(from the application): Major advances have taken place in our understanding of the induction of lymphocyte activation or tolerance, the propagation of an immune response, and the mechanisms that limit that propagation. It is appropriate now to integrate that information with new data on the genetics of autoimmunity and autoimmune mediated tissue injury. We propose to have a meeting on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) to integrate new observations on immune activation and silencing, intracellular signalling, hormonal regulation of immune responses, genetics of autoimmunity (genes that govern thresholds for activation and tolerance and tissue susceptibility to cytokine or antibody mediated damage) and mechanisms of tissue injury. We propose to organize a 2 1/2 day meeting that will include 5 plenary sessions and 6 workshops to explore at a molecular level induction of autoreactivity and disease progression in SLE and mechanisms of tissue injury in a format that integrates immunology, cell biology, genetics, and molecular biology. It is now timely to try to understand a particular disease, SLE, in the context of the explosion of new relevant data.
