2009 Apoptotic Cell Recognition & Clearance Gordon Conference

描述（由申请人提供）：细胞凋亡或程序性细胞死亡在成年生物早期发育过程中的形态发生以及组织稳态的维持中起着关键作用。细胞凋亡的机制已被深入研究，凋亡途径的早期阶段即将被完全了解。然而，后期的事件，特别是凋亡细胞的命运，仍有待研究。将于2009年6月28日至7月3日在新罕布什尔州科尔比-索耶学院举行的戈登凋亡细胞识别与清除会议将讨论这一问题。这是相关研究领域唯一的定期国际会议，也是该系列的第四次会议：前三次会议分别于2003年、2005年和2007年举行。细胞凋亡通过吞噬作用在我们体内消失，吞噬作用是细胞吸收和消化其他细胞的一种生物学事件。可以想象，吞噬消除凋亡细胞是细胞凋亡的最终目的。感染微生物病原体的细胞被诱导发生凋亡并被吞噬作用清除。其他致病细胞一旦凋亡也会被清除。此外，吞噬凋亡细胞的吞噬细胞抑制炎症并激活获得性免疫。事实上，不能及时清除凋亡细胞往往会导致炎症、自身免疫性疾病、神经退行性疾病和癌症等疾病的发展。凋亡细胞清除机制可以人为激活，使病理细胞有效清除。因此，对凋亡细胞清除的分子基础的描述将导致医学在克服严重疾病方面的进步。在过去的会议上已经讨论了很多，但仍然有一些问题需要解决：什么分子负责吞噬细胞识别凋亡细胞；诱导吞噬的信号如何在吞噬细胞中传递；吞噬凋亡细胞的处理机制是什么？以及这种现象在医学上的应用前景。我们被认为已经接近解决方案了，因为在过去的几年里，已经发表了大量描述这类问题的论文。2009年的会议将汇集最新的知识和即将发表的观察结果，以获得更清晰的图像，了解凋亡细胞清除的机制和后果。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Apoptosis or programmed cell death plays a key role in the morphogenesis during early development as well as in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis in adult organisms. The mechanism of apoptosis has been intensely studied, and early stages of the apoptosis pathway are about to be fully understood. However, events in later stages, the fate of apoptotic cells in particular, remain to be characterized. The Gordon Conference on Apoptotic Cell Recognition & Clearance, to be held June 28~July 3, 2009 at Colby-Sawyer College, New Hampshire, will deal with this issue. This is the only regular international meeting in the relevant research field and will be the fourth meeting in this series: the previous ones were held in 2003, 2005, and 2007. Cells undergoing apoptosis disappear in our body through phagocytosis, a biological event in which cells take up and digest other cells. Conceivably, the phagocytic elimination of apoptotic cells is the ultimate objective of apoptosis. Cells infected with microbial pathogens are induced to undergo apoptosis and cleared by phagocytosis. Other pathogenic cells are also eliminated once they become apoptotic. Furthermore, phagocytes that have engulfed apoptotic cells suppress inflammation and activate acquired immunity. In fact, failure in the prompt clearance of apoptotic cells often leads to the development of diseases such as inflammation, autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. The machinery of apoptotic cell clearance could be artificially activated so that pathologic cells are effectively removed. Therefore, to delineate the molecular basis for apoptotic cell clearance should lead to medical advance toward overcoming serious diseases. Much has been discussed in the past meetings, but there still remain a number of issues to be solved: what molecules are responsible for the recognition of apoptotic cells by phagocytes; how signals for the induction of phagocytosis are transmitted in phagocytes; what mechanisms underlie processing engulfed apoptotic cells; and how promising is the medical application of this phenomenon. We are presumed to be close to a solution because strong papers describing such issues were published in the past couple of years. The 2009 meeting will assemble recent knowledge and upcoming unpublished observations to gain clearer images for the mechanisms and consequences of apoptotic cell clearance.