GRC Macromolecular Organization & Cell Function

描述（由申请人提供）：戈登大分子组织和细胞功能研究会议自1987年以来每两年召开一次。该提案要求为该系列的第11次会议和霍利奥克山学院的第一次会议提供部分资金；过去的五届会议在英国牛津大学皇后学院举行。至于所有的戈登会议，会议的人数限制为125人。本次会议将重点关注活细胞内部组织所发挥的基本功能作用，以提供对特定分子成分之间的相互作用如何促进基本细胞功能的系统级理解。亚细胞组织通常是短暂的，如分子马达与细胞骨架的动态相互作用，信号转导途径中的大分子，或代谢途径中的酶成分。许多这些相互作用依赖于完整细胞内存在的独特条件和区隔，这些条件和区隔被常规体外方法干扰甚至破坏。重点放在解释生化和结构数据的光已知的细胞内条件，包括蛋白质和代谢物的空间分布。讨论了大分子组装的研究，无创成像，第二信使信号通路的细胞拓扑结构，以及细胞蛋白质和代谢物的全局分析。此外，理论建模，包括处理大量生物信息学数据的机制的开发和测试，是会议的主要重点，基于认识到复杂的相互作用很难在没有计算工具的情况下进行研究。传统上，参加会议的科学家有着广泛的兴趣和专业知识，从实验家到理论家，来自广泛的学科。有积极的跨学科讨论，这已经极大地刺激和宝贵的参与者，这也促进了许多合作。会议本身一直受到与会者的高度评价。鼓励妇女和少数民族以及博士后和研究生的参与。虽然大部分项目现在已经到位，但仍有几个名额是开放的，将在明年初填补，以介绍这个快速发展领域的最新发展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Gordon Research Conference on Macromolecular Organization and Cell Function has met biannually since 1987. This proposal requests partial funding for the11th conference in this series and the first at Mt. Holyoke College; the past 5 conferences have been held at Queens College in Oxford, UK. As for all Gordon Conferences, the meeting is limited to 125 participants. The proposed conference will focus on the essential functional role played by the internal organization of the living cell to provide a systems level understanding of how interactions between specific molecular constituents contribute to basic cell function. Subcellular organization often is transient, as in the dynamic interactions of molecular motors with the cytoskeleton, of macromolecules in signal transduction pathways, or of the enzymic components of metabolic pathways. Many of these interactions depend on the unique conditions and compartmentation that exist within the intact cell that are disturbed or even destroyed using conventional in vitro approaches. Emphasis is placed on interpretation of biochemical and structural data in the light of known intracellular conditions including the spatial distribution of proteins and metabolites. Discussed are studies on macromolecular assemblies, noninvasive imaging, cellular topology of second messenger signaling pathways, and the global analysis of cellular proteins and metabolites. In addition, theoretical modeling, including the development and testing of mechanisms for handling large amounts of bioinformatics data, is a major emphasis of the conference based on the recognition that complex interactions are very difficult to study without computational tools. The conference is traditionally attended by scientists with a wide range of interests and expertise, ranging from experimentalists to theorists, and from a wide range of disciplines. There is active cross-disciplinary discussion that has been greatly stimulating and valuable to the participants, and which has also fostered numerous collaborations. The meeting itself has consistently been judged very highly by the participants. The participation of women and minorities, as well as post-doctoral and graduate students is encouraged. Although much of the program is now in place, several slots are being kept open, to be filled early next year, for presentations on the most recent developments in this rapidly moving field.