or T cells-
Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID)
Omenn syndrome
Phagocytic defects- Chediak-Higashi syndrome
Lack of B cells/antibody Ð
X-linked agammoglobulinemia,
Wiscott-Aldrich syndrome
Lack of T cells-
MHC deficiencies
X-linked SCID
Ataxia telangiectasia
Adenosine deaminase deficiency (ADA)
Lack of complement- complement deficiences
Obesity and the immune response
Normal microbiota as a microbiological barrier and stimulator of immune system
Do natural products/vitamins help the immune system?
What happens when people stop vaccinating their children?
Does stress affect the immune system?
Aging
Relationship to the immune system function
How is it retained?
Unknowns/risks of past and present smallpox immunizations
Immunological mechanisms:
Apoptosis: mechanism and prevention
Antimicrobial peptides: defensins
Nitric oxide (NO): antimicrobial effects
How did the immune system evolve?
M cells and the delivery of antigen from the GI tract to lymphoid tissue
gd T cells and their role in the immune system