Tolerance and Autoimmunity

Organizer(s): Betty Diamond and Diane J. Mathis

Sponsored by Novo Nordisk A/S

Summary of Meeting:

Elegant studies of central T and B cell tolerance have been performed, leading to the identification of multiple mechanisms that remove or silence autoreactive cells during their maturation, but also reminding us that some autoreactive cells do mature to immunocompetence in all individuals. Furthermore, studies of the B cell response to antigen have clearly demonstrated that autoreactivity can arise de novo in antigen-activated cells, which also requires silencing. Finally, it has now been established in studies of multiple autoimmune diseases that a critical checkpoint exists between autoreactivity and tissue injury, one of the issues about which we remain most ignorant. Understanding peripheral mechanisms for maintaining self-tolerance offers promise for better therapies for autoimmune disease. The proper implementation of this new knowledge requires an understanding of similarities and differences between animal models and human disease. Specific Issues: • Translating results from studies of animal models to human studies • Peripheral and central tolerance • T cells and B cells • The relationship between autoimmunity and immunodeficiency • The role of dendritic cells in autoimmunity • What dictates generation of autoreactive antibody in one individual and not in another? • How much autoreactivity must occur in order to progress to disease and what governs this? • What exactly is 'pathogenic autoreactivity', i.e, are all investigators talking about the same thing? • How much of pathogenesis is due to autoreacting antibodies per se versus the tissue's response to antibody? • What role is innate immunity playing in all of this?

Scholarship Deadline: October 21 2009

Discounted Abstract Deadline: October 21 2009

Abstract Deadline: November 20 2009

Discounted Registration Deadline: December 21 2009

We gratefully acknowledge additional support for this conference from:

We gratefully acknowledge additional in-kind support for this conference from those foregoing speaker expense reimbursements:

Genentech, Inc.

Kimberly Payne

We gratefully acknowledge the generous grant for this conference provided by:

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Grant No. 1R13AI085738-01

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