Erice School of Biophysics Conference on Channels and Transporters

描述（由申请人提供）：我们要求支持将于2008年5月12日至18日在西西里岛的Erice举行的第三届国际生物物理学院“转运体和通道”会议。我们还要求在2011年举行一次续会。2008年的会议是2002年和nimh支持的2005年会议的延续。2008年的会议原计划在弗朗西斯·阿什克罗夫特（Frances Ashcroft）在伦敦组织的补充会议之前举行。因此，参加Erice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递者和通道之间的关系，而是关注传递者或通道，很少有串扰。大量的评论、新的研究和像我们这样的近期会议改变了这一现状。然而，年轻的研究人员可能没有意识到对转运体和渠道的全面和比较的看法所提供的职业机会。通道和转运体相关疾病、蛋白质调控、分子动力学和药物发现是交叉研究领域的几个例子。因此，持续需要与这两个学科的讲师和参与者举行会议。Erice会议——模仿戈登研究会议，但强调跨学科的、早期的职业听众——为渠道和传输研究人员之间的专业联系和机会提供了前所未有的互动机会。转运体和通道对几乎所有细胞功能都至关重要，包括突触传递、代谢和营养转运、水和离子稳态以及兴奋性。与转运体和通道突变相关的疾病越来越多。转运体也有产生电流的构象，但对转运体中内源性通道状态的生理作用或这些通道状态的结构相关性知之甚少。我们建议的系列讲座包括背景讲座、工作坊和研讨会。来自离子通道和转运体领域的主要研究人员已经同意参加，我们将接受来自各个领域的学生，以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、na偶联神经递质转运体、H偶联神经递质转运体、营养物质和药物转运体、H/Cl交换体、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。补习班包括膜片钳、电流计和荧光成像。会议由3位全体演讲嘉宾、20场讲座、3个工作坊和2个海报环节组成。计划为突发新闻邀请一位迟来的发言人。所有演讲者都致力于为研究生、博士后、早期职业学者和制药研究人员等不同的听众准备讲座。征聘工作将注意妇女和代表人数不足的群体，并且按照联合国的传统，将有充足的时间进行非正式讨论。转运体和通道对许多细胞功能至关重要，包括突触传递、代谢和营养转运、水和离子稳态以及兴奋性，与转运体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特性；例如，转运体具有通道构象，但对这些状态对人类疾病、药物滥用和可能的治疗的意义知之甚少。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领域的主要研究人员，以及年轻的学生和早期职业科学家，可以从这些重要研究领域的交叉受精中受益，并对生物医学研究有潜在的好处。

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.