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Immunology in Germany: 50 th Anniversary of the German Society for Immunology (DGfI)

2017; Wiley; Volume: 47; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/eji.201770125

1521-4141

Agnes Giniewski, Joachim R. Kalden, Hans‐Martin Jäck,

Transgenic Plants and Applications

It has been 50 years since the German Society for Immunology (DGfI, www.dgfi.org) was established (Fig. 1). These 50 years have been an exciting and sometimes stormy period of development that the founding fathers of the society hoped for but could not necessarily have expected. In light of this anniversary, we would like to present a short historic overview of immunology in Germany and the developments of the DGfl. A more detailed treatise about immunology in Germany and the history of the DGfI can be found in 1, an English edition of which will be published shortly. The field of immunology was founded at the end of the 19th century, and it was an international and interdisciplinary discipline from the very beginning. German scientists played a major role in the revolutionary discoveries that paved the way for modern medicine. Robert Koch (1843–1910) established and implemented the pathogen doctrine by demonstrating that microorganisms are causative agents in disease, which prompted an intense hunt for microorganisms. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1905 for his investigations and discoveries related to tuberculosis 2. Emil von Behring (1854–1917) was the first to describe antitoxins and the principle of passive immunity, and he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1901 for his work on serum therapy, especially its application against diphtheria 3. His publication in December 1890 on anti-tetanus serum therapy, together with Shibasaburo Kitasato from Japan, is thought to represent the birth of immunology. Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915) established staining methods that differentiated between different types of blood cells, developed a drug to cure syphilis, which established the field of chemotherapy, and was instrumentally involved in the first successful treatment of diphtheria-diseased children with a therapeutic anti-diphtheria serum in 1893. He also formulated the side-chain theory, the first model to explain the production of specific and soluble antitoxins, which he later named antibodies, upon immunization with the respective toxin. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1908, together with Elias Metchnikoff, in recognition of their work on immunity 4. Further outstanding German scientists who worked in the field of immunology include Friedrich Löffler (1852–1915), Koch's co-worker, who identified the diphtheria pathogen and was the first to describe the conditions required for a microorganism to be clearly regarded as the cause of a disease. Ludwig Brieger (1849–1919) and Carl Fraenkel (1861–1915) showed that bacterial toxins are proteins. Gustav Lorenz (1846–1927) combined vaccination and serum therapy. Like the Hungarian Josef von Fodor (1843–1901), Hans Buchner (1850–1902) found that blood serum had a killing effect on bacteria regardless of the type of pathogen, and he further showed that this effect was destroyed when the serum was heated to 56 to 60 degrees Celsius. The Belgian immunologist Jules Bordet (1870–1961) and Paul Ehrlich independently showed that immune serum (i.e., specific antibodies) enhanced this activity, which was later named “complement” by Paul Ehrlich. Richard Pfeiffer (1858–1945) provided insights into endotoxins and bacteriolysis. He observed that cholera pathogens secreted a thermolabile toxin (today known as cholera toxin) and that after the bacteria were killed, another toxin (today known as lipopolysaccharide) was released that was heat-stable. Ernst Friedberger (1875–1932), Ulrich Friedmann (1877–1944) and the Austro-Hungarian Robert Doerr (1871–1952) performed research on anaphylaxis in the 1900s. Max Gruber (1853–1927) recognized the diagnostic potential of his observation that agglutination occurred when sera were added to bacterial cultures. Given that specific antibodies could be detected by the antigens of known bacteria, this process was suitable for differential diagnosis. August Wassermann (1866–1925), Albert Neisser (1855–1916) and Carl Bruck (1879–1944) developed a specific complement-binding reaction that was used for the diagnostic detection of syphilis and became known as the Wassermann Test. Emil von Dungern (1867–1961) worked with Ludwik Hirszfeld (1884–1954) from Poland on the serological diagnosis of cancer. On the basis of their detailed work, they also proposed a modified classification of blood groups into A, B, AB and 0 (instead of Landsteiner's group C) that was later established as the international nomenclature in the 1920s. The notion that the differentiation of blood groups could also be used for the identification of blood samples and forensic purposes was proposed by Paul Uhlenhuth (1870–1957) in Greifswald. The flourishing times of immunology and bacteriology came to a stand-still during the 1st World War as a result of a lack of financial and human resources and limitations on international contacts. However, the real dark age of immunology in Germany started and ended with the Nazi era, including World War II. Specifically, Jewish researchers, such as Hans Sachs, Ernst Witebsky, Wilhelm Ehrich, Alfred Klopstock, Wilhelm Caspari, and Fred