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Emil R. Unanue recounts his seminal work 25 years ago demonstrating that antigens are phagocytosed and processed by antigen-presenting cells and that class II major histocompatibility complex molecules are peptide-binding proteins.
The established dogma of 'horror autotoxicus' was overturned 50 years ago with the publication of a paper showing that autoimmune thyroiditis could be induced in animals. Noel Rose recounts the events that led to the establishment of autoimmunity as a cause of disease.
The stated goal is to develop an effective human immunodeficiency virus vaccine, yet the Gates initiative might revolutionize the entire vaccine field.
Envisioning how T cells might recognize antigen presented by major histocompatibility complex molecules proved to be a formidable challenge. Pamela Bjorkman describes her journey to provide structural insights into how such recognition is achieved.
Successful microarray experimentation can generate enormous amounts of data, potentially very rich but also very unwieldy. Bold outlooks and new methods for data analysis and presentation should yield additional insight into the complexities of the immune system.
RNA interference and chromatin immunoprecipitation are now firmly established as useful methods for studying mechanisms of gene regulation in vivo. Their combined use can help elucidate gene regulation 'logic' by aiding in target gene identification for transcription factors and chromatin-modifying complexes.