CONFERENCE ON MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF MUSCLE DEVELOPMENT

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Partial support is requested for the Keystone Symposium "Molecular Biology of Muscle Development" to be held at the Snowmass Conference Center, Snowmass, Colorado, April 1-6, 1997. This is the fourth Keystone symposium on skeletal muscle biology. Recent advances in understanding myogenesis have shaped the way scientists view differentiation and development. The discovery of the MyoD family of transcriptional activators has led to intense investigation and insight into regulatory pathways leading to cell- fate specification. Genes far upstream in early development that determine the fate of mesoderm precursors are being identified and characterized. Genetic analysis of such has contributed a great deal toward understanding the functional roles of these regulatory factors and there have been a number of unpredicted outcomes. In addition to early events in determination, cell, molecular and genetic approaches haven begun to identify those events such as cell-cell interaction and growth factor signaling that play roles in the formation, diversification and function of muscle. The role of the cell cycle and its regulators in muscle differentiation has also begun to elucidate pathways leading to the establishment and maintenance of the differentiated state. The molecular basis for a number of genetic diseases of muscle as well as the potential to cure them will be discussed. This meeting is intended to provide a means of bringing together investigators from these diverse fields to provide a multidisciplinary view of muscle biology. The meeting will be organized into 9 plenary sessions, 3 workshops for promoting exchange and discussion and 4 poster sessions. In the plenary sessions, there is good representation of women and junior investigators. Approximately 350 foreign and domestic scientists will be in attendance. Attendees will range from graduate students to senior scientists. Financial support is sought to award travel fellowships to students and fellows based on evaluation of abstracts submitted.