2009 Gordon Research Conference on Cartilage Biology and Pathology

描述(由申请人提供)：这是一个非常成功的软骨生物学和病理学戈登研究系列会议中的第四次会议，将于2009年6月7日至12日在瑞士Les Diableret举行。在前几届会议成功的基础上，这次会议汇集了杰出的高级和初级科学家以及高级研究生和博士后研究员，进行为期4.5天的正式报告、非正式讨论和互动以及海报演示。与会者对软骨生物学和病理学有共同的兴趣，但代表了广泛的学科，包括发育和进化生物学、细胞外基质生物化学、细胞和分子生物学、机械生物学和组织工程、病理学、遗传学和整形外科。软骨是一种非凡的组织，具有几种重要的功能。在骨骼发育过程中，未来骨骼的模型主要由软骨制成。通过一系列复杂的细胞过程，这些软骨模型被骨髓和骨组织取代，除了末端仍有一块软骨区域作为生长板软骨，以及最后一层软骨作为一层光滑的减震结构，允许骨骼在关节相交的地方自由移动。最后，脊椎椎体之间的特殊软骨层具有减震和弹性，可以使身体弯曲和扭曲。长骨中的生长板软骨和颅底骨骼之间的薄层软骨层对于儿童和青春期长骨的长度增加和容纳成长中的大脑所需的头骨扩大至关重要。当软骨功能丧失时，后果可能是严重的，从出生时死亡到骨骼生长减慢，或者老年成年人的关节和脊柱退行性疾病。几十年来对软骨及其疾病的研究已经导致了对疾病的易感因素和细胞机制的识别。在调控软骨形成细胞的形成、生长板软骨的功能和关节形成的基因和分子机制的理解方面也取得了很大进展。与此同时，干细胞生物学和组织工程学的进步正在为有一天修复或刺激退化的软骨再生的可能性打开大门。然而，在开发基于知识的治疗策略以预防或减缓骨关节炎和脊柱退行性变化的进展、治疗影响生长板功能的突变的后果或修复/再生有缺陷的软骨之前，仍有许多事情需要了解。会议的目的是促进跨学科研究，以推动实现这些目标的进展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a request for support of the fourth meeting in a highly successful series of Gordon Research Conferences on Cartilage Biology and Pathology, to be held at the Les Diablerets, Switzerland, June 7-12, 2009. Building on the success of the previous conferences, the meeting brings together outstanding senior and junior scientists and advanced graduate students and postdoctoral fellows for a 4.5 -day program of formal presentations, informal discussions and interactions and poster presentations. The participants share an interest in cartilage biology and pathology but represent a broad range of disciplines, including developmental and evolutionary biology, extracellular matrix biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, mechanobiology and tissue engineering, pathology, genetics, and orthopedics. Cartilage is a remarkable tissue that has several crucial functions. During skeletal development, models of the future bones are mostly made of cartilage. By a complex series of cellular processes these cartilage models are replaced by bone marrow and bone tissue, except towards the ends where a region of cartilage remains as growth plate cartilage, and at the very end, where a layer of cartilage serves as a slippery, shock-absorbing structure to allow bones to freely move where they meet in joints. Finally, a shock-absorbing and elastic layer of specialized cartilage between the vertebral bodies in the spine allows bending and twisting of the body. Growth plate cartilage in long bones and thin layers of cartilage between bones at the base of the skull are crucial for the increase in length of long bones during childhood and adolescence and the enlargement of the skull needed to accommodate the growing brain. When cartilage fails the consequences can be severe, ranging from death around birth to reduced growth of the skeleton or degenerative joint and spine disease in the aging adult. Several decades of research into cartilage and its disorders have led to identification of predisposing factors and cellular mechanisms of disease. Great strides have also been made in the understanding of genes and molecular mechanisms that regulate formation of cartilage-forming cells, the functions of growth plate cartilage and the formation of joints. At the same time advances in stem cell biology and tissue engineering is opening the door to the possibility that degenerating cartilage can one day be repaired or stimulated to regenerate. However, much remains to be understood before knowledge-based therapeutic strategies can be developed to prevent or slow down progression of osteoarthritis and degenerative changes in the spine, treat the consequences of mutations that affect growth plate function or repair/regenerate defective cartilage. The aim of the meeting is to stimulate interdisciplinary research to advance progression towards these goals.