Mechanosensory Transduction Gordon Conference

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The ability to detect mechanical forces is important in the human senses of balance, hearing, and touch as well as osmotic homeostasis and detection of blood pressure. In addition, it is necessary for gravity and wind sensing in plants and osmoregulation of microbes. As we learn more about the mechanisms underlying these senses in a wide variety of organisms and systems, we have begun to see parallels and intersections. Here we are seeking support for the 10th biennial Gordon Research Conference on "Mechanosensory Transduction", which will provide a unique opportunity for scientists with broad interests in mechanosensory signaling to interact. This conference will be held July 22 - 27, 2007 at the University of New England, Biddeford, Maine. About 100 attendees including 29 speakers and 13 discussion leaders are anticipated to attend. The meeting explores mechanisms for perception and response to mechanical stimuli in a wide range of organisms. Participants employ a diverse set of approaches to study the responses to a broad range of mechanical signals in a wide array of organisms including animals, microbes, and plants. Topics range from the molecular and cellular to complex mechanosensory systems. Examples include auditory hair cell electrophysiology, microbial mechanosensitive channel structure and function, and responses to sustained gravitational forces in plants as well as mammals. The field is rapidly growing, especially in the area of genetic approaches to understanding the perception of physical stimuli. The focus for the 2007 meeting will continue to be the molecular and physiological analysis of protein and cellular components needed for different aspects of mechano- and gravity- sensation. This meeting provides a unique opportunity to think broadly about the interface between mechanical signals, sensory mechanisms, and downstream signal transduction pathways. It will bring together scientists who do not normally meet because they study different organisms (microbes, plants, or animals) or different kinds of mechanical responses (rapid responses in specialized mechanosensors or slow responses to sustained forces in bone or plants) or because they employ widely different approaches (genetics versus physiology). Moreover, the Gordon Conference format facilitates informal communications and discussions of controversial issues. These factors will promote inter-disciplinary transfer of ideas and approaches and the forming of new strategies for the study of mechanotransduction. The ability to detect pressures and forces is a primary and necessary event for the human senses of hearing, balance, and touch as well as kidney function and blood pressure regulation. The "Mechanosensory Transduction" Gordon Research Conference provides an opportunity for researchers studying this process using a number of approaches and in a range of organisms from model systems including bacteria, plants, and simple animals to humans, to interact and share ideas. The scientific discussions at this meeting will focus on underlying themes in mechanosensory transduction and will provide opportunities for development of collaborations and exchange of ideas that will not only provide insight into the basic science of these processes, but may serve as the basis for identifying novel drug targets and thus designing drugs for modulating blood pressure or rectifying deficits in auditory or kidney function.