Basic Immunology Final; practice questions
NAME____________________________________
MCB 4211, Student ID#__________________________________
Page 1 of 8
Circle the BEST answer from the choices available. Be sure to read all of the alternatives.
1. What effect might the injection of soluble CD4 molecule have on the immune system of an AIDS
patient?
a. It might serve to prevent the attachment of mature HIV-1 viral particles to the helper T cell
membrane.
b. It might bind to CXCR4 chemokine receptors and initiate chemotaxis.
c. It might bind to CD3 molecules and activate T cell function.
d. All of the above.
e. None of the above.
2. Some forms of autoimmune disease result from autoantibodies that bind to receptors on the cell surface.
Antibodies that bind to these receptors can cause disease by
a. Activating complement and causing cell lysis
b. Blocking normal ligand binding to the receptor
c. Providing persistent stimulation through the receptor that is not regulated normally
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
3. Oncofetal antigens are defined as antigens
a. expressed on the tumors of all embryos.
b. normally expressed by fetal tissue, but also expressed on certain tumors.
c. that are encoded by oncornaviruses.
d. that are detected by immunoprecipitation with antibodies specific for glycoproteins.
e. none of the above.
4. Autoimmune disease has been treated experimentally by giving a lethal dose of irradiation, followed by
injection of bone marrow from a healthy donor. How would you monitor the success of the transplanted
material in the regeneration of the immune response in the irradiated host?
a. Measure the ability of cells from the peripheral blood of the patient to proliferate in response to
stimulation with lectin.
b. Measure the levels of circulating antibody.
c. Count the number of circulating lymphocytes in the peripheral blood.
d. All of the above (a-c).
e. none of the above (a-c).
5. The Ames assay is designed as an inexpensive test of a chemical’s mutagenic potential. What must be
true for this assay to work as an indicator of mutation caused by the test chemical?
a. there must be no histidine in the assay system
b. the mutations caused by the chemical cannot be substantial deletions
c. the chemical must be soluble in an aqueous system
d. all of the above must be true
e. none of the above can be true
6. The general name for normal genes that, when altered in specific ways, contribute to cancer formation is
a. angiogenic factors
b. complement genes
