- What is a cytokine storm, what are the major players involved (Cytokines)?
- What cytokines are involved in controlling a cytokine storm (mass inflammation)?
- Who is normally affected more severely by the flu virus?
- From question 3, what was strange about the 2009 H1N1 cases?
- What is the (believed) cause of cytokine overproduction for the H1N1?
- Which immune cells are involved in the overproduction of cytokines (see H5N1)?
- Why were healthy people ages 20 – 50 more susceptible to H1N1?
- Explain the balance of inflammation in the flu immune response, i.e. too little inflammation/too much inflammation:
You are looking at developing a drug to help with transplantations, by trying to prevent naïve Helper T Cells from activation (remember that naïve T Cells are mature, they just have not recognized their antigen/MHC complex yet). Because the transplanted tissue has probably never been seen by the immune system, you are not to worry about memory T Cells. Your goal is to prevent the antibody response by preventing the Helper T Cells from activating the B Cell response to the tissue.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE YOU START:
- How Helper T Cells talk to B Cells
- How T Cells/B Cells respond (activate)
The assignment:
- Explain what the drug you created targets, Example – does it target a specific cell, a cytokine, a receptor, ect…
- Explain why you chose this target, and then in detail explain what the drug does and what are the effects of it. (If you chose to target a receptor, does it activate it or block it, and what are the consequences of such)
- Be sure to explain the pros and the cons of your designer drug
EXTRA CREDIT (up to 5pts)
Explain a mechanism you could target to prevent just the B Cells from being able to be activated, without targeting any part of the T Cell.
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