FASEB Summer Research Conference on Lipid Signaling Pathways in Cancer

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application seeks partial support for a scientific conference organized by Dr. Alex Toker of Harvard Medical School and Dr. Marcelo Kazanietz of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The conference is sponsored by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology, and will comprise their Summer Research Conference (SRC) Series, to be held in Indian Wells, California, August 11-16, 2007. The application seeks partial support to finance the costs of registration fees and travel subsidence for junior speakers, including graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, who will be invited to present short talks on their work. The conference is entitled 'Lipid Signaling Pathways in Cancer' and over the course of 4 days, over 30 invited leaders in this field will present the latest breakthroughs in this highly relevant area of cancer research. Recent exciting developments in the field of lipid signaling have reinforced the concept that lipid mediators play a key role in the inception and progression of cancer. Discoveries on the existence of multiple effects of diacylglycerol have propelled this field center stage. Similarly, mutations in proteins which respond to phosphoinositides are often found in human cancers. Other examples include exciting findings in isoprostane signaling, which define the emerging theme that a tumor acts as a wound by promoting inflammatory responses. Lipid modifications of the ubiquitous Ras oncogene are well-known events which are essential for cellular transformation, and have thus been aggressively targeted for therapeutic intervention. Current challenges in this field include defining the roles played by lipid mediators in tumor progression, and how these pathways achieve appropriate intracellular temporal and spatial organization. The field is poised to translate these findings into therapeutic value. The meeting will emphasize the diversity of lipid mediators and their effectors, and how each one plays a key function in human cancer. Emphasis will also be placed on the translational aspects of this field to provide the audience with an up-to-date view of the clinical implications of lipid signaling.