Conference Proposal: Protein Folding in the Cell

描述（由申请人提供）：我们请求资金支持下三届美国实验生物学家联合会（FASEB）关于“细胞中的蛋白质折叠”的夏季会议，从2002年7月27日至8月1日在佛特州萨克斯顿河举行的会议开始。提议的会议将是一系列非常成功的FASEB会议中的第七、第八和第九次。这次会议的独特之处在于，它的目标是将细胞生物学家/遗传学家和生物物理学家/生物化学家聚集在一起，解决蛋白质折叠和错误折叠的复杂问题以及对人类疾病的影响。这是1990年第一次会议背后的概念，它仍然是来自不同背景的科学家的独特机会。大多数蛋白质折叠会议要么考虑折叠的理论和体外方面，要么考虑分子伴侣和蛋白质折叠催化剂在细胞中的作用。然而，对跨学科方法的需求比以往任何时候都更强烈。细胞生物学已经发展到达到一个机制的理解是至关重要的，生物约束在制定理论和解释体外数据中起着关键作用。除了研究体外折叠和分子伴侣机制的最新进展外，本次会议还将重点讨论蛋白质跨膜易位、蛋白质在疾病中的错误折叠、膜蛋白的折叠、金属蛋白的折叠、伴侣蛋白在信号转导中的新作用以及蛋白质降解。蛋白质的错误折叠及其潜在后果对人类疾病至关重要。寻找治疗策略需要对多肽链的行为和细胞环境以及对其施加的限制有基本的了解。我们的目标是将物理和生物科学家聚集在一个互动的环境中，促进对方法、实验局限性的教育和理解，并探索共同的兴趣。这次会议的规模小，环境孤立，所有参与者都在附近居住和用餐，促进了最佳的科学交流。会议形式将为非正式讨论提供广泛的场所。海报会议将允许所有参与者与其他研究者进行科学互动。年轻的研究人员和妇女将在演讲者中有充分的代表，并鼓励他们参加会议。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We request funding to support the next three Federation of American Society of Experimental Biologists (FASEB) Summer Conferences on "Protein Folding in the Cell," beginning with the 2002 meeting to be held July 27 to August 1, in Saxtons River, VT. The proposed conferences will be the seventh, eighth, and ninth in a series of highly successful FASEB Conferences on this topic. This meeting is unique in its goal of bringing together cell biologists/geneticists and biophysicists/biochemists to tackle the complex problems of protein folding and misfolding and implications for human disease. This was the concept behind the first conference in 1990, and it remains a unique opportunity for scientists from very diverse backgrounds. Most protein folding conferences consider either the theoretical and in vitro aspects of folding or the role of molecular chaperones and protein folding catalysts in the cell. However, the need for interdisciplinary approaches is stronger than ever. The cell biology has progressed to where reaching a mechanistic understanding is crucial, and biological constraints play a critical role in formulating theory and interpreting in vitro data. In addition to examining recent advances in in vitro folding and molecular chaperone mechanism, this meeting will focus on protein translocation across membranes, protein misfolding in diseases, folding of membrane proteins, folding of metalloproteins, newly recognized roles of chaperones in signal transduction, and protein degradation. Misfolding of proteins and potential consequences are of central importance in human disease. Finding therapeutic strategies requires a fundamental understanding of the behavior of the polypeptide chain and the cellular environment and constraints imposed on it. Our goal is to bring together physical and biological scientists in an interactive environment, to promote education and understanding of the approaches, experimental limitations and to explore common interests. The small size and isolated setting of this meeting with all participants residing and taking their meals in close proximity promotes optimal scientific exchange. The conference format will provide extensive arenas for informal discussions. Poster sessions will allow all participants to interact scientifically with other investigators. Young investigators and women will be well-represented among speakers and encouraged to attend the conference.