As one of the major players in adaptive immunity, cytotoxic T Lymphocytes (CTLs) play a critical role in the control of many infections and cancers. More importantly, induction of long-lasting functional CTLs has become a goal for the modern vaccination, especially for chronic infectious diseases. However, to achieve this goal, CTLs have to be appropriately activated and programmed. The molecular mechanisms of CTL activation are just starting to be understood and have been shown to be related to antigenic stimulation, expression of distinct costimulatory molecules, and inflammatory cytokines. In addition, provision of these stimuli may differ with distinct infections due to the tissue-specificity of the pathogen, chronicity or persistence of antigen, differences in antigen presentation, and/ or the cytokine milieu. By increasing our overall understanding of how these factors modulate CTL responses, we can design multifaceted vaccines which augment the development of functional, long-lasting memory CTLs in addition to neutralizing antibodies.

We invite authors to present original research articles as well as review articles that will stimulate the continuing efforts in defining the factors involved in CTL activation and the development of immunological memory. We are particularly interested in manuscripts that report the molecular mechanisms required for the development of effector and memory CTLs, CTL responses in specific infections in animals and humans, test different strategies of memory CTL induction, and reports of new assays to evaluate CTL function. Reviews that summarize the results of latest discoveries and their implications on vaccination in economically important animals, the regulation of CTL responses by immune cells such as dendritic cells, CD4 and regulatory cells, as well as molecular mechanisms of CTL killing function are particularly welcome. Potential topics include but are not limited to:

• Molecular mechanisms of CTL activation and programming
• Signal transduction for CTL migration
• Regulation of CTL induction and function by regulatory cells
• Molecular and epigenetic mechanisms of functional memory T cell development
• Characterization of CTL responses in infections in animals and humans
• Novel vaccine approaches for the induction of functional memory CTLs
• New assays for the evaluation of CTL activation

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