A Plaidoyer for `Systems Immunology'

Authors: Benoist, Christophe¹; Germain, Ronald N.²; Mathis, Diane¹

Source: Immunological Reviews, Volume 210, Number 1, April 2006 , pp. 229-234(6)

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A complete understanding of the immune system will ultimately require an integrated perspective on how genetic and epigenetic entities work together to produce the range of physiologic and pathologic behaviors characteristic of immune function. The immune network encompasses all of the connections and regulatory associations between individual cells and the sum of interactions between gene products within a cell. With 30 000+ protein-coding genes in a mammalian genome, further compounded by microRNAs and yet unrecognized layers of genetic controls, connecting the dots of this network is a monumental task. Over the past few years, high-throughput techniques have allowed a genome-scale view on cell states and cell- or system-level responses to perturbations. Here, we observe that after an early burst of enthusiasm, there has developed a distinct resistance to placing a high value on global genomic or proteomic analyses. Such reluctance has affected both the practice and the publication of immunological science, resulting in a substantial impediment to the advances in our understanding that such large-scale studies could potentially provide. We propose that distinct standards are needed for validation, evaluation, and visualization of global analyses, such that in-depth descriptions of cellular responses may complement the gene/factor-centric approaches currently in favor.

Document Type: Commentary

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0105-2896.2006.00374.x

Affiliations: 1: Section on Immunology and Immunogenetics, Joslin Diabetes Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA 2: Lymphocyte Biology Section, Laboratory of Immunology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

Publication date: 2006-04-01

A Plaidoyer for `Systems Immunology'

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