2nd ASM Conference on Cell-Cell Communication

描述（由申请人提供）：仅仅几年前，细菌之间交换化学信号或信息素被认为是例外而不是规则。少数细胞-细胞信号传导的例子已经得到了很好的描述，包括费氏弧菌和哈维弧菌的生物发光调节系统，粪肠球菌的偶联转移系统，链霉菌的抗生素生产，以及黄粘球菌的多细胞子实体的发展。人们认为大多数细菌不使用细胞间的通讯。细菌中的细胞-细胞信号在当时被认为是一个有趣的研究课题，但对人类健康没有根本的重要性。在过去的十年里，大量的细菌间信号传导的新例子被报道。这些系统调节了许多不同的过程，如毒力、孢子形成、抗生素生产、DNA交换和多细胞结构的发育。现在人们了解到，事实上，大多数细菌是通过分泌的化学分子相互交流的。细胞间通讯系统是令人着迷的，因为它们允许细菌协调控制整个群落的基因表达。这种能力从根本上模糊了单细胞和多细胞生命形式之间的区别。这些信号系统中的一些对人类健康也非常重要，因为它们调节细菌病原体的毒力决定因素。由于最近在细菌细胞-细胞通讯领域的研究爆炸式增长，以及它在引发人类疾病中的新发现，ASM在2001年夏天举办了一次专门讨论细胞-细胞信号的会议。这次会议受到了与会者的好评，因此ASM承诺为这个主题提供一个持续的场所，并将于2004年7月举办第二次会议。会议将在加拿大落基山脉的阿尔伯塔省班夫举行。美国国立卫生研究院慷慨地支持了第一次由ASM发起的关于这个主题的会议，并支持了许多研究细菌中细胞-细胞通信的研究人员，希望美国国立卫生研究院能为即将到来的会议提供财政援助。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Only a few years ago, the exchange of chemical signals, or pheromones, between bacteria was considered the exception rather than the rule. A small number of examples of cell-cell signaling had been well described, including the bioluminescence regulatory systems of Vibrio fischeri and Vibrio harveyi, the conjugal transfer system of Enterococcus faecatis, the production of antibiotics by Streptomyces spp., and the development of multicellular fruiting bodies of Myxococcus xanthus. It was assumed that cell-cell communication was not used by most bacteria. Cell-cell signaling in bacteria was considered at that time to be an interesting subject of research, but not one of fundamental importance to human health. In the past ten years, an enormous number of new examples of inter-bacterial signaling have been reported. These systems regulate a number of processes as diverse as virulence, sporulation, antibiotic production, DNA exchange, and development of multicellular structures. It is now understood that, in fact, most bacteria communicate with one another using secreted chemical molecules. Inter-cellular communication systems are fascinating because they allow bacteria to coordinately control the gene expression of the entire community. This ability fundamentally blurs the distinction between unicellular and multicellular forms of life. Several of these signaling systems are also extremely important to human health, because they regulate the virulence determinants of bacterial pathogens. Because of the recent explosion in research in the area of cell-cell communication in bacteria and its newly discovered role in eliciting human disease, the ASM hosted a conference devoted to cell-cell signaling during the summer of 2001. This meeting was so well received by its participants that the ASM became committed to provide an ongoing venue for this topic, and will host a second conference in July of 2004. The conference will be held at Banff, Alberta, in the Canadian Rockies. The NIH generously supported the first ASM sponsored meeting on this topic, and has supported many of the investigators that study cell-cell communication in bacteria, and it is hoped that the NIH will provide financial assistance for this upcoming conference.