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This volume presents a collection of reviews derived from work presented at the Aegean Conference: “4th Crossroads between innate and adaptive immunity”. This meeting was the fourth in a series, and assembled a team of scientists working on mechanisms by which the innate immune system of the host senses pathogens, the cellular and signaling networks that orchestrate the innate response and antigen presentation and adaptive immunity. The importance of the crosstalk between innate immunity and the adaptive immune response has only recently started to be appreciated. Although it is well recognized that dendritic cells, NK cells, NK-T cells and T cells are all critical for the host response to pathogens, the respective fields that study the biology of these immune cells tend to exist in parallel worlds with minimum exchange of information and ideas. This fragmentation hinders the integration of these fields towards a unified theory of host response. The Aegean Conference “Crossroads between Innate and Adaptive Immunity” brought together leading international scientists and experts to address critical areas of Innate and Adaptive immunity something necessary for the development of more efficient scientific exchange and crosspollination between these fields. This conference attracted scientists from all over the world to discuss their latest findings on the various aspects of Innate and Adaptive immunity. The conference had limited participation and a scientific and social program that maximized scientific interchange through lecture presentations, poster sessions and informal discussions. ​

Aegean Conferences is an independent, nonprofit, educational organization directed and managed by the scientific community. The board is made up of nine researchers/scientists in various disciplines from Harvard, Brown, University of Pennsylvania, UCSD, Princeton, Biovista and the Foundation for Biomedical Research Academy of Athens. The board both invites and approves unsolicited proposals for Conferences in all fields of Science, Engineering, Arts, and Humanities. The purpose of the Conferences is to bring together individuals with common interests to examine the emerging and most advanced aspects of their particular field. This volume will include mini-reviews derived from work to be presented at the Aegean Conference: Second Crossroads between Innate and Adaptive Immunity, in Crete, Greece, June 17-22, 2007. This meeting is designed to serve as a forum to discuss the most recent progress in complement research as it pertains to human disease pathogenesis and therapeutics. The rapid pace of development in complement basic research and the advent and application of new experimental approaches in this field have now allowed us to take an integrated view of the in vivo biology of the complement system. The availability of new reagents (e.g. synthetic and recombinant inhibitors) and animal models (e.g. transgenic and knockout mice) has enabled us to address, in an in vivo setting, its involvement in various pathophysiological conditions. Such studies are shedding new light on the pathogenetic mechanism of complement-related diseases such as autoimmune diseases and inflammatory tissue damage as well as defining new areas of high interest such as the developmental biology of complement. They also provide the basis for developing new therapeutic strategies for these diseases through manipulation of in vivo complement activity. This volume will serve as a resource where the latest development in these specific areas will be discussed in a more focused and detailed manner.

This compilation presents minireviews derived from work presented at the - gean Conference: “First Crossroads between Innate and Adaptive Immunity,” which occurred October 9–14, 2005 at the Hilton Conference Center on the - land of Rhodes, Greece. The conference included sessions dedicated to host r- ognition of and response to pathogens, innate immune networks, antigen pres- tation, and adaptive immune responses, each headlined by a leading scientist at the forefront of that field. The intimate networking and interaction of dendritic cells, T cells, B cells, NK cells, NK-T cells, and complement during the host response to pathogens and tumors are only now starting to be elucidated. The respective fields that focus on these immune cells and molecules tend to exist in parallel worlds, with minimum exchange of information and ideas. The goal of this conference was to initiate crosstalk between these immunological fields, and to promote and facilitate discussion on the interactions between the innate - mune response and the adaptive immune response, and ultimately breed colla- ration between these areas of study. The “First Crossroads between Innate and Adaptive Immunity” Aegean Conference succeeded in bringing together and connecting scientists and experts from around the world to address critical areas of innate and adaptive immunity — something necessary for the development of more efficient scientific exchange and crosspollination between these fields.