FASEB Summer Conference on the Dynamic Structure of the Nuclear Hormone Receptors

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Nuclear hormone receptors (NHRs), one of the most abundant classes of transcriptional regulators in metazoans, regulate diverse functions, such as homeostasis, reproduction, development, or metabolism. The NHRs function as ligand activated transcription factors, thus providing a direct link between signaling molecules that control these processes and transcriptional responses. As NHRs bind small molecules which can easily be modified by drug design, and control functions associated with major diseases such as cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes etc, they are promising pharmacological targets. A rapidly growing interest in the field of NHRs is the dynamics of their structures. It is our intent to create the first meeting that focuses the attention of NHR experts on the dynamic structural nature of the receptors they study. The purpose of this meeting is to focus on the research in this area. This meeting will bring together experts from protein biophysics, who are using advanced biophysical techniques to study protein dynamics, with those working on NHR action & NHR structural studies, to spur thinking in our field on NHRs as dynamic rather than static structures. We hope that this meeting will broaden understanding of the dynamic structural nature of NHRs and provide the intellectual and technical foundation for the coming years of research that will translate structure into practical applications. The specific aims of this meeting includes: i) to bring together NHR experts with protein biochemists studying non-NHR systems. This will give the NHR field insights on thinking and methods otherwise obscure. ii) to broaden the number of scientists in the NHR field who are aware of the dynamic nature of NHRs, and to encourage more study of this area. In particular, to encourage participation of disadvantage minorities and women in this area of NHR work. iii) to share new findings on the dynamic nature of NHRs. This application seeks financial support for the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB) Summer Conference on the Dynamic Structure of the Nuclear Hormone Receptors, to be held from July 8-13, 2006 at Tucson, AZ. This conference is structured to provide an optimal opportunity for cross-discipline interaction as well as a balanced treatise on the most contemporary and contentious problems in our field. Every possible effort have been/will be made to include maximum possible number of participants from women, disadvantage minorities, and young investigators groups.