CELL SIGNALING AND THE MOLECULAR STRESS RESPONSE

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Environmental toxins are important determinants in the etiology of a wide variety of diseases including organ degeneration and neoplasms. Although the acute toxicity of exposure to environmental stress is relatively easy to determine at high doses, the outcome of long term environmental exposure to more realistic levels of toxins differs in etiology, time of onset and probably the basic mechanisms of action. Underlying many of the chronic exposure syndromes is a change in gene expression which is signal led by the toxin. Identifying the relevant genes and the signals which lead to changes in expression will be a major challenge for the next decade of environmental research. Elucidating genomic responses to environmental stress will require a coordinated effort among individuals who do not normally interact. Thus, molecular biologists who study basic mechanisms of transcription will need to work with environmental scientists who are studying important pollutants. Recent studies by a number of individuals in diverse areas such as toxicology, molecular biology and cell biology have begun to converge on the question, "How do cells signal a genomic response to environmental stress?" The meeting on "Cell Signalling and the Molecular Stress Response," combines a unique group of individuals and provides a forum for both speakers and participants to focus attention on molecular approaches to the environmental health sciences. A panel discussion among speakers and invited guests will summarize the data and outline mechanisms to apply the knowledge to risk assessment. This summary will be published.