2012 Diffraction Methods in Molecular Biology Gordon Research Conference

描述(由申请人提供)：我们请求部分支持将于2012年7月15-20日在缅因州刘易斯顿的贝茨学院举行的“结构生物学中的衍射方法”戈登研究会议(GRC)。会议的具体目的是提供一个论坛，介绍和讨论衍射法各方面的最新进展和新想法，从结晶到模型建立和改进。这一领域的进展使得了解感兴趣的分子的机制和它们的相互作用模式成为可能，并为以有利于人类健康的方式调节它们的活动提供了机会。会议将重点介绍在原核和真核核糖体等分子的结构确定、重要抗生素靶标的确定以及固有膜蛋白结构方面取得突破的方法，这些结构与许多疾病有关，是现有药物的近四分之三的靶标。另一个讨论领域将是开发复杂和高效的X射线源和实验数据收集站，它们在这些进步中发挥着重要作用，将有用样本大小的范围扩大到微米级，并促进许多领先制药公司结构辅助药物开发计划所需的数百个数据集的快速收集。 该全球资源中心的主要长期目标是促进不断发展方法，以扩大可成功解决的目标范围，这是通过在一个非常有助于建立新的合作的环境中，通过实地领导人之间的思想交流来实现的。会议还提供了有用的新工具和想法，以协助与会者在其研究项目中取得进展，并有望培养青年科学家对方法开发的兴趣。 2012年的会议将由Ana Gonzalez(斯坦福同步辐射光源)主持，Anastassis Perrakis(荷兰癌症研究所)担任副主席，并将包括该领域许多关键软件和硬件开发商的演讲。会议专题是根据对上述关键科学挑战的潜在影响选定的，将包括结晶、数据收集和分析、同步加速器开发、补充技术(例如SAXS、光谱学)、结构解决和改进、挑战性问题(重点是膜蛋白质)、结构验证以及自由电子激光成像和衍射实验。 与公共卫生相关：2012年结构生物学中的衍射方法戈登研究会议旨在通过提供一个论坛来介绍和讨论该领域的最新方法学发展，从而促进在大分子结构测定中使用的技术。这一领域的发展极大地提高了我们确定蛋白质、核酸及其组装的三维形状的能力。结构知识可以直接应用于在分子水平上理解导致疾病的过程，并用于设计更有效、更具体和更有效的药物。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We request partial support for the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on "Diffraction Methods in Structural Biology" to be held at Bates College, Lewiston, Maine from July 15-20, 2012. The specific aim of the conference is to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of recent advances and new ideas in all aspects of diffraction methods, ranging from crystallization to model building and refinement. Progress in this field makes it possible to understand the mechanism of the molecules of interest and their modes of interaction, and provides an opportunity to modulate their activity in a way that is beneficial to human health. The conference will highlight the approaches responsible for breakthroughs in the structure determination of molecules such as prokaryotic and eukaryotic ribosomes and the identification of targets for important antibiotics, as well as intrinsic membrane protein structures, which are involved in many diseases and are the targets of almost three quarters of existing medicinal drugs. Another area of discussion will be the development of sophisticated and efficient x-ray sources and experimental data collection stations, which play a large role in these advances, extending the range of useful sample sizes into the micron scale and facilitating the rapid collection of the hundreds of datasets required fo structure-assisted drug development programs by many leading pharmaceutical companies. The main long term goal of this GRC is to contribute to the continuous development of methods to extend the range of targets that can be tackled successfully This is achieved by the exchange of ideas amongst the leaders of the field in an environment which is highly conductive to the establishment of new collaborations. The meeting also provides useful new tools and ideas to assist participants to make progress in their research projects and is expected to foster interest in methods development amongst young scientists. The 2012 meeting will be chaired by Ana Gonzalez (Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource), with Anastassis Perrakis (Netherlands Cancer Institute) as vice chair, and will include presentations from many of the key software and hardware developers in the field. Session topics have been selected on the basis of their potential impact on the key scientific challenges described above, and will include crystallization, data collection and analysis, synchrotron developments, complementary techniques (e.g. SAXS, spectroscopy), structure solution and refinement, challenging problems (with an emphasis on membrane proteins), structure validation and imaging and diffraction experiments at free electron lasers. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The 2012 Gordon Research Conference in Diffraction Methods in Structural Biology seeks to advance the techniques used in macromolecular structure determination by providing a forum for the presentation and discussion of recent methodological developments in the field. Developments in this area greatly increase our ability to determine the three-dimensional shape of proteins, nucleic acids and their assemblies. Structure knowledge can be directly applied to the understanding of the processes that cause illness at the molecular level and to the design of more potent, specific and efficient drugs.