1998 FASEB CONFERENCE ON PROTEIN PHOSPHATASES

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DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Description) The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Conference on Protein Phosphatases will be held from June 28-July 3, 1998, at Copper Mountain, Colorado. This will be the fifth such conference, and it has been authorized by FASEB because of the success of the conferences in 1990, 92, 94 and 96. This application seeks partial support for the operation of this conference. Research on protein phosphatases is proceeding at a rapid pace, revealing the fundamental importance and unexpected complexity of these enzymes in the signal transduction pathways that govern the fundamental aspects of cell and physiology. Within the past two years, dozens of new phosphatases and phosphatase regulatory subunits have been identified. A major focus of current research is to understand the functions of this diverse array of phosphatases and the multiplicity of ways they are involved in signaling. Protein phosphatases offer a significant potential for development of new and specific pharmalogical agents. Phosphatases have already been identified as the targets for immunosuppressant drugs, tumor promoters, DNA tumor viruses and a wide variety of natural product toxins. A member of the family of dual specificity phosphatases has recently been identified as the product of a tumor suppressor gene. This conference will serve as a forum for dissemination of the most recent information on the structure, function and regulation of this important class of regulatory molecules. Like other FASEB Summer conferences, this meeting will select approximately 150 participants from applications, including representatives from industry and academia. Participants will include senior scientists, postdoctorates and graduate students. There is a constant infusion of new researchers from various disciplines into this area and the 1998 conference will be important for a focused presentation and discussion of the genetics, biochemistry and cell biology of protein phosphatases. The Conference will consist of eight sessions, each with a discussion leader and at least six speakers, selected from investigators who have made important recent contributions and from submitted abstracts. This will help to ensure inclusion of young investiga-tors, women and minorities as primary participants. In addition, two poster sessions will be organized. At the 1996 Conference, more than 60 posters were presented for two days each and provided another important format for scientific exchange.