Erice School of Biophysics Conference on Channels and Transporters

描述(由申请人提供)：我们请求支持将于2008年5月12-18日在西西里岛埃赖斯举行的第三届国际生物物理学院“运输者和渠道”会议。我们还要求在2011年继续举行一次会议。2008年会议是2002年会议和NIMH资助的2005年会议的续篇。2008年会议计划在弗朗西斯·阿什克罗夫特在伦敦组织的补充性会议之前举行。因此，埃赖斯会议的学生和演讲者可能会继续前往伦敦。很少有会议专门关注传输器和通道之间的关系，而是专注于传输器或几乎没有串扰的通道。无数的评论、新的研究和最近像我们这样的会议改变了这一格局。然而，年轻的研究人员可能没有意识到运输商和渠道的全面和比较视角提供的职业机会。与通道和转运蛋白相关的疾病、蛋白质调节、分子动力学和药物发现是交叉研究领域的几个例子。因此，继续需要与这两个学科的讲师和参与者举行一次会议。Erice会议-仿照Gordon Research会议，但强调跨学科、职业生涯早期的受众-为渠道和传输器研究人员之间的互动提供了前所未有的机会，以获得专业联系和机会。转运体和通道对几乎所有细胞的功能都是至关重要的，包括突触传递、代谢和营养运输、水和离子稳态以及兴奋性。与转运蛋白和通道突变有关的疾病清单正在增加。转运体也有产生电流的构象，但对内源性通道状态在转运体中的生理作用或这些通道状态的结构相关性了解甚少。我们建议的系列讲座包括背景课程、研讨会和研讨会。来自离子通道和转运体领域的领先研究人员已同意参加，我们将接受来自所有领域的学生，以期进行信息交流和交叉受精。该计划将涵盖配体和电压门控离子通道、钠偶联神经递质转运体、H偶联神经递质转运体、营养和药物转运体、H/Cl交换器、K+、H+和Ca++通道、Cl-通道、通道和转运体的晶体结构、计算分子动力学和运输的数学模型。补充有关膜片钳、安培和荧光成像的工作坊。会议由3名全体演讲者、20场讲座、3场研讨会和2场海报会议组成。一位晚些时候受邀的演讲者计划发布突发新闻。所有演讲者都致力于为不同的听众准备他们的演讲，听众包括研究生、博士后研究员、早期职业学者和制药研究人员。征聘工作将关注妇女和任职人数不足的群体，而且，按照埃赖斯的传统，将有充足的时间进行非正式讨论。转运蛋白和通道对许多细胞功能至关重要，包括突触传递、代谢和营养运输、水和离子稳态以及兴奋性，与转运蛋白和通道突变相关的疾病清单正在增加。转运体和通道是不同的，但它们有许多共同的性质；例如，转运体具有通道构象，但人们对这些状态对人类疾病、药物滥用和可能的治疗方法的意义知之甚少。本次会议包括这两个领域的背景会议和高级研讨会，以便来自通道和转运体领域的领先研究人员，以及年轻学生和职业早期科学家，可以从这些重要研究领域的交叉受精中受益，这些研究领域对生物医学研究具有潜在的好处。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We request support for the third International School of Biophysics conference on "Transporters and Channels" to be held in Erice, Sicily, 12-18 May 2008. We also request a continuation meeting to be held in 2011. The 2008 meeting is a sequel to the 2002 and NIMH-supported 2005 meetings. The 2008 meeting was planned to occur just before a complementary meeting organized by Frances Ashcroft in London. Students and speakers from the Erice conference may thus continue to London. Few meetings pay exclusive attention to the relationship between transporters and channels, but focus instead on transporters or channels with little crosstalk. Numerous reviews, new research, and recent conferences like ours have changed this landscape. Nevertheless, young researchers may be unaware of career opportunities offered by a comprehensive and comparative view of transporters and channels. Channel- and transporter-related diseases, protein regulation, molecular dynamics, and drug discovery are a few examples of intersecting research areas. Thus, there is a continuing need for a meeting with lecturers and participants from both disciplines. The Erice meeting - which is modeled after Gordon Research Conferences but with emphasis on an interdisciplinary, early career audience - offers unprecedented opportunities for interactions between channel and transporter researchers for professional contacts and opportunities. Transporters and channels are crucial for virtually every cell function, including synaptic transmission, metabolic and nutrient transport, water and ion homeostasis, and excitability. The list of diseases linked to transporter and channel mutations is growing. Transporters also have current-generating conformations, but little is understood about the physiological role of the endogenous channel states in transporters or about the structural correlates of these channel states. The series of lectures we propose includes background sessions, workshops, and seminars. Leading researchers from ion channel and transporter fields have agreed to take part, and we will accept students from all fields with a view toward information exchange and cross-fertilization. The program will cover ligand- and voltage-gated ion channels, Na-coupled neurotransmitter transporters, H-coupled neurotransmitter, nutrient and drug transporters, H/Cl exchangers, K+, H+, and Ca++ channels, Cl- channels, crystal structures of channels and transporters, computational molecular dynamics, and mathematical models of transport. Workshops on patch clamp, amperometry, and fluorescent imaging are supplemental. The meeting consists of 3 plenary speakers, 20 lectures, 3 workshops, and 2 poster sessions. A late-invitation speaker is planned for breaking news. All speakers are committed to prepare their lectures for a diverse audience of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, early career academics, and pharmaceutical researchers. Recruitment will pay attention to women and under-represented groups, and, in keeping with the Erice tradition, there will ample time for informal discussions. Transporters and channels are crucial for many cell functions including synaptic transmission, metabolic and nutrient transport, water and ion homeostasis, and excitability, and the list of diseases linked to transporter and channel mutations is growing. Transporters and channels are different yet they have many common properties; e.g., transporters have channel conformations but little is understood about the significance of these states for human diseases, drug abuse, and possible therapies. This conference includes background sessions and advanced seminars in these two fields so that leading researchers from the channel and transporter fields, as well as younger students and early career scientists, can benefit from cross-fertilization of these important research areas with potential benefit to biomedical research.