By the end of this course the student should be able to understand the methods used in immunological research.
Perform literature searches, download research papers and identify and understand by reading relevant parts of a research paper, in particular if a technique described in a research paper is not familiar to the student, he/she should be able to perform literature searches to identify resources that will allow an understanding of this technique.
Make connections between different research papers and discuss the hierarchical and historical contributions different research papers made to the field.
Understand the basic principles of signal transduction mechanisms, in particular the concepts of response specificity, signal duration and termination and intracellular localization of signaling molecules.
Give examples of different types of extracellular signals, receptors and transcription factors and explain their functional significance.
Describe the mechanisms by which different receptors may be activated by their respective ligands.
Describe and give examples of the structure and properties of the major components of signal transduction pathways.
Understand and give examples of the role of protein binding domains in the specific interactions between signaling molecules.
Understand the molecular events that occur in a cell (such as post-translational modification of signaling molecules and nuclear translocation of transcription factors) after a receptor is triggered to give a signal to a cell.