Receptor Tyrosine Kinases: Biology and Cancer

描述（由申请人提供）：我们正在为FASEB夏季研究会议寻求部分支持，该会议名为“受体酪氨酸激酶：生物学和癌症”，将于2010年6月27日至7月2日举行，并于2012年6月再次举行。由于受体串扰的最新进展、治疗进展以及对受体酪氨酸激酶（RTKs）在大脑和发育中的更深入了解，这样的会议是及时的。计划召开的会议是在1999年至2007年期间举行的一系列五次关于rtk的FASEB会议之后举行的。rtk在动物细胞生物学的许多方面都很重要，包括发育、神经科学和癌症。以前的会议强调了Met和ErbB家族的rtk，并且会议的出席人数逐年减少。我们已经采取了一些步骤来恢复会议的活力。首先，在保留RTKs和癌症的重点的同时，我们扩大了会议的范围，包括其他RTKs，其他信号机制，治疗干预的新进展以及RTKs发挥主要作用的发育和神经系统。这一更广泛的范围预计将吸引比以往兴趣更多样化的参与者。第二，我们将会议时间改为偶数年。之前的时间安排与另外两个会议产生了冲突，一个由FASEB主办，另一个由冷泉港主办，这两个会议讨论了与RTK会议类似的主题。这些变化，加上改进的广告和推广，以及令人兴奋的演讲者名单，将提高出席率，确保新会议的成功。FASEB会议是小型会议（100-150人），在亲密的环境中举行，最大限度地促进来自学术界和工业界的高级和初级科学家之间的互动。除邀请发言者外，我们将在全体会议上穿插从摘要中挑选的简短发言。33位受邀演讲者中有22位从未或在过去5年中没有出席过本次会议。他们包括已建立的和新独立的研究人员，男性和女性，国内和国际，解决RTK生物学和癌症的基本和应用问题的健康组合。海报环节将提供茶点，鼓励大家踊跃参与。请提供财政支助，以抵消受邀发言者的旅费，并为4名研究生或博士后级别的会议人员提供旅费和会议费用。有了这种支持，我们预期会议将成功实现其促进科学交流和刺激这一重要领域的新研究的目标。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We are seeking partial support for FASEB Summer Research Conferences entitled "Receptor Tyrosine Kinases: Biology and Cancer", to be held June 27 - July 2 2010 and again in June 2012. Such a conference is timely because of exciting recent developments in receptor cross talk, therapeutic advances, and deeper understanding of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases (RTKs) in the brain and development. The planned conferences follow a series of five FASEB conferences on RTKs that were held between 1999 and 2007. RTKs are important in many aspects of animal cell biology, including development, neuroscience and cancer. Previous conferences had an emphasis on RTKs of the Met and ErbB families, and the conferences had seen a dwindling attendance over the years. We have taken several steps to revitalize the meetings. First, while retaining an emphasis on RTKs and cancer, we have widened the scope of the meeting to include other RTKs, other signaling mechanisms, new advances in therapeutic interventions and developmental and neuronal systems in which RTKs play a major role. This broader scope is expected to attract participants with more diverse interests than previously. Second, we have rescheduled the meetings to even numbered years. The previous timing generated conflicts with two other conferences, one sponsored by FASEB and one by Cold Spring Harbor, which addressed similar topics to the RTK conference. These changes, combined with improved advertising and outreach, and an exciting slate of speakers, will boost attendance and ensure the success of the new meetings. FASEB Conferences are small (100-150 participants) meetings held in intimate settings that maximize interactions between senior and junior scientists from academia and industry. In addition to invited speakers, we will intersperse the plenary sessions with short talks selected from the abstracts. 22 of the 33 invited speakers have not presented at this conference ever or in the last 5 years. They include a healthy mix of established and newly-independent investigators, male and female, national and international, addressing basic and applied issues in RTK Biology and Cancer. Refreshments will be provided at the poster sessions to encourage full participation. Financial support is requested to offset travel costs for invited speakers and to fund the travel costs and conference fees for 4 graduate student or postdoctoral level conferees. With this support, we anticipate that the conference will succeed in its goal of promoting scientific exchange and stimulating new research in this important area. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This grant requests funding to partly support conferences focused on the roles of RTKs in normal biology and cancer. Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are molecules on the cell surface that receive signals from the outside and transmit them to the inside of the cell. They share an enzymatic activity that allows them to phosphorylate cell proteins on tyrosine when their extracellular regions are stimulated. There are many different RTKs in animal cells, and the particular RTKs that are expressed by a cell are important for the normal functions of that cell and the organization of tissues during development. In the nervous system, RTKs respond to signals that guide neuronal connections and ensure their survival. During embryonic development, RTKs help coordinate tissue and organ development by regulating cell proliferation, migration and differentiation. RTKs are frequently abnormal in cancer cells. RTKs are also important drug targets for cancer chemotherapy. The conferences will be open to scientists at all stages of their careers, and funding is sought to offset the travel costs of invited speakers and also of 4 student or postdoctoral participants.