FASEB SRC: Structure and Function of Small GTPases

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Summary Rational drug design for cancer requires a thorough understanding of signaling networks in order to reveal nodes that can be targeted. Small GTPases are central components of numerous signaling pathway, including many that drive oncogenesis and metastasis. Small GTPases are binary switches that are interconverted from the GDP-bound off to the GTP-bound on state by receptors and regulatory molecules and, when in the on state, drive signaling through various effector molecules. The superfamily of small GTPases number more than 160 gene products and can be divided into five families: RAS, RHO, RAB, ARF and RAN proteins. RAS proteins were the first small GTPases identified and remain the best studied. RAS genes are the oncogenes more frequently mutated in cancer than any other, which accounts for the intense interest in understanding and targeting these GTPases. The FASEB Summer Research Conference on Small GTPases was founded in 1991 and has been held every two years since. The conference has consistently attracted the leaders in the field and has played a large role in driving the field forward and promoting collaborations that have expedited discoveries that have been translated into drug discovery. The conference has also served as a platform for encouraging young investigators to enter the field. This application seeks partial funding for the 30th Anniversary Meeting of the FASEB SRC on the Structure and Function of Small GTPases. The meeting will feature a keynote lecture by Channing Der, one of the co-founders of the meeting who remains a driving force in the field. Also featured will be 28 plenary talks. Fifty percent of the invited speakers are new to the conference and are intended to bring fresh ideas and technologies. Twenty short talks will be selected from submitted abstracts and delivered by young scientists. All attendees will present posters. Opportunities for informal discussions and for networking will abound over the 5-day meeting that will include unscheduled time in the afternoons as well as a Meet-the- Expert lunch and a Career Development breakfast. Forty-three percent of invited speakers are woman. A concerted effort is planned to recruit trainees who are members of underrepresented groups. Ten travel/registration awards will be made to trainees with preference given to underrepresented minorities.