Cell Death Pathways: Beyond Apoptosis

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案要求支持由Serge Przedborski和Richard J. Youle组织的题为“细胞死亡途径：超越凋亡”的Keystone专题会议，该会议将于2012年3月19日至24日在加拿大阿尔伯塔省班夫举行。越来越多的证据表明，疾病中的细胞死亡是发生在退化细胞内（细胞自主）和退化细胞外（非细胞自主）的分子机制之间复杂相互作用的结果。在这些不同信号通路的十字路口发现了线粒体，线粒体通过适当的线粒体动力学和自噬（即线粒体自噬）调节线粒体消除，在维持细胞健康中起着至关重要的作用。本次会议将重点讨论细胞死亡的一般机制，包括Bcl-2家族和caspase蛋白酶，线粒体动力学和线粒体自噬的作用，生物信息学对揭示死亡途径的有用性，非细胞自主机制对细胞死亡的贡献，以及保护细胞死亡的治疗策略。同时举行的线粒体动力学和功能会议将大大增加跨学科互动的机会，该会议将与本次会议共享主题演讲和两次全体会议。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal requests support for a Keystone Symposia meeting entitled Cell Death Pathways: Beyond Apoptosis, organized by Serge Przedborski and Richard J. Youle, which will be held in Banff, Alberta, Canada from March 19 - 24, 2012. Mounting evidence indicates that cell death in diseases results from complex interactions between molecular mechanisms taking place within the degenerating cells (cell-autonomous) and outside the degenerating cells (non-cell autonomous). At the cross road of these diverse signaling pathways are found the mitochondria which, through proper mitochondrial dynamics and regulated mitochondrial elimination by autophagy (i.e., mitophagy), play a crucial role in maintaining the well-being of the cells. This meeting will focus on the general mechanisms of cell death including the Bcl-2 family and caspase proteases, the role of mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy, the usefulness of bioinformatics to unravel death-pathways, the contribution of non-cell autonomous mechanisms to cell death, and on therapeutic strategies to protect against cell death. Opportunities for interdisciplinary interactions will be significantly enhanced by the concurrent meeting on Mitochondrial Dynamics and Function, which will share a keynote address and two plenary sessions with this meeting. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: In the healthy human adult, more than one million cells die each second to avoid the accumulation of superfluous, ectopic, damaged, aged or mutated cells. Hence, cell death and its regulation are of central importance for biomedical research at many levels: for understanding normal tissue biology and the pathogenesis of numerous diseases, for pharmacological interventions that prevent unwarranted cell death, as well as for the therapeutic destruction of tumor cells. The Keystone Symposia meeting on Cell Death Pathways: Beyond Apoptosis will bring together investigators from many distinct fields in order to facilitate new ideas regarding the means by which cell death can be manipulated for therapeutic purposes.