Bücher der Reihe Contemporary topics in immunobiology

The problem that virtually all cells have in discriminating between "self" and "non-self" molecules and cells has been considered at great length in immuno biology.

This fourth volume of Contemporary Topics In Immunobiology treats in vertebrate immunity. For example, cellular immunity is characterized by both specificity and memory, but it is still problematical whether vertebrate immune capacity evolved directly from invertebrates.

These procedures have, in turn, resulted in molecular probes that allow more definitive evaluation of the host response to its virus and to the tumor cell with which the virus or its precursors are associated.

The aims of the series were, and still are, to focus attention on the rapidly changing fields within the realm of immunology, and to present in each chapter the summation of results generated by an investigator or group of Investigators, either as an analysis of their own work or as a correlation of such work with the general field in question.

There was a time, not all that long ago, when scientific study of the cell was called cytology, and the workers in the field named themselves cytologists. Cytology turned into cell biology much later on, and suddenly came alive. New instruments and cytochemical methods were devised for look ing at cells, manipulating cells, more or less in vivo.

Certain immune effectors may be selectively prevented from reaching the tumor site or the close vicinity of the tumor cells because of mechanical or chemical barriers, whereas others may be selectively attracted to the site by chemotaxis or other mechanisms.

Although the field of contemporary immunobiology continues to diversify and encompass an increasing array of biomedical disciplines and topics, there are frequently several themes that will receive special emphasis and prominence at any given time.

Immune Complexes and Human Cancer, the fifteenth volume of Contem porary Topics in Immunobiology, is a compilation of information derived from recent studies on the role of circulating immune complexes (CIC) in the patho genic manifestations of a variety of human cancers.