U.S.-Japan Joint Seminar: Structural Basis of Information Transfer and Energy Transduction in Rhodopsins

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9513078 Lanyi This award supports the participation of 14 U.S. scientists in a U.S.-Japan seminar on the Structural Basis of Information and Energy Transduction in Retinal Proteins, to be held in Kyoto, Japan, from March 16-20, 1997. The co- organizers are Professors Janos K. Lanyi of the University of California, Irvine and Akio Maeda of the University of Kyoto. The purpose of this seminar is to assess recent progress in understanding the structural basis for the function of retinal proteins. These proteins are currently under intense investigation because they participate in energy and information transfer, both essential for life. Leading researchers from the U.S. and Japan will interact and exchange ideas so as to develop new concepts and experimental approaches to study retinal proteins as light receptors. Specifically, the seminar will include topics on excited state dynamics, photochemical reaction kinetics, protein conformation changes, proton conduction mechanisms, thermodynamics, signal transduction in vision and in phototaxis, and photosensors based on retinal proteins. The U.S. participants were selected on the basis of being the most active researchers in the rhodopsin field. Therefore, this proposal fulfills the objectives of the Program in its exchange and transfer of scientific knowledge through international collaboration. ***