Excerpt

This book is intended as an introductory text for use in immunology courses for medical students, advanced undergraduate biology students, graduate students, and scientists in other fields who want to know more about the immune system. It attempts to present the field of immunology from a consistent viewpoint, that of the host’s interaction with an environment containing many species of potentially harmful microbes. The justification for this approach is that the absence of one or more components of the immune system is virtually always made clear by an increased susceptibility to one or more specific infections. Thus, first and foremost, the immune system exists to protect the host from infection, and its evolutionary history must have been shaped largely by this challenge. Other aspects of immunology, such as allergy, autoimmunity, graft rejection, and immunity to tumors, are treated as variations on this basic protective function. In these cases the nature of the antigen is the major variable.

Contents

• Preface to the Fifth Edition
• Acknowledgments
• Icons Used Throughout the Book
• Part I. An Introduction to Immunobiology and Innate Immunity
  • Chapter 1. Basic Concepts in Immunology
    • The components of the immune system
    • Principles of innate and adaptive immunity
    • The recognition and effector mechanisms of adaptive immunity
    • Summary to Chapter 1
    • General references
  • Chapter 2. Innate Immunity
    • The front line of host defense
    • The complement system and innate immunity
    • Receptors of the innate immune system
    • Induced innate responses to infection
    • Summary to Chapter 2
    • General references
    • Section references
• Part II. The Recognition of Antigen
  • Chapter 3. Antigen Recognition by B-cell and T-cell Receptors
    • The structure of a typical antibody molecule
    • The interaction of the antibody molecule with specific antigen
    • Antigen recognition by T cells
    • Summary to Chapter 3
    • General references
    • Section references
  • Chapter 4. The Generation of Lymphocyte Antigen Receptors
    • The generation of diversity in immunoglobulins
    • T-cell receptor gene rearrangement
    • Structural variation in immunoglobulin constant regions
    • Summary to Chapter 4
    • General references
    • Section references
  • Chapter 5. Antigen Presentation to T Lymphocytes
    • The generation of T-cell receptor ligands
    • The major histocompatibility complex and its functions
    • Summary to Chapter 5
    • General references
    • Section references
• Part III. The Development of Mature Lymphocyte Receptor Repertoires
  • Chapter 6. Signaling Through Immune System Receptors
    • General principles of transmembrane signaling
    • Antigen receptor structure and signaling pathways
    • Other signaling pathways that contribute to lymphocyte behavior
    • Summary to Chapter 6
    • General references
    • Section references
  • Chapter 7. The Development and Survival of Lymphocytes
    • Generation of lymphocytes in bone marrow and thymus
    • The rearrangement of antigen-receptor gene segments controls lymphocyte development
    • Interaction with self antigens selects some lymphocytes for survival but eliminates others
    • Survival and maturation of lymphocytes in peripheral lymphoid tissues
    • Summary to Chapter 7
    • General references
    • Section references
• Part IV. The Adaptive Immune Response
  • Chapter 8. T Cell-Mediated Immunity
    • The production of armed effector T cells
    • General properties of armed effector T cells
    • T cell-mediated cytotoxicity
    • Macrophage activation by armed CD4 T_H1 cells
    • Summary to Chapter 8
    • General references
    • Section references
  • Chapter 9. The Humoral Immune Response
    • B-cell activation by armed helper T cells
    • The distribution and functions of immunoglobulin isotypes
    • The destruction of antibody-coated pathogens via Fc receptors
    • Summary to Chapter 9
    • General references
    • Section references
  • Chapter 10. Adaptive Immunity to Infection
    • Infectious agents and how they cause disease
    • The course of the adaptive response to infection
    • The mucosal immune system
    • Immunological memory
    • Summary to Chapter 10
    • General references
    • Section references
• Part V. The Immune System in Health and Disease
  • Chapter 11. Failures of Host Defense Mechanisms
    • Pathogens have evolved various means of evading or subverting normal host defenses
    • Inherited immunodeficiency diseases
    • Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
    • Summary to Chapter 11
    • General references
    • Section references
  • Chapter 12. Allergy and Hypersensitivity
    • The production of IgE
    • Effector mechanisms in allergic reactions
    • Hypersensitivity diseases
    • Summary to Chapter 12
    • General references
    • Section references
  • Chapter 13. Autoimmunity and Transplantation
    • Autoimmune responses are directed against self antigens
    • Responses to alloantigens and transplant rejection
    • Self-tolerance and its loss
    • Summary to Chapter 13
    • General references
    • Section references
  • Chapter 14. Manipulation of the Immune Response
    • Extrinsic regulation of unwanted immune responses
    • Using the immune response to attack tumors
    • Manipulating the immune response to fight infection
    • Summary to Chapter 14
    • General references
    • Section references
• Chapter 15. Afterword: Evolution of the Immune System: Past, Present, and Future, by Charles A. Janeway, Jr
  • Evolution of the innate immune system
  • Evolution of the adaptive immune response
  • The importance of immunological memory in fixing adaptive immunity in the genome
  • Future directions of research in immunobiology
  • Summary of the Afterword
• Appendices
  • Appendix I. Immunologists' Toolbox
  • Appendix II. CD Antigens
  • Appendix III. Cytokines and Their Receptors
  • Appendix IV. Chemokines and Their Receptors
  • Appendix V. Immunological Constants
• Biographies
• Glossary