Neufeld, were forced to emigrate. To reconstruct immunology in Germany, two important things had to occur. First, a large number of scientists who were forced to emigrate during the Nazi era resumed contact with the Western scientific community, and this resulted in significant support for the discipline. Second, a large number of institutions involved in clinical and immunology research (specifically those in the USA, Canada, Great Britain, France and Australia) opened their doors to young German scientists interested in immunology. Among the first German scholars to travel abroad were researchers including Herbert Fischer, Paul Klein, Hans Rother, Helmuth Deicher und Hans J. Müller-Eberhard. These individuals later had a major influence on the development of immunology in Germany. In addition, in the early 1960s, activities at various German universities reactivated research in the field of immunology. Thus, the Director of the Hannover Medical School, Fritz Hartmann, the pathologist Erich Wetterer from Tübingen, Paul Klein, a microbiologist from Mainz, and Otto Westphal, an immunochemist, met with the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) to set up a priority program on immunology. Another important driving force was the nomination of Otto Westphal as the Director of the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology in Freiburg in 1963. There was a substantial increase in both domestic and international immunology research from 1940 to the 1960s. Immunologists, such as Medawar, Burnet, and Jerne, were responsible, at least in part, for this positive development. In 1984, a German immunologist, Georges Köhler, along with Cesar Milstein and Nils Jerne, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine specifically for their discovery of the technology that enabled the production of monoclonal antibodies. Improved laboratory methods and the new theories of scientists including Landsteiner, Mitchison, Medawar, Burnet, Talmage and Jerne, introduced cellular concepts in the research field of immunochemistry in the 1940s, and the discipline and the knowledge it generated exploded in the 1960s with the discoveries of organs and cells responsible for establishing immunity against pathogens, tumors and transplants. In the following years, German immunologists also made an increasing number of contributions to the field of immunology. For example, they were instrumental in solving the mechanism of complement action, elucidating the structure of antibodies and T-cell receptors describing the soluble T cell replacement factors, discovering new mechanisms that guide central B-cell maturation and thymic tolerance, provided new insights into B/T cell cooperation and established novel transgenic mouse models that allow the conditional ablation of immune-related genes. The idea of founding a society for immunology in the Federal Republic of Germany was born during a conversation in Punta Ala, Italy between Hans Gerhard Schwick, who later became the director of Behring-Werke AG, and Bernhard Cinader, then a professor of immunochemistry in Toronto. Primarily, the organization of an international congress for immunology was discussed, and it emerged from these discussions that a prerequisite for implementing this idea was the establishment of national societies. At that time, only the following three national societies for immunology had been established: the American Association for Immunology 5, the British Society for Immunology 6 and the Australian Society for Immunology 7. After he returned to Germany, Schwick further discussed this idea with interested scientists, and he eventually invited 18 scientifically and clinically active immunologists to the Hoechster Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt, where they decided to found the “Society for Immunology” on July 7, 1967 (Fig. 2). A national label was avoided when naming this professional society not least to demonstrate the opening of the newly founded society to Europe. Otto Westphal, then the director of the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology in Freiburg, was elected as the first chairman of the provisional Executive Board which consisted of Norbert Hilschmann, Klaus Rajewsky and Hans Gerhard Schwick. Westphal and Schwick were commissioned to draw up a draft statute, and the following year, 1968, the Society for Immunology was entered in the register of associations at the Marburg District Court. After repeated discussions among the board of directors and with the advisory board, in addition to those at the general meeting, in 1995, it was decided that the Society for Immunology should be renamed the German Society for Immunology (DGfI) to bring the name in line with the names of other national immunological societies. Since its foundation in 1967, the DGfI has steadily grown not only in terms of the number of its members but also in the activities it performs to support research and young scientists and to promote its visibility on the national and international scientific landscape. With nearly 2400 members, the DGfI is currently the fourth largest national society for immunology in the world. Current immunological research in Germany is regarded as excellent. Between 2011 and 2013, Hannover, München, Erlangen, Würzburg and Bonn were the most successful at acquiring DFG funding in the research area Microbiology, Virology and Immunology, and obtained a total funding of 92.9 million Euros. In 2015, German