Antimicrobial host defence and innate immunity in the lung
Symposium Chairs: G. Bothamley (London, United Kingdom), A. van der Does (Leiden, Netherlands)
Aims: to present the latest developments in the research on innate immunity and antimicrobial peptides, which are crucial players in the host defence against respiratory infections and chronic inflammatory lung diseases. Antimicrobial peptides are increasingly referred to as host defence peptides because they have direct antimicrobial activity, can modulate immune responses and function in wound repair. These peptides have been implicated in a variety of lung diseases, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis.