BENG 100: Frontiers of Biomedical Engineering
Lecture 8 - Cell Communication and Immunology (cont.)
Overview:
Professor Saltzman continues his discussion of cell communication in the body, extending the description to the nervous and immune system. Professor Saltzman describes the mode of signal transmission in neurons: action potential in the axon, and neurotransmitter release at the synaptic cleft. He also introduces elements of the innate and adaptive immune system. The adaptive immune system is presented as a host/foreign antigen recognition system involving immune cells (T, B, and macrophages), antibodies, and the major histocompatibility complex 1 and 2. Immune response by cytotoxic T cells, T helper cells, and B cells to antigen recognition are discussed in detail.
Reading assignment:
Biomedical Engineering: Bridging Medicine and Technology,in preparation by Mark Saltzman (forthcoming by Cambridge University Press); chapter 6
Summary and Key Concepts: Chapter 6 [PDF]
References:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immune_system
2. http://oyc.yale.edu/biomedical-engineering/beng-100
