History and Overview of Immunology
Prof M.I.N. Matee
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
School of Medicine
MUCHS
BIOL 495:
Introduction to Immunology
Immunology stems from L.- immunis = “exempt;”
Eng. = protection from disease
•To rid the body of foreign particles (microbial and
otherwise) and abnormal cells
Our Immune system involves the interplay between
our Non-specific and our Specific Immune
responses
Overview of Immune System
•Innate Immunity:
Fast-acting
Less specific recognition
Early during evolution
e.g. barriers to infection such as skin and mucus surfaces
•Adaptive Immunity:
Specificity
Distinguish antigens sometimes present from those always present
Memory and Recall
•Cells of the immune system
Leukocytes originating from bone marrow stem cells
•Communication with other systems
Endocrine system
Central nervous system
Skeletal system
•Disruption of the Immune System
Allergy
Autoimmunity
Immunodeficiency
Psychoneuroimmunology
Our immune systems generate an almost
infinite variety of cells and substances
Foreign Recognition
Effector Response Memory
To eliminate or neutralize
particle
Upon 2° exposure
produces enhanced
response
*In some cases, the IR fails to function; at other times, the IR can turn on its
host
towards modern times…
War on smallpox…
1798 –Edward Jenner noticed immunity bestowed to milkmaids –
injected fluid from cowpox blister into skin of patient (orphan
or prisoner)
1989- WHO announced smallpox was eradicated from the world
Louie Louie…
1881- He applied the same
technique vs. anthrax
….and then rabies
Pasteur inoculating sheep at Msr.
Rossignol’s farm – May, 1881
Louis Pasteur
1879- discovered that old
bacterial cultures of
Pasteurella lost virulence.
Referred to injection of
weakened culture a
“vaccine” in honor of
Jenner
First insights into mechanics of immunity…
1880’s- Metchnikoff
discovered phagocytic
cells that ingest microbes
and particles
cells conferred immunity
1890- von Behring and
Kitasato discovered blood
sera could transfer
immunity
liquid of blood conferred
immunity
Q: Which confers immunity…
cells or serum?
Emil von Behring
S. Kitasato
Elie Metchnikoff
A: Both cells and serum contribute to immunity!
• 1930’s – early techniques made it easier to
study humoral elements [than cellular
ones].
-discovery of active component of blood –
gamma globulin “protein”
• 1950’s – discovery of T and B cells
Later discoveries linked lymphocytes to
both cellular and humoral immunity
Understanding specificity of antibody for antigen took years
• Early 1900’s-
Landsteiner revealed
antibody could be
produced vs. most any
organic compound
• Last 20 yrs- Antibody
specificity reveals
unlimited range of
reactivity – also to
newly synthesized
chemicals!
Karl Landsteiner
Edward Jenner
•Born on May 17, 1749, in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England, Died Jan. 26,
1823.
As a teenager, while learning to be a physician, he heard a young farm girl
tell a doctor that she could not contract smallpox because she had once had
cowpox (a very mild disease). This started him thinking about a vaccine.
After years of experimenting, on May 14, 1796, Edward Jenner carried out
a famous experiment on a healthy 8-year-old boy, James Phipps, with
cowpox. He took material from a burst pustule on the arm of Sarah Nelmes
who had apparently contracted cowpox. He then deliberately exposed the
boy to virulent variola virus two months later and found that the child was
protected, showing only a mild inflammation around the site where the
variola was injected.
Some record shows that in 1789 he had already experimented
vaccination on his own son, then aged one-and-a-half, with the swine pox,
followed by conventional smallpox inoculation.
Sarah Nelmes’ hand
A CRIME??
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
Stereochemistist: molecular asymmetry
 Fermentation and silk worker disease
 Germ Theory of disease
Attenuated vaccines for cholera, anthrax, and rabies
On July 4, 1886, 9-year-old Joseph Meister was bitten repeatedly by a rabid dog. Pasteur
treated him with his attenuated rabies vaccine two days later. Meister survived.
Joseph Meister later become a gatekeeper for the Pasteur Institute. In 1940, when he
was ordered by the German occupiers to open Pasteur's crypt, Joseph Meister refused
and committed suicide!

