Notes From the 6th Global Arthritis Research Network (GARN) Meeting

Introduction

From May 10th to May 13th, 2007, the 6th Global Arthritis Research Network (GARN) Meeting was held in Zurich, Switzerland. The purpose of GARN is “to promote and encourage communication and scientific interactions and collaborations that facilitate the progress of basic and clinical research in arthritis and related conditions”.

The meeting was supported by an exclusive unrestricted educational grant from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, in Collegeville, Pennsylvania (USA).

One hundred twenty scientists and clinicians met with senior leaders in molecular biology, immunology and rheumatology and younger, future leaders in the field of autoimmune diseases and arthritis-related conditions. The program, organized by Peter Lipsky and Steffen Gay, opened with an informative presentation by Michel Nussenzweig from the Rockefeller University, in New York City, entitled “Antibodies in Health and Disease.” Dr. Nussenzweig discussed specific checkpoints for tolerance induction during B-cell development as well as abnormalities in SLE. Further, he showed that polyreactive autoantibody producing memory B cells developed as a result of somatic hypermutation. Finally, he presented an analysis of the dynamics of murine germinal center reactions determined by in vivo microscopy and showed that B cells shuttled between light and dark zones and that naïve B cells could enter germinal centers in an antigen nonspecific manner. These new findings provide additional insight into the nature of germinal centers, that support T-cell dependent B-cell maturation, somatic hypermutation, and class switch recombination and are essential for avidity maturation of antibody responses.

The following program of the four major sessions focused predominantly on B cells in health and disease, while other lectures on novel aspects in molecular biology and molecular medicine were designed to provide insights into the quickly developing field of molecular sciences to “cross-fertilize” future research in rheumatology and autoimmune diseases.

6th Global Arthritis Research Network Meeting

• Introduction
• Notes From Session 1
• Notes From Session 2
• Notes From Session 3
• Notes From Session 4