2009 Stem Cells and Cancer Gordon Conference

描述(由申请者提供)：第二届戈登干细胞与癌症研究会议将集中于整合有关正常干细胞自我更新的调节和细胞重编程以及这些过程如何在癌症中被破坏的现有知识。干细胞在正常发育和多种人类疾病中发挥着关键作用。最近的证据表明，干细胞与衰老、癌症和遗传性疾病等器官(如肠道、皮肤、大脑和血液)有关。此外，了解干细胞自我再生的过程有望用于糖尿病、中风、心脏病发作、癌症、遗传性和获得性肌营养不良、脊索损伤和某些出生缺陷等疾病的细胞治疗。最后，关于干细胞和癌症的GRC与生物恐怖主义有关，特别是与根除血液、肠道和大脑干细胞的辐射线索有关。正常干细胞的扩增受到遗传因素的制约。癌症干细胞在扩增过程中逃脱了这些限制，导致了自我更新细胞群体的扩张。本次会议的目标是了解目前对癌症干细胞的细胞和分子生物学的最新研究。本次会议将探讨的主题包括癌症干细胞的生态位、癌症干细胞的起源细胞、细胞重新编程、正常干细胞和癌症干细胞自我更新的调控，以及作为治疗靶点的癌症干细胞。具体目的是：1.探讨调控正常干细胞自我更新的分子机制，以及癌基因和抑癌基因在这一过程中的作用。2.探索癌细胞自我更新与正常干细胞的不同之处。3.探讨在常见癌症发生的器官中正常干细胞发育层次的组织。4.探索控制分化细胞重编程为诱导多能干细胞的新的分子途径。5.介绍干细胞与正常基质细胞成分/生态位信号相互作用的最新研究。6.探讨可特异性识别正常和癌症干细胞的新细胞标记物7.讨论针对自我更新的癌细胞开发治疗方法的新策略。 公共卫生相关性：干细胞是正常器官和组织功能的核心，干细胞的损伤可能在癌症和许多人类疾病的发展中发挥作用。此外，干细胞替代疗法可能被证明对纠正损伤或疾病造成的器官损害有用。因此，这次会议对人类健康的许多方面都有重大影响，包括癌症、衰老、糖尿病、心脏病、脊索损伤和中风。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This second Gordon Research Conference on Stem cells & Cancer will focus on integrating current knowledge concerning the regulation of self-renewal of normal stem cells and on cellular reprogramming and how these processes are disrupted in cancer. Stem cells play a critical role in normal development and a myriad of human diseases. Recent evidence has implicated stem cells in processes such as aging, cancer and hereditary diseases organs such as the gut, skin, brain and blood. In addition, understanding the process by which stem cells regenerate themselves holds promise for cell therapy for diseases such as diabetes, stroke, heart attacks, cancer, hereditary and acquired muscular dystrophy, spinal chord injury, and certain birth defects. Finally, this GRC on Stem Cells and Cancer has relevance to bioterrorism, in particular related to the thread of radiation that eradicates stem cells of the blood, gut and brain. Expansion of normal stem cells is under genetic constraints. Cancer stem cells have escaped these limitations on expansion resulting in expansion of the self-renewing cell populations. The goals of this meeting are to understand present the most current research into the cellular and molecular biology of cancer stem cells. Topics that will be explored in this meeting are the cancer stem cell niche, the cell of origin of cancer stem cells, Cellular reprogramming, regulation of stem cell self-renewal in normal stem cells and cancer, and cancer stem cells as therapeutic targets. Specific aims are: 1. To explore the molecular mechanisms that regulate normal stem cell self-renewal and the role that oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes play in this process. 2. To explore how cancer cell self-renewal differs from that of normal stem cells. 3. To discuss the organization of the developmental hierarchy of normal stem cells in organs in which common cancers arise. 4. To explore the emerging molecular pathways that govern reprogramming of differentiated cells into induced pluripotent stem cells. 5. To present the latest research investigating the interaction of stem cells with normal stromal cell components/niche signaling. 6. To discuss novel cellular markers that can specifically identify normal and cancer stem cells 7. To discuss emerging strategies to develop therapies specifically targeting self-renewing cancer cells. Public Health Relevance: Stem cells are central to the function of normal organs and tissues and damage to stem cells likely plays a role in the development of cancer and many human diseases. Furthermore, stem cell replacement therapy might prove useful for corrected organ damage from injury or disease. Thus, this conference has major implications in many aspects of human health including cancer, aging, diabetes, heart disease, spinal chord injury and stroke.