2007 Cell-Cell Fusion

描述(申请人提供)：首届细胞-细胞融合戈登研究会议将于2007年7月1日至6日在新罕布夏州的科尔比-索耶学院举行。这一新的GRC是在2002年和2003年连续两次在美国细胞生物学学会举行的关于“细胞-细胞融合”的“特殊兴趣”小组会议之后进行的，这位首席研究员组织了这两次会议。细胞与自身以及与其他细胞的融合已经成为越来越多的细胞生物学家的研究重点，并已成长为新的GRC的主题。细胞-细胞融合会议的独特之处在于其对新兴细胞融合领域的新发展的报道的新颖性、广度和深度。戈登研究会议的形式与几乎所有其他科学会议的不同之处在于，它为公开、自由和非正式的讨论提供了广泛的机会。参加人数限制在130人左右，与会者包括来自学术界和工业界的国际领袖、青年研究人员、博士后研究员和学生。这个新的戈登会议作为讨论最新研究进展的论坛之所以成功，归功于其有限的规模、地理上的孤立和整体结构。这次新的会议将聚焦于生物学的一个新兴领域，即细胞在发育、修复和疾病过程中相互融合的领域。它将包括两个关于膜融合和病毒融合的介绍性会议，随后是关于精子-卵母细胞融合、成肌细胞融合以及在线虫、粗糙脉孢菌、衣藻和酵母交配中的融合的会议。最后三次会议将聚焦于巨噬细胞融合、干细胞融合和癌细胞融合。到目前为止，选定的讨论领导人和发言者都是细胞融合的国际领导者之一。主旨演讲嘉宾是膜聚变领域的世界顶尖专家之一。本申请的目的是申请资金，以支付发言者的注册费和生活费。这些资金如果得到批准，将极大地帮助戈登研究会议履行其功能，即在一个新兴的生物学领域激发创造力和互动。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The first Gordon Research Conference on Cell-Cell Fusion will take place in 2007, at Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire, July 1-6. This new GRC follows two successive "Special Interest" subgroup meetings on "Cell-Cell Fusion" that took place in 2002 and 2003 at the American Society for Cell Biology, and which this principal investigator organized. The fusion of cells with themselves, and with other cells, has become the research focus of an increasing number of cell biologists and has grown to the point of becoming the theme of a new GRC. The Cell-Cell Fusion conference is unique in the novelty, breadth, and depth of its coverage of new developments in the emerging field of cell fusion. The Gordon Research Conference format differs from virtually all other scientific meetings in providing an extensive opportunity for open, free, and informal discussions. The number of participants is limited to about 130, and attendees include international leaders in the field from the academic and industrial sector, young investigators, post-doctoral fellows, and students. The success of this new Gordon Conference as a forum for the discussion of state-of-the-art research advances is attributable to its limited size, geographical isolation, and overall structure. This new conference will focus on an emerging area of biology, that of the fusion of cells with each other during development, repair, and disease. It will include two introductory sessions on membrane fusion and viral fusion, followed by sessions on sperm-oocyte fusion, myoblast fusion, as well as fusion in C. elegans, Neurospora crassa, Chlamydomonas, and yeast mating. The last three sessions will focus on macrophage fusion, stem cell fusion, and fusion of cancer cells. The discussion leaders and speakers selected to date are among the international leaders of cell fusion. The keynote address speaker is one of the world's foremost experts in membrane fusion. The purpose of this application is to request funds to defray the costs of speakers' registration and subsistence. These funds, if granted, will aid immeasurably in allowing the Gordon Research Conference to fulfill its function, which is to stimulate creativity and interaction in an emerging field of biology.