PřF:C8116 Immunochemical techniques - Course Information
C8116 Immunochemical techniques
Faculty of ScienceSpring 2022
- Extent and Intensity
- 2/0/0. 2 credit(s) (plus extra credits for completion). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
- Teacher(s)
- Dr. rer. nat. habil. Hans-Heiner Gorris (lecturer)
- Guaranteed by
- Dr. rer. nat. habil. Hans-Heiner Gorris
Department of Biochemistry – Chemistry Section – Faculty of Science
Supplier department: Department of Biochemistry – Chemistry Section – Faculty of Science - Timetable
- Tue 10:00–11:50 C05/114
- Prerequisites
- C3181 Biochemistry I
A completed bachelor's degree is required for attending the course. Additional recommendation: C3181 Biochemistry I Basic knowledge of biology and general chemistry. - Course Enrolment Limitations
- The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
- fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
- Analytical biochemistry (programme PřF, N-BIC)
- Analytical biochemistry (programme PřF, N-BIC)
- Course objectives
- The course aims at a fundamental understanding of immunology and an advanced understanding of immunochemical methods and fluorescence microscopy. The main topics are: A) immune system, B) antibody labels, C) immunoassays, D) protein-protein interactions, E) advanced fluorescence microsocpy. The course is complementary to C3002 Nanobiotechnology.
- Learning outcomes
- After completing the course, a student will understand - the main players of our immune system and the benefits of getting vaccinated. - what makes antibodies such a terrific biochemical tool. - that immunoassays safe thousands of lifes every day. - how protein-protein interactions hold the key to their function. - what can (and what cannot) be visulized by fluorescence microscopy.
- Syllabus
- Introduction: Overview on immunochemical techniques
- Part A: The immune system and its sharpest weapon: antibodies
- 1) General introduction to the immune system
- 2) Innate / adaptive immune system
- 3) Lymphoid organs
- 4) B cells, helper/cytotoxic T cells; clonal selection
- 5) MHC class I and II, T-cell receptor, antigen presenting cells
- 6) Generation of antibody diversity / affinity maturation
- 7) Complement system
- 8) Immunoglobulin superfamily and function of antibody classes IgG, IgM, IgA, IgE
- 9) Binding site of antibodies: intermolecular forces facilitate antigen binding
- 10) Antibody affinity vs. avidity
- 11) Antigen binding: key-lock principle vs. induced fit
- 12) Antigen determinants: hapten / epitope
- 13) Raising an immune response in mice
- 14) Generation of monoclonal antibodies (Milstein/Köhler)
- 15) Vaccination (active and passive), antisera
- 16) Vaccination strategies: life/dead vaccine, vectors, mRNA, e.g. Sars-Cov-2
- 17) Therapeutic antibodies
- Part B: Antibodies as immunological tools
- 1) Handling of antibodies
- 2) Antibody labels (enzymes, fluorophores, NPs, radionuclides, biotin/streptavidin system)
- 3) Detection systems: Photomultiplier tubes vs. camera systems (spatial resolution)
- 4) Determination of antibody affinities by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) or quartz crystal microbalance QCM)
- 5) Limitations of natural antibodies (affinity ceiling, relatively large size)
- 6) Alternatives: recombinant, humanized, cameloid, single chain antibodies)
- 7) Phage display for affinity maturation of antibodies in vitro
- 8) Aptamers (SELEX)
- 9) Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs, “plastic antibodies”)
- Part C: Immunoassays
- 1) Definition and key developments of immunoassays
- 2) Applications of immunoassays (diagnostic, environmental, food safety)
- 3) Matrix interference (medical, environmental samples) and non-specific binding
- 4) Definition: sensitivity / limit of detection / limit of quantification
- 5) Competitive / non-competitive
- 6) Heterogeneous immunoassays
- - Direct / indirect / sandwich format
- - Radioimmunoassay (RIA)
- - Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
- - Fluorescence immunoassay (FIA)
- - Electrochemiluminescent / photoelectrochemical immunoassay
- - Chemiluminescent assay
- - Time-resolved immunoassays, e.g. “Dissociation enhanced dissociation-enhanced lanthanide fluorescence immunoassay” (DELFIA)
- - Nanoparticles as detection labels, e.g. “Upconversion-linked immunoassay” (ULISA)
- - Signal amplification strategies (e.g. Immuno-PCR)
- 7) Lateral flow assays / test strips
- 8) Homogeneous immunoassays (“mix and measure”)
- - Fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA)
- - Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)
- - Proximity ligation assay
- - Aggregation-based immunoassays
- 9) Suspension arrays (magnetic beads)
- 10) Multiplexing
- 11) Single-molecule / digital immunoassays (Quanterix Inc.)
- 12) Microarrays (concept of ambient analyte assays)
- 13) Microfluidic assays
- 14) From our own work: assay design principles
- 15) Commercialized immunoassay test kits
- 16) Immunosensors
- Part D: Immunoaffinity and other protein-protein affinity techniques
- 1) Immunoblotting
- 2) Immune diffusion (Ouchterlony test)
- 3) Immune precipitation (Nephelometry)
- 4) Co-immunoprecipitation
- 5) Affinity chromatography
- 6) GST pulldown assay
- 7) Tandem affinity purification: tap tagging
- 8) Yeast two hybrid system
- 9) (far) Western blotting
- Part E: Advanced fluorescence microscopy for (life) cell imaging
- 1) Repetition of fundamentals in (far-field) optical microscopy
- 2) Immunocytochemistry and immunohistochemistry
- 3) Advantages and limitations of immunofluorescent labelling for microscopy
- 4) Confocal microscopy
- 5) Single-molecule fluorescence microscopy
- 6) Multiphoton microscopy
- 7) Super-resolution microscopy (STED/STORM)
- 8) Light sheet microscopy
- 9) Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS)
- 10) Electron microscopy, Cryo electron microscopy
- Teaching methods
- Lecture.
- Assessment methods
- Oral examination.
- Language of instruction
- English
- Further Comments
- The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
The course is taught annually.
- Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2022, recent)
- Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/sci/spring2022/C8116