New Frontiers at the Interface of Immunity and Glycobiology

描述(由申请人提供)：本提案请求支持由Brian A.Cobb、Gabriel A.Rabinovich和Yvette van Koeyk组织的题为免疫和糖生物学交界处的新前沿的Keystone研讨会，该会议将于2011年3月6-11日在加拿大艾伯塔省路易斯湖举行。在对免疫系统的研究中，碳水化合物往往被忽视，然而越来越多的数据表明，无论是微生物还是宿主来源的多糖，在基本上所有的免疫反应途径中都发挥着核心作用。宿主蛋白糖基化的改变可导致自身免疫，提示癌基因转化，甚至促进转移。免疫细胞上的碳水化合物结合蛋白可以强烈影响炎症。选择素在细胞归巢到感染部位起着关键作用，而糖基化直接影响细胞的发育和分化。最近的进展也强调了糖链介导的抗原识别是如何影响我们对先天免疫反应的理解的，而其他发现表明糖脂和细菌多糖可以导致NKT和T细胞的激活。到目前为止，还没有集中努力将从事免疫系统工作的研究人员聚集在一起，他们也专注于碳水化合物，缺乏这样一个论坛阻碍了这一领域的增长和进步的潜力。免疫与糖生物学交界处新前沿的Keystone研讨会会议的目标是通过将国际“糖免疫学”社区聚集在一起促进相互作用并促进对多糖在免疫系统中作用的最新见解来解决这一差距。这次会议在糖生物学和免疫学会议中是独一无二的，因为它结合了这两个主题，对研究多糖免疫学的研究人员可能比更一般的糖生物学和碳水化合物会议更具吸引力。 与公共健康相关：葡聚糖是天然存在的糖聚合物，对免疫系统的几乎所有关键功能都很重要。“糖免疫学”的最新进展--研究多糖在免疫系统中的作用--提供了一个及时的机会，将研究免疫反应中的多糖的科学家聚集在一起。在免疫和糖生物学的界面上关于新前沿的Keystone研讨会将首次将这些研究人员聚集在一个地方，以便进行互动，形成新的合作，并发展更有凝聚力的领域身份，可以更好地打击目前该领域进展缓慢的障碍。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal requests support for a Keystone Symposia meeting entitled New Frontiers at the Interface of Immunity and Glycobiology, organized by Brian A. Cobb, Gabriel A. Rabinovich and Yvette van Kooyk, which will be held in Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada from March 6 - 11, 2011. Carbohydrates are often overlooked in the study of the immune system, yet mounting data show that glycans, whether microbial or host in origin, play central roles in essentially all immune response pathways. Changes in glycosylation of host proteins can lead to autoimmunity, indicate oncogenic transformation, or even promote metastasis. Inflammation can be strongly influenced by carbohydrate-binding proteins on immune cells. Selectins play critical roles in cell homing to the site of infection, while glycosylation directly influences cellular development and differentiation. Recent advances also highlight how glycan-mediated antigen recognition by dendritic cells impacts our understanding of the innate immune response, while other findings reveal that glycolipids and bacterial polysaccharides can lead to NKT and T cell activation. To date, there has been no focused effort to bring together investigators working on the immune system who also focus upon carbohydrates, and the lack of such a forum hinders potential for growth and progress in this field. The goal of the Keystone Symposia meeting on New Frontiers at the Interface of Immunity and Glycobiology is to address this gap by bringing together the international "glycoimmunology" community to foster interactions and promote the latest insights into the role of glycans in the immune system. This meeting will be unique among glycobiology and immunology meetings in that it combines these two topics and will likely be far more attractive to researchers studying immunology of glycans than the more general glycobiology and carbohydrate-focused meetings. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Glycans are naturally occurring polymers of sugars that are important for essentially all of the key functions of the immune system. Recent advances in "glycoimmunology" - research on the role of glycans in the immune system - provide a timely opportunity to bring together scientists who study glycans within the immune response. The Keystone Symposia meeting on New Frontiers at the Interface of Immunity and Glycobiology will gather these researchers for the first time in one place in order to interact, form new collaborations, and develop a more cohesive field identity that can better attack the barriers currently slowing progress in this field.