GRC Macromolecular Organization & Cell Function

描述(申请人提供)：戈登大分子组织和细胞功能研究会议自1987年以来每两年举行一次。这项提案要求为本系列第11次会议和在Mt.霍利奥克学院；过去的5次会议都在英国牛津的皇后学院举行。至于所有戈登会议，会议人数限制为125人。拟议的会议将侧重于活细胞内部组织所发挥的基本功能作用，以提供系统层面的理解，了解特定分子成分之间的相互作用如何有助于细胞的基本功能。亚细胞组织通常是暂时的，如分子马达与细胞骨架、信号转导途径中的大分子或代谢途径中的酶成分的动态相互作用。其中许多相互作用依赖于存在于完整细胞内的独特条件和隔间，这些条件和隔间使用传统的体外方法被干扰甚至破坏。重点放在根据已知的细胞内条件，包括蛋白质和代谢物的空间分布来解释生化和结构数据。讨论了大分子组装、非侵入性成像、第二信使信号通路的细胞拓扑以及细胞蛋白质和代谢物的全球分析的研究。此外，理论建模，包括开发和测试处理大量生物信息学数据的机制，是会议的一个主要重点，因为会议认识到，如果没有计算工具，很难研究复杂的相互作用。传统上，参加会议的科学家具有广泛的兴趣和专业知识，从实验家到理论家，以及来自广泛学科的科学家。有活跃的跨学科讨论，这对与会者非常有启发和价值，也促进了许多合作。与会者对会议本身的评价一直很高。鼓励妇女和少数群体以及博士后和研究生参加。尽管该计划的大部分内容现在已经到位，但仍有几个空缺职位将于明年初填补，用于介绍这个快速发展的领域的最新发展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Gordon Research Conference on Macromolecular Organization and Cell Function has met biannually since 1987. This proposal requests partial funding for the11th conference in this series and the first at Mt. Holyoke College; the past 5 conferences have been held at Queens College in Oxford, UK. As for all Gordon Conferences, the meeting is limited to 125 participants. The proposed conference will focus on the essential functional role played by the internal organization of the living cell to provide a systems level understanding of how interactions between specific molecular constituents contribute to basic cell function. Subcellular organization often is transient, as in the dynamic interactions of molecular motors with the cytoskeleton, of macromolecules in signal transduction pathways, or of the enzymic components of metabolic pathways. Many of these interactions depend on the unique conditions and compartmentation that exist within the intact cell that are disturbed or even destroyed using conventional in vitro approaches. Emphasis is placed on interpretation of biochemical and structural data in the light of known intracellular conditions including the spatial distribution of proteins and metabolites. Discussed are studies on macromolecular assemblies, noninvasive imaging, cellular topology of second messenger signaling pathways, and the global analysis of cellular proteins and metabolites. In addition, theoretical modeling, including the development and testing of mechanisms for handling large amounts of bioinformatics data, is a major emphasis of the conference based on the recognition that complex interactions are very difficult to study without computational tools. The conference is traditionally attended by scientists with a wide range of interests and expertise, ranging from experimentalists to theorists, and from a wide range of disciplines. There is active cross-disciplinary discussion that has been greatly stimulating and valuable to the participants, and which has also fostered numerous collaborations. The meeting itself has consistently been judged very highly by the participants. The participation of women and minorities, as well as post-doctoral and graduate students is encouraged. Although much of the program is now in place, several slots are being kept open, to be filled early next year, for presentations on the most recent developments in this rapidly moving field.