immunology ranked fourth among 163 countries in terms of the total number of citable publications and was just behind Great Britain, China and the USA. As early as 1986, DGfI research focus groups had been established that represent major immunological topics in Germany, and new groups were added as the need arose. The 13 current research study groups are a central pillar that supports the objectives of the DGfI, which are aimed at supporting immunological research in Germany. A good custom of the Society was, and remains to be, to organize annual conferences together with other European societies, such as the, Scandinavian, Austrian 8, Italian 9, Dutch 10, Swiss 11 and French 12 Societies for Immunology. In addition, close scientific contacts are maintained through smaller international workshops organized with other societies, including the Chinese 13, Japanese, Australian 14, Argentinean and Italian Societies, among others. In May 1969, representatives of various national immunological societies met in Bruges, Belgium to found the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS). The provisionally elected executive committee consisted of Bernhard Cinader as President, Hans Gerhard Schwick as Secretary and Norbert Hilschmann as Treasurer. One of the main tasks of this umbrella organization was to prepare and implement international congresses of immunology. Fortunately, the early involvement of members of our Society in the foundation of IUIS has continued to this day. DGfI members have been and continue to be active in a variety of IUIS functions 15. In addition to the remarkable development in the scientific field of our society, this important and highly valued collaboration, which has been accepted and appreciated from the start of IUIS, was an important argument that led, for example, to the decision to host the 1989 International World Congress in Berlin and the election of Fritz Melchers as the first German IUIS President (1999-2001). In September 1975, the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS) was founded at a meeting held in Amsterdam. Again, there was and still is strong German representation in this Society. In addition, the DGfI has awarded honorary medals and honorary memberships at irregular intervals since 1973. These are awarded to individuals who have made a special contribution in the field of immunology either outside of or within the society (www.dgfi.org/ehrenmitglieder). The impressive list of honorary members clearly shows that the DGfI has an international scientific reputation and that it is internationally accepted. The first annual meeting of the DGfI was held from 16–18 October 1969 in Freiburg under the conference president Otto Westphal (Fig. 3). In all, 315 participants in immunology attended the conference, and many of the participants were young, committed and discussion-active scientists 16. This remarkably positive phenomenon is observed to this day. A glance at the program of the first annual conference reveals its focus on antibody research. The side issues were the role of macrophages in the development of immune reactivity, immunogenetics and a few contributions on cellular immunology. Six sections comprising approximately 70 presentations addressed the main topics at the event 17. The 47th Annual Meeting of the DGfI was highlighted by the celebration of the 50th anniversary of our Society and was held in Erlangen from 12–15 September 2017 under the conference presidency of Hans-Martin Jäck. The fact that the anniversary congress of the DGfI occurred in Erlangen was a special honor for the internationally recognized immunologists and the immunological research infrastructure in Erlangen, which has been successful for many years. In 1985, the “Leukocyte Conference” organized by the DGfI became the Spring Conference, a more general second annual DGfI meeting providing a platform for especially young scientists to present and discuss their findings. This conference was later replaced by the Spring School of Immunology (see below). As already mentioned, the successful development of the DGfI is also reflected by the fact that it hosted the 7th International Conference on Immunology in Berlin in 1989, which was three months before the fall of the Berlin Wall. This world congress was spearheaded by Klaus Rother, then the President of the Society. The responsible organizers were Klaus Eichmann, Fritz Melchers and Joachim Kalden. The honorary presidents of the congress were the Nobel laureate Niels Jerne and mayor Ingrid Stahmer, who represented the city of Berlin. The idea that the congress would be opened by a representative of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany was blocked by the Society for Clinical and Experimental Immunology of East Germany. The scientific program consisted of 27 symposia, over 100 workshops and more than 4,000 poster contributions, and it received a great response in both basic and clinical areas as indicated by the 5,000 participants. The fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 opened the opportunity for immunologists in both parts of Germany to turn the DGfI into an even more active and internationally recognized association. In 1991, the Society for Clinical and Experimental Immunology of the former East Germany was dissolved, and shortly afterwards, 133 of its members joined the DGfI 18. The idea of a European Congress of Immunology (ECI), which in contrast to the previous EFIS meetings