Emil Adolf von Behring (1854 – 1917)
· Awarded first Nobel Prize in physiology, 1901
· Student of Koch
·With Kitasato and Wernike, discovered anti-toxin for
Diphtheria and Tetanus and applied as therapy.
Paul Ehrlich (1854 – 1915)
Developed a series of tissue-staining dyes including
that for tubercle bacillus.
Worked with Koch. Developed anti-toxin
(Diphtheria) and hemalysis
Side-chain theory of antibody formation:
"surface receptors bound by lock & key; Ag
stimulated receptors"
 Shared 1908 Nobel Prize with Metchnikoff.
Elie Metchnikoff (1845-1916)
· Formed the basis of leukocyte phagocytosis.
· Birth of cellular immunology
Shared Nobel Prize with Ehrlich in 1908
Milstein (b. 1927) and Köhler (1946-1995)
 Monoclonal antibody
Susumu Tonegawa (b. 1939)
Cloning of the Immunoglobulin gene
1987 Nobel prize for his discovery of "the genetic
principle for generation of antibody diversity".
Peter C. Doherty and Rolf M. Zinkernagel
 Two signals
 1996 Nobel Prize for their discoveries concerning
"the specificity of the cell-mediated immune defence".
Cells of the Immune System
• All the cells of the Immune System are
leucocytes and originate in the bone
marrow from a common precursor, the
pluripotent stem cell.
• Some cells are mature when they leave the
marrow.
• Other cells complete their differentiation
outside the marrow.
Stem Cell
B
Basophils
Polymorpho
-nuclear
leucocytes
Neutrophils
Eosinophils
Macrophages
Monocytes
Lymphoid
cell line
Myeloid
cell line
T
NK
Specific
Innate
Reading List:
•
• Chapter 2, History of Immunology, by P.M.H. Mazumdar, in
Fundamental Immunology, Ed: WE Paul. 5th Edition, 2003
•
• Silverstein AM. 2001. The end of immunology? Nat Immunol
2:893-895.
• Silverstein AM. 2003. Darwinism and immunology: from
Metchnikoff to Burnet. Nat Immunol. 2003 Jan;4(1):3-6.
• Available for photocopying at the Office of Molecular Genetics,
Microbiology and Immunology, Room 727.
•

historyandoverviewofimmunology-110703093250-phpapp02.pptx

  • 1.
    History and Overviewof Immunology Prof M.I.N. Matee Department of Microbiology and Immunology School of Medicine MUCHS
  • 2.
    BIOL 495: Introduction toImmunology Immunology stems from L.- immunis = “exempt;” Eng. = protection from disease •To rid the body of foreign particles (microbial and otherwise) and abnormal cells Our Immune system involves the interplay between our Non-specific and our Specific Immune responses
  • 3.
    Overview of ImmuneSystem •Innate Immunity: Fast-acting Less specific recognition Early during evolution e.g. barriers to infection such as skin and mucus surfaces •Adaptive Immunity: Specificity Distinguish antigens sometimes present from those always present Memory and Recall •Cells of the immune system Leukocytes originating from bone marrow stem cells •Communication with other systems Endocrine system Central nervous system Skeletal system •Disruption of the Immune System Allergy Autoimmunity Immunodeficiency Psychoneuroimmunology
  • 4.
    Our immune systemsgenerate an almost infinite variety of cells and substances Foreign Recognition Effector Response Memory To eliminate or neutralize particle Upon 2° exposure produces enhanced response *In some cases, the IR fails to function; at other times, the IR can turn on its host
  • 5.
    towards modern times… Waron smallpox… 1798 –Edward Jenner noticed immunity bestowed to milkmaids – injected fluid from cowpox blister into skin of patient (orphan or prisoner) 1989- WHO announced smallpox was eradicated from the world
  • 6.
    Louie Louie… 1881- Heapplied the same technique vs. anthrax ….and then rabies Pasteur inoculating sheep at Msr. Rossignol’s farm – May, 1881 Louis Pasteur 1879- discovered that old bacterial cultures of Pasteurella lost virulence. Referred to injection of weakened culture a “vaccine” in honor of Jenner
  • 7.
