7th US-Japan Seminar on Biosyntyhesis of Natural Products 6/22-26/2008

描述(申请人提供)：天然产品仍然是新药和药物先导的最佳来源，天然产品的生物合成继续推动化学、生物化学以及最近的结构生物学的前沿。自2001年上一次研讨会以来，在天然产品的生物合成方面取得了重大进展。在本申请中，我们建议于2008年6月22日至26日在加利福尼亚州圣地亚哥举办主题为“酶学、结构生物学和药物发现”的“第七届美日天然产物生物合成研讨会”。研讨会的总体目的是将来自美国和日本的顶尖研究人员聚集在一起，讨论天然产品生物合成的这些快速发展的方面。在基因组学、结构生物学和一系列重组DNA技术的迅速涌现的影响下，天然产物生物合成领域正在经历并可能在未来十年继续取得重大增长和发展。在这个时候组织研讨会的主要目的是讨论对天然产物生物合成感兴趣的科学家如何利用基因组测序产生的大量信息和快速获得天然产物生物合成基因簇，利用新兴技术来研究支配天然产物生物合成的基础化学、生物化学和遗传学，并使天然产物在药物发现和开发中的潜力恢复活力和充分发挥。参与者之间的智力互动，来自广泛的学科背景，包括该领域的老牌领导者、新成立的研究人员，以及研究生和博士后，将对这种增长如何发生产生强大的影响。在40名美国学者中，26人是第一次参加这次研讨会，19人在2001年后开始了他们的独立职业生涯，其中包括越来越多的女性和少数民族。这次研讨会将为所有与会者之间建立联系、交流科学思想和研究工具以及建立合作提供一个理想的环境。此外，研讨会是初级参与者与该领域领导者互动的绝佳机会，对于希望从事这一学术努力的学生和博士后来说，也是一次极好的经验和鼓励。影响和医学相关性天然产品仍然是药物和药物先导的最佳来源，排名前25位的药物几乎都是天然产品或以天然产品为基础的。了解这些化合物的生物合成对于它们的发酵生产、对生物合成途径的控制、生产具有更理想性质的衍生物以及发现新的化合物是必不可少的。本次研讨会将汇集美国和日本的顶尖研究人员，讨论对天然产物生物合成感兴趣的科学家如何利用基因组测序产生的海量信息和快速获取天然产物生物合成基因簇，并利用新兴技术来研究支配天然产物生物合成的基础化学、生物化学和遗传学，从而振兴和充分发挥天然产物在药物发现和开发中的潜力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Natural products remain to be the best sources of new drugs and drug leads, and biosynthesis of natural products continues to push the frontiers of chemistry, biochemistry, and, more recently, structural biology. Major advances have been made in the biosynthesis of natural products since the last Seminar in 2001. In this application, we propose to hold the "7th US-Japan Seminar on the Biosynthesis of Natural Products" with thematic topics on "Enzymology, Structural Biology, and Drug Discovery" on June 22-26, 2008 in San Diego, California. The general purpose of the Seminar is to bring together leading researchers from the United States and Japan to discuss these rapidly developing aspects of natural product biosynthesis. Under the impact of genomics, structural biology, and rapid emergence of a suite of recombinant DNA technologies, the field of natural product biosynthesis is undergoing and likely to continue major growth and development over the next decade. The primary aim in organizing the Seminar at this time is to discuss how scientists interested in biosynthesis of natural products can exploit the enormous amount of information being generated from genome sequencing and rapid access to natural product biosynthetic gene clusters, take advantage of the emerging technologies to address the fundamental chemistry, biochemistry, and genetics governing natural product biosynthesis, and rejuvenate and fully realize the potential of natural products in drug discovery and development. The intellectual interactions among the participants, drawn from a broad range of disciplinary backgrounds and including established leaders of the field, newly minted investigators, and graduate students and postdocs, will have a strong influence on how this growth occurs. Among the 40 U.S. academic participants, 26 are first-timers to this Seminar and 19 started their independent career after 2001, including an increased number of women and minorities. This Seminar will provide an ideal environment for networking, exchanging scientific ideas and research tools, and establishing collaboration among all participants. Further, the Seminar is an outstanding opportunity for the junior participants to interact with leaders in the field, and serves as a great experience and encouragement to students and postdocs who wish to pursue this line of academic endeavor. IMPACT AND MEDICAL RELEVANCE Natural products remain to be the best sources of drugs and drug leads with almost all of the top 25 drugs either natural products or based on them. Understanding the biosynthesis of these compounds is essential for their production by fermentation and for the manipulation of the biosynthetic pathway for the production of derivatives with more desirable properties and for the discovery of new ones. This Seminar will bring together leading researchers from the United States and Japan to discuss how scientists interested in biosynthesis of natural products can exploit the enormous amount of information being generated from genome sequencing and rapid access to natural product biosynthetic gene clusters and take advantage of the emerging technologies to address the fundamental chemistry, biochemistry, and genetics governing natural product biosynthesis, thereby rejuvenate and fully realize the potential of natural products in drug discovery and development.