2007 Cell-Cell Fusion

描述（由申请人提供）：第一届戈登细胞-细胞融合研究会议将于2007年7月1日至6日在新罕布什尔州的科尔比-索耶学院举行。这个新的GRC是继2002年和2003年在美国细胞生物学学会举行的两次关于“细胞-细胞融合”的“特别兴趣”小组会议之后，由这位首席研究员组织的。细胞与自身以及与其他细胞的融合已成为越来越多细胞生物学家的研究热点，并已发展成为一门新的GRC的主题。细胞-细胞融合会议在新颖性、广度和深度上是独一无二的，它覆盖了新兴的细胞融合领域的新发展。戈登研究会议的形式与几乎所有其他科学会议的不同之处在于，它为开放、自由和非正式的讨论提供了广泛的机会。参加人数限制在130人左右，参加者包括学术界和工业界的国际领袖、青年研究者、博士后研究员和学生。这次新戈登会议作为讨论最新研究进展的论坛，其成功归功于其有限的规模、地理位置和整体结构。这次新的会议将集中讨论生物学的一个新兴领域，即细胞在发育、修复和疾病过程中的相互融合。它将包括两个关于膜融合和病毒融合的介绍课程，随后是关于精卵细胞融合、成肌细胞融合以及秀丽隐杆线虫、粗神经孢子虫、衣藻和酵母交配的融合课程。最后三节课将重点讨论巨噬细胞融合、干细胞融合和癌细胞融合。迄今选定的讨论领袖和演讲者都是细胞融合领域的国际领袖。主讲人是世界上最重要的膜融合专家之一。这一申请的目的是请求经费支付发言者的登记和生活费用。这些资金如果获得批准，将极大地帮助戈登研究会议实现其职能，即在生物学的新兴领域激发创造力和相互作用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The first Gordon Research Conference on Cell-Cell Fusion will take place in 2007, at Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire, July 1-6. This new GRC follows two successive "Special Interest" subgroup meetings on "Cell-Cell Fusion" that took place in 2002 and 2003 at the American Society for Cell Biology, and which this principal investigator organized. The fusion of cells with themselves, and with other cells, has become the research focus of an increasing number of cell biologists and has grown to the point of becoming the theme of a new GRC. The Cell-Cell Fusion conference is unique in the novelty, breadth, and depth of its coverage of new developments in the emerging field of cell fusion. The Gordon Research Conference format differs from virtually all other scientific meetings in providing an extensive opportunity for open, free, and informal discussions. The number of participants is limited to about 130, and attendees include international leaders in the field from the academic and industrial sector, young investigators, post-doctoral fellows, and students. The success of this new Gordon Conference as a forum for the discussion of state-of-the-art research advances is attributable to its limited size, geographical isolation, and overall structure. This new conference will focus on an emerging area of biology, that of the fusion of cells with each other during development, repair, and disease. It will include two introductory sessions on membrane fusion and viral fusion, followed by sessions on sperm-oocyte fusion, myoblast fusion, as well as fusion in C. elegans, Neurospora crassa, Chlamydomonas, and yeast mating. The last three sessions will focus on macrophage fusion, stem cell fusion, and fusion of cancer cells. The discussion leaders and speakers selected to date are among the international leaders of cell fusion. The keynote address speaker is one of the world's foremost experts in membrane fusion. The purpose of this application is to request funds to defray the costs of speakers' registration and subsistence. These funds, if granted, will aid immeasurably in allowing the Gordon Research Conference to fulfill its function, which is to stimulate creativity and interaction in an emerging field of biology.