This Program Project Grant application proposes to integrate the work of Dr. Kunkel and his associates at Rockefeller University and Dr. Siskind and his associates across the street at Cornell University Medical Schooll in order best to attack a number of questions in allergy and clinical immunology. Increasing interest of the Rockefeller group recently in extending their work on the 1a system, monoclonal human antibodies and long-term cell lines to the allergy area can best be carried out in conjunction with others already in the allergy field who have the expertise and the patients required, as is the case with the Cornell group. This Cornell group also are interested in developing closer relations and their interest in anti-idiotypic antibodies and in vitro 1gE systems can benefit from such an association. This has already occurred to a degree in that the two groups have purchased a cytofluorograph together and the Cornell group have submitted protocols for the study of patients in the General Clinical Research Center at Rockefeller University. The Program Project Grant should foster this to a considerably greater degree and lead to the development of a significant research center in the area. Three units have submitted proposals from the Rockefeller group and two from the Cornell group. Dr. Kunkel's unit relates to the 1a histocompatibility system that shows promise of special application in the allergy area. Dr. Chiorazzi has developed the human monoclonal antibody technique to a high degree with obvious application to allergic antibodies. Dr. Fu's expertise in deriving human cell lines also will be of value to all groups in the Program. Dr. Siskind is anxious to apply his anti-idiotypic systems, developed in the mouse, to humans and this should dovetail with the long-term idiotypic interest of the Rockefeller group. Dr. Weksler's interest in vitro cellular immune systems, especially the autologous MLC, should aid many of the projects of the other units.
