Recent Developments in 1,3-β-Glucan Biology: Proceedings of the 5th Glucan Symposium Tokyo, December 8, 2006

The following workshops reported on the advancements on 1,3-β-glucan biology in terms of understanding the molecular basis for the cellular reactions induced as well as new methods for analysis and the clinical applications, particularly concerning fungal infections. The first glucan workshop was organized in 1990 with the purpose to draw attention to the importance of 1,3-β-glucan, one of the major constituents of fungal cell walls, as a bioactive agent in our environment [1]. The workshop reviewed available data and through fruitful discussions encouraged further research in the area. This was followed by a succession of similar workshops in 1993, 1994, and 1997 [2–4]. Although the number of researchers in this field has remained fairly limited over the years, progress since the first workshop has been significant. Several subjects at the present workshop are similar to those treated 17 years ago but there has been an imposing increase in depth and breath of the knowledge. In the first workshop, a main interest was the methodology of the measurement of 1,3-β-glucan and the levels present in the environmental and in clinical specimens. Information was also presented on the influence of 1,3-βglucan on inflammatory and immunological systems. It was suggested that 1,3-β-glucan could be an important environmental and clinical agent related to human diseases but there was a lack of both experimental and clinical studies. Against this short background of previous workshops it is time again to present the advances in the different fields, now with an emphasis on molecular biology for the understanding of the effects and experience from investigations on humans for clinical and environmental risk evaluations.