About this Book

This book, the third volume of the new series 'Current Directions in Autoimmunity', is the first one to exclusively focus on one disease. Written by experts in genetics and immunobiology, the articles reflect the complexity and multiple facets of the disease process but also show their convergence to a better understanding of pathogenetic mechanisms and the evolving clinical applications. The models and concepts described in this volume have implications for studies of other inflammatory diseases and are of interest not only for clinical and basic scientists devoted to the study of rheumatoid arthritis but for investigators of autoimmune diseases in general.