This book, the last in a series of eight proceedings volumes, presents an up-to-date overview on immunology and inflammation based on a congress held in Budapest, Hungary in April 1998. It is divided into the following sections: Basic Mechanisms, Endo- and Exotoxins, Soluble Receptors, and Treatment Perspectives.
In this book the most important papers presented at the 5th Symposium in Immunology, held April 7 - 8, 1995 in Strasbourg, France, are published. Theses papers are from leading experts in the fields covering topics ranging from basic mechanisms, such as the molecular anatomy of autoimmune diseases, to data relevant to the modern diagnosis, therapy, treatment, and prevention of viral infections. By collecting such a wide-range of papers the organizers of the meeting succeeded in compiling an integrated overview of current research, clinical studies, epidemiological data, and their interrelationship.
The Symposia in Immunology were organized to bring important new information in the expanding field of immunology to practicing physicians interested in the field. Highly renowned basic scientists share their results with physicians conducting clinical research and thoses experienced in the treatment of the respective diseases. This series of symposia will cover different areas of immunology and will help to close the gap between the special achievements of scientists and the daily routine of practicing physicians.
This volume summarizes the proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium on the Immunobiology of Proteins and Peptides which was held on November 16-20 in Rio Rico, Arizona. The articles represent papers by invited speakers as well as papers selected by the Scientific Council, from among those submitted by the participants, on the basis of quality and timeliness. This symposium series was established in 1976 for the purpose of bringing together, once every two or three years, active investigators in the forefront of contemporary immunology, to present their findings, discuss their significance in the light of current concepts and identify important new directions of investigation. The founding of the symposium was stimulated by the achievement of major breakthroughs in the understanding of the immune recognition of proteins and peptides. We believed that these breakthroughs would lead to the creation of a new generation of peptide reagents, which could have enormous potential in biological, therapeutic, and basic applications. This anticipated explosion has since occurred and many applications ofthese peptides are now being realized. The eighth symposium focused on the manipulation or modulation of the immune response. This volume broadly covers the areas of adjuvants, cytokines, vaccines, and the use of intravenous immunoglobulins for disease management. There is a clear need to identify methods for improving vaccine efficacy and guiding the host to respond with a particular type of immune response.