Antibody genes/MHC Reflection

Immunology class is one of my favorite classes because the immune system is fascinating to me. In class we have been discussing antibodies and how the genes are organized and expressed in the genome. I remember before I took the class Dr. V asked me if I had taken genetics and my response was no, well this is the section where it would be helpful to have a bit of background knowledge. In class I do my best to take notes and listen attentively, however I find myself not understanding some of the concepts and having to read outside of class more. I am a visual and kinesthetic learner so when we did the in class activity where we lined up with the Ig germ line segments it helped me enormously. I believe we should do more activities like this to make sure we are grasping the concept and making connections in our brains. Great pictures would also be helpful. Up to this far I have enjoyed all the topics, but this chapter in particular I’m not particularly a fan of and I believe it’s because I’m having a hard time understanding. The overall concept of the genetics of antibodies is very interesting and I know I will appreciate it more as I begin to grasp the concepts. As soon as we switched to the next chapter dealing with MHC my interest was sparked again because of the relevance there is when dealing with transplants and autoimmune diseases. Two of the most important things I have learned in this section has been that the variable and constant regions are encoded in two separate segments. The light chain is composed of a V and J region, while the heavy chain is composed of V, D, and J regions. Another very important concept that I learned was that RSS sequences ensure that each type of segment is included in the recombined variable region gene. RSS is composed of a heptamer, a 23 bp or 12 bp region and a nonamer. An extremely important concept is that each 12bp (one turn) must be joined to a 23 bp (two turn) as you go downstream the germ line. Both the studies of antibody genes and MHC are crucial to the field I plan to purse in the future. As a future health care provider I may be faced with having to understand antibodies in depth when dealing with diseases to suggest a treatment plan or I might need to be knowledgeable about MHC if I am going to participate in a transplant surgery.