FASEB Conference on Calcium and Cell Function; July 2-7, 1994; Saxtons River, Vermont

会议的总体目标是将研究钙的各个阶段及其在细胞功能中的作用的不同科学家聚集在一起。除了作为骨骼生长必需的矿物质外，细胞内钙水平的调节以及钙对细胞内靶标的作用影响着原核生物和真核生物细胞中几乎所有的初级生物活性。钙在细胞中的作用对于心脏和骨骼肌功能的调节、大脑中的神经元通讯、免疫细胞对感染的反应以及大多数其他关键的细胞功能至关重要。该领域提供了良好的生理学和病理生理学的交叉点，在分子水平上提供了对钙和细胞功能的见解的新发现。除正式会议外，会议期间将安排非正式研讨会，讨论当前钙研究中的问题。将举行海报会议，让所有与会者交流新信息并参与会议。演讲者将来自生理学、细胞生物学、生物化学、药理学、分子生物学和遗传学等各个领域。这个会议是一个重要的机制，通过这个机制，获得政府资助的科学家们可以交换信息，减少研究中的冗余，加快钙领域其他科学家将新发现纳入研究的速度。将涉及的主题是：钙结合蛋白的结构和功能——当细胞受到刺激时，钙传感器会向细胞发出信号；钙通道的分子特性——这些蛋白质调节钙进入细胞，触发细胞兴奋；细胞和细胞核中的钙信号——细胞中钙水平的变化如何在细胞内提供信息，以及这些信息如何在细胞内传递，以调节细胞分裂和特定基因的蛋白质产物的产生；人类疾病中的钙——上述细胞生物学研究的发现使肌肉萎缩症、中风、阿尔茨海默氏症和其他疾病在分子和细胞水平上得到更好的理解，并允许设计新的治疗方法，这将被讨论。

The overall goal of the conference is to bring together a diverse group of scientists working on all phases of calcium and its role in cell function. In addition to its role as an essential mineral for bone growth, regulation of calcium levels inside cells and the action of calcium on intracellular targets impinges on virtually every primary biological activity in cells from both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The action of calcium in cells is critical for regulation of cardiac and skeletal muscle function, neuronal communication in the brain, the response of immune cells to infection and in most other critical cellular functions. The field provides the intersection of well established physiology and pathophysiology with new findings at the molecular level that provide insights into calcium and cell function. In addition to the formal sessions, informal workshops will be arranged during the meeting to discuss current questions in calcium research. Poster sessions will be held to allow all attendees to exchange new information and participate in the conference. Speakers will be from various fields including physiology, cell biology, biochemistry, pharmacology, molecular biology and genetics. This meeting is an important mechanism by which scientists funded by government grants exchange information that reduces redundancy in research and increases the speed by which new discoveries are incorporated by other scientists across the calcium field. The topics to be covered are: Structure and function of calcium-binding proteins--these are the calcium sensors that indicate to cells when they have been stimulated; Molecular properties of calcium channels--these proteins regulate entry of calcium into cells that trigger cell excitation; Calcium signaling in the cell and the nucleus--how changes in calcium levels in cells is used to provide information within the cell and how this information is transmitted throughout the cell to regulate cell division and the produc tion of protein products from specific genes; Calcium in human diseases--findings from the studies on cell biology above have enabled muscular dystrophy, stroke, Alzheimer's and other diseases to be better understood at a molecular and cellular level and allows for design of new therapeutics which will be discussed.