Current advances in molecular immunology: reference guide for reviews on molecular vaccines.

The field of immunology has made significant and rapid advances in the past two decades. This understanding has led to a systematic approach to studying the various aspects of development, activation, expansion, maintenance and termination of immune responses, with respect to disease-pathogenesis, prevention and therapeutic interventions. This issue of the journal focuses on reviewing the molecular aspects of vaccine design. In order to provide the reader with a framework and reference to the new aspects of immunological concepts, this article reviews the recent developments in immunology, with emphasis on induction of immune responses during vaccination. Key recent reviews in each section are provided for the readers to obtain detailed information. Several schematic figures are provided for a visual representation of basic concepts.