Mechanotransduction & Gravity Signaling in Biol Systems

描述（由申请人提供）：第八届和第九届两年一次的戈登研究会议“生物系统中的机械转导和重力信号”将分别于2003年7月20日至25日和2005年7月22日至27日在康涅狄格学院举行。会议的主题是机械感应，一种古老的感官能力。预计将有100人参加，其中包括25名演讲者和13名讨论主持人。请拨经费支助20名初级参加者。这是机械感觉研究的一个激动人心的时刻。该领域正在迅速发展，特别是在机械转导的遗传方法领域。提出了一个非常好的支持模型来解释原核生物机械敏感通道的门控。包括蠕虫和果蝇在内的真核遗传模型系统已经确定了两类假定的机械感觉通道，DEG/EnaC和TRP通道，现在正在直接测试机械门控特性。随着对毛细胞和听觉功能重要的新蛋白质的鉴定，对斑马鱼、小鼠和人类的听力缺陷突变体的分析正在加速。除了在专业传感器上的工作，我们对非专业组织（骨、植物根和芽）的机械传感的理解也取得了重大进展。2003年会议的重点将继续是对机械感觉不同方面所需的蛋白质和细胞成分的分子和生理分析。2005年的会议将继续对单个机械转导组分进行阐述，但也将转向理解蛋白质复合物，尤其是对控制机械传感器张力的复杂机器至关重要的蛋白质复合物。拟议的会议将把通常不开会的科学家聚集在一起，因为他们研究不同的有机体（微生物、植物或动物）或不同种类的机械反应（专门的机械传感器的快速反应或骨骼或植物对持续力的缓慢反应），或者因为他们采用了广泛不同的方法（遗传学与生理学）。此外，戈登会议的形式促进了对有争议问题的非正式交流和讨论。这些因素将促进思想和方法的跨学科转移，并形成机械转导研究的新策略。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The 8th and 9th biennial Gordon Research Conference on "Mechanotransduction and Gravity Signaling in Biological Systems" will be held July 20-25, 2003 and July 22-27, 2005, respectively, at Connecticut College. The theme of the meeting is mechanosensing, an ancient sensory capability. About 100 participants are expected, including 25 speakers and 13 discussion leaders. Funding is requested to support 20 junior-level participants. This is an exciting time for research on mechanosensation. The field is rapidly growing, especially in the area of genetic approaches to mechanotransduction. A strikingly well supported model has been proposed to explain the gating of a prokaryotic mechanosensitive channel. Eukaryotic genetic model systems including worm and fruitfly have identified two classes of putative mechanosensory channels, DEG/EnaC and TRP channels, that are now being directly tested for mechanical gating properties. Analysis of hearing defective mutants in zebrafish, mice, and humans is accelerating with the identification of new proteins important for hair cell and auditory function. In addition to work on specialized sensors, there are major advances in our understanding of mechanosensing in nonspecialized tissues (bone, plant roots and shoots). The focus for the 2003 meeting will continue to be the molecular and physiological analysis of protein and cellular components needed for different aspects of mechanosensation. The 2005 meeting will continue the exposition of individual mechanotransduction components but will also move toward understanding the complexes of proteins especially critical for the intricate machines that control the tension on mechanosensors. The proposed meetings will bring together scientists who don't normally meet because they study different organisms (microbes, plants, or animals) or different kinds of mechanical responses (rapid responses in specialized mechanosensors or slow responses to sustained forces in bone or plants) or because they employ widely different approaches (genetics vs physiology). Moreover, the Gordon Conference format facilitates informal communications and discussions of controversial issues. These factors will promote inter-disciplinary transfer of ideas and approaches and the forming of new strategies for the study of mechanotransduction.