Chemokines are a superfamily of chemoattractant proteins that play a key role in leukocyte trafficking, and have been linked to a variety of acute and chronic inflammatory processes. The field of chemokine research has grown dramatically over the past several years. Recent advances in molecular genetics have led to the discovery of a variety of novel chemokine and chemokine receptors. Basic studies have begun to evaluate chemokine and chemokine receptor structure- function, as well as pathways used in chemokine in disease through the use of in vivo models. Finally, numerous pharmaceuticals have begun to examine chemokines as potential therapeutic targets.
The aim of this meeting is to bring together experts in this, and related fields, to discuss recent advances and evaluate to role of chemokines in human disease. Topics for plenary sessions, workshops and poster sessions include: leukocyte trafficking, novel chemokines and receptors, structure-function, signal transduction, in vivo models, and therapeutics.
