Advanced Virology (20439)
Degree/study: Bachelor's Degree in Human Biology
Year: 3
Term: 3
Number of ECTS credits: 4 credits
Hours of studi dedication: 44 hours with students
· 20 hrs lectures
· 8 hrs seminars
· 16 hrs practical work hours
Teaching language or languages: English
Teaching Staff: Andreas Meyerhans. Additional teachers will be Juana Diez and Sandra Giest
1. Presentation of the subject
The Advanced Virology course is an optional subject in the Biology degree that will be offered in the third three-month period of the year.
2. Competences to be attained
Theoretical competences
a. To know the main virus groups and the human viruses causing the most important diseases.
b. To know the elementary features of a virus to be successful.
c. To know how different viruses utilize the target cell for amplifying their genomes and to expand in numbers.
d. To know how viruses manage to expand within a host organism and avoid immune-mediated destruction.
e. To know some fundamental mechanisms of viral-induced pathogenesis.
f. To know how to get rid of viruses.
g. To know about the use of viruses for medical benefit (i.e. gene therapy and anti-cancer treatment).
Practical competences
a.To visualize cytopathic effects of viruses.
b.To diagnose viral infections of humans.
c. To determine features of proliferating immune cells by CFSE staining and analysis of the dye distribution amongst cell generations.
General objectives
The teaching project addresses the 3 fundamental aspects that any virus has to handle: (i) how to amplify within a cell, (ii) how to amplify within a whole organism and (iii) how to spread within a population of organisms. With this, the students will be provided with a broad and general knowledge of modern Virology. The discussion on how viruses enter target cells, amplify their genomes and exit from these target cells will give a general view on the intimate relationship of viruses and cells, and will highlight the importance of host factors for virus survival. The discussion on the expansion of viruses within host organisms will emphasize the ongoing struggle between viruses with the immune system, and will address the ways that viruses use to outmanoeuvre host defences. The intra-host dynamics and the transmission dynamics of viruses will be presented to understand what a virus needs to be successful. Finally, fundamental outcomes of infections will be discussed as well as ways to inhibit infections or utilize them for medical benefit.
The main goal of the course is to teach the students in a way that they are able to understand the concepts more than memorize details. It should strengthen their critical thinking and enable them to integrate these concepts with others from different scientific disciplines.
Specific objectives
During this course, the specific objectives within each lecture or practical session will be provided to the students
3. Contents
Theoretical credits (20 hrs)
I. Virus-cell interactions
Viruses depend on cells to amplify. Thus, viruses can exist only when more particles leave the infected cell than get in. The lectures below will cover the main mechanisms of how the different viruses perform this task.
1. Overview. Virus groups
2. Visualization and counting of virus particles.
3. Mechanisms of virus attachment to cells and entry
4. Genome amplification of DNA viruses, RNA viruses and retroviruses
5. Regulation of viral gene expression
6. Mechanisms of virus assembly and cell exit
7.Host factors that activate and repress virus multiplication within cells
8. Mechanisms and consequences of virus variation
II.Virus-host interactions
Human viruses need to overcome human immune defences and spread with sufficient efficiency between individuals. The following lectures will address the main outcomes of infections, will discuss the tricks that viruses use to overcome immune restriction, present ways how to stop virus spread and give examples of beneficial viral effects.
9. Mechanisms of virus transmission and dynamics of successful spreading
10. Types of viral infections: acute, sub-clinical, persistent and latent
11. Mechanisms of virus latency
12. Viruses and anti-viral factors: the interferons
13. Viruses and the innate immune response
14. Viruses and the adaptive immune response I
15. Viruses and the adaptive immune response II
16. Intra-host viral dynamics
17. Virus-induced pathogenesis
18. Viruses, mutators and cancer
19. Induced and natural resistance to viral infections
20. Concepts of antiviral treatment
Seminars (8 hrs)
An up-to-date topic in Virology will be selected from the recent literature. From a group discussion, relevant questions will be suggested and possible answers will be worked out through literature searches, student literature presentations and discussions.
Practical work (16 hrs)
The practical work will cover demonstrations, experiments and theoretical aspects of virus effects on cells and organisms including viral cytopathic effects, virus diagnosis and virus-induced immune cell proliferation.
In general, viruses are restricted to infect certain cell types. This is due to specific interactions between viral proteins with cellular receptors. When a cell then fully supports viral growth, cytopathic effects (CPEs) are commonly observed. A number of CPEs for different viruses will be demonstrated and discussed.
The diagnosis of a viral infection is an important part of infectious disease management. Different tests will be carried out, and results and implications will be discussed.
Upon a virus infection of a host, cells of the adaptive immune response are stimulated and start to proliferate. Via fluorescence-staining of cells with CFSE and subsequent analysis of the label distribution between the different cell generation, basic features of proliferating immune cell populations can be analysed. Respective experiments will be performed in small groups depending on the total number of participants.
4. Assessment
The unified methods of evaluation that are already established in the educational system of the UPF will be applied. In addition, we will include continuous evaluation.
The different evaluation methods will include:
(i) Continuous evaluation: the participation of students in the practical work and the seminars will be evaluated.
(iii) Final evaluation: A test will be performed at the end of the course that will include multiple-choice questions and short assays questions.
To pass the course, students must (i) participate in the seminars and practical activities and have to get at least 5 points from the 10 possible points of the whole course;(ii) obtain at least 4 points from the 10 within the final evaluation.
Final evaluation: 6 points
Seminars: 2 points
Practical work: 2 points
5. Bibliography and teaching resources
5.1. Basic bibliography
• "Principles of Virology" Flint S.J., Enquist L.W., Racaniello V.R., Skalka A.M. 2008, 3rd edition, ASM Press.
• "Fields Virology" David M. Knipe, PhD, Peter M. Howley, MD, Diane E Griffin MD, PhD, Robert A Lamb, PhD, ScD, Malcolm A Martin MD, Bernard Roizman ScD, and Stephen E Straus, MD. 2007, 5th edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
• "Basic Virology" Edward K. Wagner, Martínez J. Hewlett, David C. Bloom, David Camerini. 2007, 3rd edition, Wiley-Blackwell.
• "Introduction to Modern Virology" N.J. Dimmock, A.J. Easton, K.N. Leppard. 2007, 6th edition, Wiley-Blackwell.
• "Janeway's Immunobiology" K. Murphy, P. Travers, M. Walport. 2008, 7th edition, Garland Science.
6. Metodology
A main aim of the course is to spark the student's interest and curiosity in Virology and related disciplines and to promote their active participation during the lectures
The proposed teaching activities are as follows:
6.1 Lectures
Graphic support will be used in the lectures (Powerpoint slides). All presentations will be uploaded in "Aula Global", so that the students have access to them and can prepare the topics before the lectures.
To promote the students participation during the lectures, some of the following activities will be used:
(i) short questions that address basic issues of the topic just learned, or questions about social or scientific impacts.
(ii) Short presentations about Virology news published in normal media or in specialised journals.
6.2 Seminars
Some important topics in Virology will be given within seminars. The students will actively participate. Topics will be chosen from up-to date articles published in relevant journals and students will present the data to be discussed.
6.3 Practical work
Practical work will complement some of the topics learned in the theoretical classes. Besides the mere learning of how to work in a Virology laboratory, the experimental results and their applications will be discussed to promote the understanding of the whole experimental set-up.