7th Biennial Symposium on Polyamines in Parasites

第七届寄生虫多胺双年研讨会将于2012年7月10日至13日在俄勒冈州森林格罗夫的太平洋大学举行。会议的重点将是多胺途径作为寄生原虫和其他病原体的药物靶点。致病的寄生生物含有多胺代谢酶，这些酶在结构上与人类的对应物不同，或者在人类中不存在，因此这些酶是抗寄生虫药物发现的有吸引力的靶标。研讨会将是跨学科性质的；到目前为止，具有分子生物学、生物化学、遗传学、合成化学和结构生物学专业知识的参与者都表示有兴趣参加。会议将由会议参与者进行一系列30分钟的演讲组成，并将包括学生和博士后的海报会议，以展示他们的工作。会议还计划进行主题演讲和圆桌讨论。主题将包括：原生动物寄生虫和其他病原体中的多胺代谢途径，多胺酶药物靶点的验证，多胺酶的生化和结构表征，药物发现和抑制剂设计，以及耐药机制。专题讨论会的目标是评估寄生虫多胺领域的最新研究状况，发展新的科学合作并协调药物发现工作，目的是确定对不受控制的寄生虫病的有效药物治疗。参与者将

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The 7th Biennial Symposium on Polyamines in Parasites will be held at Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon, on July 10-13, 2012. The focus of the meeting will be the polyamine pathway as a drug target in parasitic protozoa and other pathogens. Disease-causing parasitic organisms contain polyamine metabolic enzymes that are structurally distinct from their human counterparts, or that do not exist in humans, and thus these enzymes represent attractive targets for antiparasitic drug discovery. The symposium will be interdisciplinary in nature; thus far, participants with expertise in molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, synthetic chemistry, and structural biology have expressed interest in attending. The meeting will be composed of a series of 30 min talks given by meeting participants and will include a poster session for students and postdoctoral fellows to present their work. A keynote presentation and a round table discussion are also planned. Topics will include: polyamine metabolic pathways in protozoan parasites and other pathogens, validation of polyamine enzyme drug targets, biochemical and structural characterization of polyamine enzymes, drug discovery and inhibitor design, and drug resistance mechanisms. The goal of the symposium is to assess the most recent state of research in the area of polyamines in parasites, develop new scientific collaborations and coordinate drug discovery efforts, with the aim of identifying effective drug treatments for uncontrolled parasitic diseases. Participants will include principal investigators, postdoctoral fellows, and students from both United States and international laboratories that are working directly in the area of the meeting, as well as local Oregon students at the graduate and undergraduate level. The symposium was initiated in Hamburg, Germany, in 2000, and has been held biennially in San Antonia, TX, (2002); New York, NY, (2004); Portland, OR, (2006); Detroit, MI (2008); and Phalaborwa, South Africa (2010). PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The 7th Biennial Symposium on Polyamines in Parasites, to be held at Pacific University in the summer of 2012, is a meeting focused on the polyamine pathway as a potential drug target. Parasites cause severe morbidity and mortality predominantly in developing countries and the need for new therapeutic strategies is urgent. The goal of the meeting is to discuss recent scientific developments and to foster communication, networking, and collaborations.