This is an application to support a conference on """"""""Apoptosis and Immunity"""""""" to be held under the auspices of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) on July 13-18, 2002 at the Omni resort in Tucson AZ. The study of the molecular basis of apoptosis is an area of continued widespread interest. Many of the insights into more general mechanisms of apoptosis were first appreciated in studies of the induction of apoptosis by lymphocytes via the cytotoxic lymphocyte protease granzyme B or by ligation of the T cell death receptor fasL. The induction of cell death by cytotoxic T lymphocytes and natural killer cells is critical for immune defense against viral infections, intracellular bacteria and tumors. Lymphocytes induce apoptosis by caspase-dependent and caspase-independent pathways, which are just beginning to be elucidated. Apoptosis as a mechanism to control lymphocyte proliferation in response to antigenic stimuli is critical for preventing autoimmunity and immunopathology. The role of apoptosis in maintaining lymphocyte homeostasis is a subject of active investigation with important clinical implications. Although there have been many recent meetings on caspase-mediated apoptosis, the interface between apoptosis and immunology has not been the primary subject of a meeting since the last cytotoxicity workshop in 1997. Therefore this meeting will focus on topics that specifically concern the role of apoptosis in immune defense: death receptor pathways of apoptosis and proliferation, granzymes and substrates, cell death pathways induced by cytotoxic T lymphocytes, apoptosis in B and T cell development, regulation of CTL and NK functions, autoimmunity and apoptosis, tumor immunity and therapeutic approaches, inflammation and apoptosis, and inhibitors of immune-mediated cell death.