    First insights intomechanics of immunity… 1880’s- Metchnikoff discovered phagocytic cells that ingest microbes and particles cells conferred immunity 1890- von Behring and Kitasato discovered blood sera could transfer immunity liquid of blood conferred immunity Q: Which confers immunity… cells or serum? Emil von Behring S. Kitasato Elie Metchnikoff
  • 8.
    A: Both cellsand serum contribute to immunity! • 1930’s – early techniques made it easier to study humoral elements [than cellular ones]. -discovery of active component of blood – gamma globulin “protein” • 1950’s – discovery of T and B cells Later discoveries linked lymphocytes to both cellular and humoral immunity
  • 9.
    Understanding specificity ofantibody for antigen took years • Early 1900’s- Landsteiner revealed antibody could be produced vs. most any organic compound • Last 20 yrs- Antibody specificity reveals unlimited range of reactivity – also to newly synthesized chemicals! Karl Landsteiner
  • 10.
    Edward Jenner •Born onMay 17, 1749, in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England, Died Jan. 26, 1823. As a teenager, while learning to be a physician, he heard a young farm girl tell a doctor that she could not contract smallpox because she had once had cowpox (a very mild disease). This started him thinking about a vaccine. After years of experimenting, on May 14, 1796, Edward Jenner carried out a famous experiment on a healthy 8-year-old boy, James Phipps, with cowpox. He took material from a burst pustule on the arm of Sarah Nelmes who had apparently contracted cowpox. He then deliberately exposed the boy to virulent variola virus two months later and found that the child was protected, showing only a mild inflammation around the site where the variola was injected. Some record shows that in 1789 he had already experimented vaccination on his own son, then aged one-and-a-half, with the swine pox, followed by conventional smallpox inoculation. Sarah Nelmes’ hand A CRIME??
  • 11.
    Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) Stereochemistist:molecular asymmetry  Fermentation and silk worker disease  Germ Theory of disease Attenuated vaccines for cholera, anthrax, and rabies On July 4, 1886, 9-year-old Joseph Meister was bitten repeatedly by a rabid dog. Pasteur treated him with his attenuated rabies vaccine two days later. Meister survived. Joseph Meister later become a gatekeeper for the Pasteur Institute. In 1940, when he was ordered by the German occupiers to open Pasteur's crypt, Joseph Meister refused and committed suicide! 
  • 12.
    Emil Adolf vonBehring (1854 – 1917) · Awarded first Nobel Prize in physiology, 1901 · Student of Koch ·With Kitasato and Wernike, discovered anti-toxin for Diphtheria and Tetanus and applied as therapy.
  • 13.
    Paul Ehrlich (1854– 1915) Developed a series of tissue-staining dyes including that for tubercle bacillus. Worked with Koch. Developed anti-toxin (Diphtheria) and hemalysis Side-chain theory of antibody formation: "surface receptors bound by lock & key; Ag stimulated receptors"  Shared 1908 Nobel Prize with Metchnikoff.
  • 14.
    Elie Metchnikoff (1845-1916) ·Formed the basis of leukocyte phagocytosis. · Birth of cellular immunology Shared Nobel Prize with Ehrlich in 1908
  • 15.
    Milstein (b. 1927)and Köhler (1946-1995)  Monoclonal antibody
  • 16.
    Susumu Tonegawa (b.1939) Cloning of the Immunoglobulin gene 1987 Nobel prize for his discovery of "the genetic principle for generation of antibody diversity".
  • 17.
    Peter C. Dohertyand Rolf M. Zinkernagel  Two signals  1996 Nobel Prize for their discoveries concerning "the specificity of the cell-mediated immune defence".
  • 18.
    Cells of theImmune System • All the cells of the Immune System are leucocytes and originate in the bone marrow from a common precursor, the pluripotent stem cell. • Some cells are mature when they leave the marrow. • Other cells complete their differentiation outside the marrow.
  • 19.
  • 20.
    Reading List: • • Chapter2, History of Immunology, by P.M.H. Mazumdar, in Fundamental Immunology, Ed: WE Paul. 5th Edition, 2003 • • Silverstein AM. 2001. The end of immunology? Nat Immunol 2:893-895. • Silverstein AM. 2003. Darwinism and immunology: from Metchnikoff to Burnet. Nat Immunol. 2003 Jan;4(1):3-6. • Available for photocopying at the Office of Molecular Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology, Room 727. •