About the Book
How the Immune System Works is not a comprehensive textbook. It’s the book thousands of students have used to help them understand what’s in their big, thick, immunology texts. In this book, Dr. Sompayrac cuts through the jargon and details to reveal, in simple language, the essence of this complex subject.
Fifteen easy to follow lectures, featuring the uniquely popular humorous style and engaging analogies developed by Dr Sompayrac, provide an introduction to the ‘bigger picture’, followed by practical discussion on how each of the components interacts with one another.
Now featuring full-color diagrams, this book has been rigorously updated for its fourth edition to reflect today’s immunology teaching and includes updated discussion of B and T cell memory, T cell activation, vaccines, immunodeficiency, and cancer.
Whether you are completely new to immunology, or require a refresher, How the Immune System Works is an enjoyable way of engaging with the key concepts – you need know nothing of the workings of the immune system to benefit from this book!
How the Immune System Works is now accompanied by a FREE enhanced Wiley Desktop Edition - the interactive, digital version of the book - featuring downloadable text and images, highlighting and note taking facilities, book-marking, cross-referencing, in-text searching, and linking to references and glossary terms. It is also available from CourseSmart for instant, online and offline access for studying anytime, anywhere.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments, vii How to Use This Book, viii
This book is neither a comprehensive text nor an exam-review tool. It is an overview of the immune system designed to give anyone who is learning immunology a feel for how the system all fits together.
The Anytime, Anywhere Textbook, ix
LECTURE 1 An Overview, 1
The immune system is a “team effort,” involving many different players who work together to provide a powerful defense against invaders. Focusing in on one player at a time makes it hard to understand the game. Here we view the action from the grandstands to get a wide-angle picture of what the immune system is all about.
LECTURE 2 The Innate Immune System, 13
The innate immune system is a “hard-wired” defense that has evolved over millions of years to recognize pathogens that commonly infect humans. It provides a rapid and powerful defense against “everyday” invaders.
LECTURE 3 B Cells and Antibodies, 24
B cells and the antibodies they produce are part of the adaptive immune system. This defense evolves during our own lifetime to protect us against invaders that we, personally, have never encountered before.
LECTURE 4 The Magic of Antigen Presentation, 38
T cells, another weapon of the adaptive immune system, only recognize invaders which are “properly presented” by specialized antigen presenting cells. This feature keeps these important cells focused on the particular attackers which they are able to defend against.
LECTURE 5 T Cell Activation, 52
Before they can spring into action, T cells must be activated. This requirement helps ensure that only useful weapons will be mobilized.
LECTURE 6 T Cells at Work, 60
Once they have been activated, helper T cells orchestrate the immune response, and killer T cells destroy infected cells.
LECTURE 7 Secondary Lymphoid Organs and Lymphocyte Trafficking, 70
B and T lymphocytes travel through secondary lymphoid organs looking for the invaders they can defend against. Once activated, B and T cells are dispatched to those areas of the body in which they can be most useful.
LECTURE 8 Restraining the Immune System, 81
The powerful weapons of the immune system must be restrained lest they become “overexuberant.” In addition, once an invader has been defeated, the immune system must be “reset” to prepare for future attacks.
LECTURE 9 Tolerance Induction and MHC Restriction, 86
T cells must be trained to focus on appropriately presented invaders, and B and T lymphocytes must learn not to attack our own bodies.
LECTURE 10 Immunological Memory, 96
B and T cells remember invaders we have previously encountered, and respond much more quickly and effectively to a subsequent attack by the same invader.
LECTURE 11 Vaccines, 102
Vaccines are used to safely mimic the attack of an invader so that our immune system will be primed and ready for a real attack.
LECTURE 12 The Immune System Gone Wrong, 107
The immune system generally does a good job of defending us while infl icting minimal “collateral damage.” Sometimes, however, mistakes are made.
LECTURE 13 Immunodeficiency, 116
Serious disease may result when our immune system does not operate at full strength.
LECTURE 14 Cancer and the Immune System, 121
Because the immune system is set up to minimize the chance that its weapons will attack our own bodies, it is not very good at defending us against cells that have become cancerous.
LECTURE 15 A Critique of the Immune System, 128
The immune system has many strengths – and a few weaknesses.
Glossary, 133
Index, 136
About the Author :
Professor Lauren Sompayrac is formerly of the University of Colorado at Boulder
Review :
“This edition is well justified since immunology is a constantly evolving field.” (Doody’s, 12 July 2013)
What users of the previous edition said: "The voice of the author is one of a true teacher whose enthusiasm for the subject is contagious. There are far too many dry, "academic," or "scientific" textbooks around and this book felt very fresh in comparison." Medical Student, University of Texas, South Western Medical Center at Dallas
"As if immersed in a conversation, this book is able to balance the line between facts, humor and history. The analogies and metaphors allow such a notorious subject to be leisurely digested over a couple days. From references to the Pillsbury Doughboy, Grace Kelly, quarterbacks and the Bubble Boy, this is an entertaining read as well as an informational read." Medical Student, Eastern Virginia Medical School
"Best textbook I have ever had! I am a first-year veterinary student. This book was a required text and I am SO glad I bought it! Very thin book, super easy to read. It is like reading a good story. This is a must for anyone taking immunology." Amazon.com reviewer