would occur every three years and at which the national societies would renounce their annual conferences, was proposed by a few scientists, among them the German immunologist Reinhold E. Schmidt. The outstanding success of the first ECI, which was held in 2006 in Paris, paved the way for the second ECI, which took place 2009 in Berlin under the conference presidency of Reinhold E. Schmidt, the EFIS presidency of Stefan H. E. Kaufmann and the honorary presidency of Fritz Melchers. Every year, the DGfI awards various prizes for outstanding scientific achievements to renowned and young researchers who are in various stages of their careers. Early on, at the suggestion of Hans Gerhard Schwick, the Behring-Werke provided a prize money award of 10,000 DM to the winner of the Avery-Landsteiner-Prize, which was awarded to support research within the scope of the annual conference 19. In 2015, the prize was renamed “Deutscher Immunologie-Preis” in cooperation with Celgene GmbH. The prize presented by the DGfI for the best dissertation, which since Otto Westphal's 65th birthday has been called the “Otto Westphal Thesis Prize”, has been awarded since 1978. Since 2001, it has been sponsored by the Dr. -Ing. h. c. Ferdinand Porsche AG, Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. Additional DGfI prizes include the “Hans-Hench Thesis Prize for Clinical Immunology”, which is donated by the Hans-Hench-Stiftung zur Förderung der Rheumatologie, the “Fritz-und-Ursula-Melchers Postdoctoral Prize”, which is donated by its namesakes, the “Herbert-Fischer Prize for Neuroimmunology”, which is sponsored by the Rosa-Laura and Hartmut Wekerle Foundation, and the “Georges-Köhler-Prize”, which is sponsored by Dr. -Ing. h. c. Ferdinand Porsche AG, Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. The 2017 winners were featured in the October 2017 issue 20 of the European Journal of Immunology. The Forum “Young Immunologists”, which was recently established in 2016, is intended to increase the involvement by young scientists and provide them with an opportunity to become actively involved in the Society and its activities. The founding event, which took place during the 2016 Annual Conference in Hamburg, was attended by an overwhelming number of students and young scientists. We are convinced that this new forum will develop into another successful activity of our Society. The DGfI Committee on “Career Equality and Career Support“ brings together committed DGfI members who are focused on the challenging phase that occurs after a doctorate is awarded and before the first professorship is obtained. The Commission's activities are accordingly aimed at both women and men and are intended to encourage academic careers, impart knowledge and practical tools, and help with networking 21. The “Academy for Immunology” was established as a training platform to unite existing and future training concepts of the DGfI under one roof and to cover the great need for education and advanced training in the field of immunology both within and outside of Germany. The following three schools currently occur annually: The Spring School on Immunology in Kloster Ettal, the Autumn School “Current Concepts in Immunology” in Merseburg and the “Translational Immunology School” at Lake Schwielow near Potsdam. Since the foundation of the DGfI, the board of directors and the advisory board tried to implement additional qualifications in immunology in the field of medical education, but this goal has unfortunately not yet been achieved. The Society for Clinical and Experimental Immunology in former East Germany established a specialty (“Facharzt”) in immunology, but it was not taken up by the relevant authorities after German reunification. The certificate “Certified Immunologist DGfI”, which has been awarded nationwide by the Society since 2001, is a great development, but is not yet considered a full-fledged replacement. Immunology has been recognized for decades as an integral part of bachelor and master programs in disciplines such as biology, molecular medicine, cell biology and biochemistry as well as doctoral programs focusing on immunologic research topics. A few Master programs with a main focus on immunology have recently been established in Germany, and we hope more will follow. In March 2012, the DGfI established the program “Immunologie für Jedermann” (Immunology for Everyone), which is aimed at raising awareness among the public and decision-makers in science and politics about the important role of immunology in modern biomedicine. In addition, various initiatives cover topics such as “Vaccination” and foster discussion about the importance of animal experiments for the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic methods. During the annual “Day of Immunology”, the DGfI draws attention to immunology as a research discipline and communicates to the broader public that immunology is extremely important not only in public health but also in numerous disease processes. This activity was initiated by EFIS in 2005 22 under the EFIS presidency of Stefan H. E., and it has taken place around the world since 2007 23-25. We are sure that the extraordinarily positive historical development of the DGfI will continue in the future under the leadership of a new generation of immunologists. We expect that future developments will include enhancing our already existing international networks to meet the scientific and political challenges of the future.