FASEB Summer Conference on Phospholipases

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application seeks partial funding for the eighth FASEB Summer Research Conference on Phospholipases to be held from July 8 to 13, 2006 in Saxtons River, Vermont. The funds requested will be used primarily to support the registration and travel expenses of junior investigators who will present their work at the conference as invited presentations, short talks, or posters. The overall goal of this established and successful conference is to provide a forum for review and discussion of recent research on the structure, function and integrated biology of phospholipases. These widely expressed enzymes hydrolyze ester and phosphodiester bonds in membrane phospholipids to generate bioactive lipids and lipid-derived products that regulated many and diverse aspects of cell function. Phospholipases A generate fatty acids and receptor-active lysophospholipids. Arachidonic acid is metabolized to leukotrienes and prostaglandins that have well established roles in physiologic and pathologic processes such as renal perfusion, gastric cytoprotection, hemostasis, cancer, host defense, inflammation, and asthma. Phospholipase C generates inositol phosphate and diglyceride second messengers in response to agonist activation of cell surface receptors. Phospholipase D generates phosphatidic acid from phosphatidylcholine, to regulate organization of the actin cytoskeleton, cell growth, survival, motility and vesicular transport. The conference includes talks on the emerging areas of signaling networks and lipidomics as well as sphingolipids, which have roles in cellular stress responses, apoptosis, and cell migration. This conference brings together scientists working in diverse disciplines including biophysics, structural, cell and molecular biology, drug development, and diverse clinical disciplines that are impacted by research on phospholipases. The conference has a strong record of including contributions from international investigators and of including presentations from both junior and established investigators. It provides an effective forum for promoting collaborations and new advances in the field. The subject area receives considerable support from the NIH with approximately 400 active projects funded by each of the major NIH institutes. The field has generated approximately 2000 peer reviewed research publications in each of the last 10 years. The funds requested in this proposal will make an invaluable contribution to the support of this conference and in particular the development of young investigators.