EPIGENETICS, CHROMATIN & TRANSCRIPTION

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) This application seeks partial funding for a FASEB Summer Conference on "Epigenetics, Chromatin & Transcription", to be held July 31- August 5, 2011 in Snowmass, Colorado. This conference represents a continuation of a highly successful meeting that has met every two years since 1991. The major goal of this conference is to fulfill a critical need for a forum in which the forefront of several disciplines converging on epigenetic regulation and disease can meet to review key developments in this growing field, and to foster and inspire new research directions. One key consideration is that epigenetic research encompasses a wide diversity of sub-areas, and this meeting is unique in endeavoring to bring together these multiple aspects. The convergence of structural, biochemical, genetic, and systems approaches at this meeting, as well as focus on stem cell biology, development, and disease underscores the benefits of bringing together researchers from widely differing disciplines to report on their most recent findings in this dynamic field. From inception, the FASEB Chromatin and Transcription Conference has welcomed and fostered diverse research approaches resulting in exciting and synergistic presentations and discussions. The investigators now include "Epigenetics" in the title, to reflect the growing interest in persistent chromatin regulatory states in development and disease. This conference attracts a strong international group of regular attendees and speakers, and, indeed, is one of the most consistently successful FASEB meetings. In addition, to expand the interest area, the investigators have included a new cohort of speakers, to ensure a diversity and energy of ideas arising in this dynamic field. Further, they intend to further diversify the speaker group, by selecting additional speakers, both principal investigators and post-doctoral scientists, from abstracts. The specific objectives of the meeting are: 1) To provide an expansive and critical review of the field of chromatin and epigenetic regulation, including traditional topics such as the enzymes that regulate transcription. The meeting extends into other key areas, such as new structural biology of large complexes, RNA regulation of chromatin, novel technologies (e.g. systems biology), important physiological areas (e.g. stem cell and developmental biology), as well as disease areas (e.g. cancer, aging, and environmental impact). 2) To advance cutting-edge research in this expanding field, through presentation and lively discussion of novel breakthroughs. 3) To bring together senior and junior scientists of all ranks, encouraging wide- ranging discussions and promoting the development of young scientists. Public Health Relevance: The major goal of this conference is to bring together researchers from various disciplines to report on their most recent findings in the fields of epigenetics, chromatin and transcription. Chromatin regulation impacts on every event in the nucleus and thus every process in which a cell participates. How chromatin both retains its structure while providing sufficient flexibility to enable efficient transactions, including DNA replication, repair, recombination, and transcription is fascinating and an area of continued remarkable discoveries. Thus it is widely held that there are still huge insights and new paradigms to be uncovered. This conference will contribute to the rapid advancement of research on: the basic mechanisms by which chromatin structures are maintained and inherited, the role of novel enzyme activities, the mechanism by which events on chromatin respond to developmental and environmental signals, and questions of stem and tissue specification and how these are altered in disease states, such as diabetes, cancer, and aging. In particular, this year the investigators newly include "epigenetics" in the title of the conference, to reflect a greatly expanding interest in changes in chromatin structure that underlie development and disease states, and, in the latter case, that may be amenable to "epigenetic therapy" to reverse or ameliorate the disease condition.