Cytokines are small peptides or glycoproteins, and chemokines are a group of smaller cytokines with chemotactic properties, which are produced by a variety of cells. Cytokines and chemokines exert crucial roles in the development, homeostasis, activation, differentiation, regulation, and functions of innate and adaptive immunity. Excessive and/or inappropriate production and actions of pathogenic and/or regulatory cytokines and chemokines are involved in the pathogenesis of infection, inflammation, allergy, autoimmune diseases, and immune-relevant diseases, such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, and cancers. Understanding the underlying mechanisms by which cytokines and chemokines exert their functions will lead to controlling such immune disorders.

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that may serve as valuable resources to understand the roles of cytokines and chemokines in immune homeostasis and in the pathogenesis of various diseases. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Development of immune cell subsets by cytokines and chemokines
• Specific roles of cytokines and chemokines in the pathogenesis of autoimmune/allergic/inflammatory diseases and immune-relevant diseases
• Immune-regulatory roles of cytokines and chemokines
• Roles of pathogenic and regulatory cytokines and chemokines in tumor immune microenvironment
• Action mechanism of cytokines and chemokines
• Cross talk of cytokine and chemokine networks
• Signaling networks of cytokines and chemokines
• Specific cytokine markers in immune diseases and immune-relevant diseases
• New technologies and assay chip to detect production of cytokines and chemokines
• Therapeutic application and clinical approach targeting cytokines and chemokines
• Novel animal model to study the pathogenic and regulatory role of cytokines and chemokines

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal’s Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jir/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/jir/ccin/ according to the following timetable: