FASEB SRC on Transcriptional Regulation During Cell Growth, Differentiation & Dev

申请者描述(由申请者提供)：申请资助将于2010年6月27日至7月2日在科罗拉多州斯诺马斯举行的为期5天的FASEB夏季研究会议“细胞生长、分化和发育过程中的转录调控”。人类的许多疾病和障碍，包括癌症和先天性出生缺陷，都与发育缺陷事件有关，这些事件在很大程度上是由基因转录模式的改变控制的。在过去的10-12年里，这些转录变化与染色质组织的变化有关。尽管在了解染色质重塑、基因转录和特定发育过程是如何联系的方面取得了很大进展，但一些基本问题仍然没有答案。例如，已经确定了一些组蛋白修饰，但组蛋白修饰模式是如何建立或维持的还远不清楚。也不知道特定的修饰模式如何影响染色质折叠、转录因子加载或额外染色质修饰活性的招募。全基因组研究已经确定了特定条件下特定类型细胞中单个转录调节因子的位置。然而，目前还不清楚这种关联是如何或多频繁地从一个细胞传递到下一个细胞，以促进细胞行为、身份和功能的表观遗传。我们刚刚开始了解表观遗传事件如何有助于干细胞的可塑性，或者我们如何利用这些事件将分化的细胞重新编程回到自我更新的多潜能状态。这次会议的目的是将这些领域的研究人员聚集在一起进行信息交流，从而促进合作，并在这些和其他基本问题上取得更快的进展。一群杰出的科学家被招募为本次会议的演讲者，其中既有该领域的领导者，也有刚刚建立自己的研究计划的新调查人员。这些演讲者将强调不同和前沿的方法，以促进我们对细胞生长、分化和发育过程中基因网络调控的理解。尽管其他会议讨论转录、染色质或发育方面的问题，但这次会议的独特之处在于，它将对所有这些重要研究领域感兴趣的研究人员聚集在一起。了解这些过程对于了解癌症、神经疾病、不孕不育和发育异常至关重要，因此本次会议涵盖的研究领域对改善人类健康和福祉至关重要。 公共卫生相关性：基因表达的适当调控对正常细胞生长和行为至关重要，基因调控的异常模式与许多疾病状态有关，包括人类癌症。这次会议将汇集使用尖端技术的研究人员，以确定细胞生长、分化和发育过程中基因调控的基本分子机制。了解这些过程将推动针对一系列人类疾病的新疗法的开发，旨在纠正异常转录状态。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Funding is requested for partial support of a 5 day FASEB Summer Research Conference on "Transcriptional Regulation during Cell Growth, Differentiation, and Development", which will be held in Snowmass, Colorado June 27-July 2, 2010. Many human diseases and disorders, including cancer and congenital birth defects, are related to defective developmental events that are controlled in large part by altered patterns of gene transcription. In the last 10-12 years, these transcriptional changes have been linked to alterations in chromatin organization. Despite great progress in understanding how chromatin remodeling, gene transcription, and specific developmental processes are linked, a number of fundamental questions remain unanswered. A number of histone modifications have been identified, for example, but how histone modification patterns are established or maintained is far from clear. Nor is it known how particular modification patterns affect chromatin folding, transcription factor loading, or recruitment of additional chromatin modifying activities. Genome wide studies have identified the locations of individual transcriptional regulators in given types of cells, under given conditions. Yet it is not clear how, or even how often, such associations are passed from one cell to the next to facilitate epigenetic inheritance of cell behaviors, identities, and functions. We are just beginning to understand how epigenetic events contribute to the plasticity of stem cells or how we can use such events to reprogram differentiated cells back to a self-renewing, pluripotent state. The purpose of this conference is to bring together researchers in these areas for information exchange, thereby fostering collaboration and more rapid progress towards these and other fundamental problems. An outstanding group of scientists that includes both leaders in the field as well as new investigators just establishing their own research programs has been recruited as speakers for this conference. These speakers will highlight diverse and cutting edge approaches to advancing our understanding of the regulation of gene networks during cell growth, differentiation, and development. Although other conferences address questions in transcription, in chromatin, or in development, this conference is unique in that it brings researchers interested in all of these important areas of research together. An understanding of these processes is critical to understanding cancers, neurological disorders, infertility, and developmental abnormalities, so the research areas covered by this conference are critically important to improving human health and well being. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Proper regulation of gene expression is centrally important for normal cell growth and behavior, and abnormal patterns of gene regulation are associated with many disease states, including human cancers. This conference will bring together researchers using cutting edge technologies to define fundamental molecular mechanisms of gene regulation during cell growth, differentiation, and development. Understanding these processes will drive development of new therapies for a wide range of human diseases aimed at correcting abnormal transcriptional states.