Neural-Immune Interactions: Pathological Mechanisms and Repair

Federation Of Amer Soc For Exper Biology, Bethesda MD

Investigators

Abstract

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application is a request for partial support for the 9th FASEB Summer Research Conference on "Neural-Immune Interactions: Pathological Mechanisms and Repair" to be held in Tucson, AZ, August 5-10, 2006. This conference brings together scientists from a variety of backgrounds who are interested in the interactions between the nervous and the immune systems from a basic as well as clinical perspective. The 8th FASEB Summer Research Conference on this topic in 2004 saw a 57% increase in attendance over the 2002 meeting, a trend which indicates the growing interest in this interdisciplinary field. In the last decade, scientists from different disciplines became interested in the cross talk between the immune and nervous systems. Accumulating evidence suggests that immune factors and cells play a role in the CNS in normal and pathological conditions, and that the CNS regulates peripheral immune responses. Rapid advances make it necessary to re-evaluate a number of basic aspects of CNS-immune interactions, including anatomical, pathological, and reparative functions. Previously, interest in immune involvement in the nervous system was limited to CNS autoimmune diseases. Now, CNS trauma/spinal cord injury and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, HIV associated dementia, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are recognized as having inflammatory components. At the 2006 FASEB meeting, we will explore the role of an innate adaptive immunity continuum in causing tissue damage and repair, how immune cells traffic to the brain and their participation in antigen presentation events, the role of inflammatory events in CNS trauma and how that inflammation can be controlled. The meeting will focus on pathological mechanisms resulting in disease as well as how damaged tissue can be repaired. We propose to invite 39 speakers who are recognized leaders in this field and to encourage the participation of junior investigators and trainees. This meeting provides a much needed platform for scientific discussions in both basic and clinical neuroimmunology. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]