International RUNX Workshop

申请者描述(申请人提供)：本申请旨在请求美国国立卫生研究院为“第18届国际RUNX研讨会”提供部分资助。研讨会将于2011年8月在加利福尼亚州的拉荷亚举行。这次会议将汇聚世界各地在不同科学领域工作并使用不同模型系统的科学家，讨论RUNX转录因子家族在正常细胞行为和人类疾病发展中的作用，并讨论与RUNX相关的疾病的治疗方法，如白血病、实体瘤、家族性血小板问题和骨骼疾病。除了RUNX研讨会外，由于研究领域极其多样化，大多数与会科学家没有任何机会在其他科学会议上见面。这个转录因子家族的重要性来自于它们在发育和分化过程中作为多个细胞程序的主要调节器的功能，以及当它们在癌症发展中改变时的主导功能。该讲习班自1994年以来每年举办一次。它为跨越生物学学科和模型系统的思想和资源交流提供了一个独特的论坛。与1994年在达特茅斯举行的首届研讨会上会面的五个研究小组相比，出席人数明显增加，近年来包括120名调查人员。根据我们目前对RUNX功能的了解和正在进行的研究活动中最令人兴奋的领域，即将举行的第18届国际RUNX研讨会将集中在以下领域：1)干细胞的生存和扩增；2)发育和分化中指定细胞命运的机制；3)造血、白血病和淋巴瘤；4)癌症和癌症干细胞；5)骨生物学、骨肉瘤和骨骼疾病；6)系统生物学、结构生物学和药物发现。基于前17次区域资源中心讲习班的长期互动和跨学科传统，我们预计第18届区域资源中心国际讲习班将为在这一迅速扩大的领域交流思想和开展新的合作提供极好的机会。 与公共卫生相关：RUNX蛋白在许多重要的发育途径中发挥着关键的调节作用。重要的是，RUNX功能的紊乱已被证明与许多不同的人类疾病有因果关系，包括对多个谱系的干细胞分化的影响，以及各种白血病、实体肿瘤和骨骼疾病的发展。RUNX基因在表达、调控和功能上的复杂性使其成为多个研究领域的研究重点，包括发育生物学、病毒学、遗传学、结构生物学、癌症生物学、系统生物学以及最近的治疗干预。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application is to request partial support from the National Institutes of Health for the "18th International RUNX Workshop". The workshop will take place in La Jolla, California in August of 2011. The meeting will bring together scientists around the world working in a variety of scientific fields and using different model systems to discuss the role of the RUNX family of transcription factors in normal cell behavior and human disease development, and to discuss therapeutic approaches for RUNX-related diseases, such as leukemia, solid tumors, familial platelet problems and bone disorders. With the exception of the RUNX workshop, most of the attending scientists do not have any opportunities to meet in other scientific conferences, due to the extremely diversified areas of research. The significance of this family of transcription factors stems from their function as master regulators of multiple cellular programs during development and differentiation, and from their dominant function when altered in the development of cancer. This workshop has been organized annually since 1994. It provides a unique forum for the exchange of ideas and resources across biological disciplines and model systems. The attendance has increased markedly from the five research groups that met in the inaugural workshop at Dartmouth in 1994 to include 120 investigators in recent years. According to our current knowledge of RUNX function and the most exciting areas of ongoing research activities, the upcoming 18th International RUNX Workshop will focus on following areas: 1) Stem cell survival and expansion; 2) Mechanisms of cell-fate specification in development and differentiation; 3) Hematopoiesis, leukemia and lymphoma; 4) Cancer and cancer stem cells; 5) Bone biology, osteosarcomas and skeletal disorders; and 6) Systems biology, structure biology and drug discovery. Based on the long-standing interactive and inter-disciplinary traditions of the 17 previous RUNX workshops, we anticipate that the 18th International RUNX Workshop will offer excellent opportunities for the cross-pollination of ideas and the development of new collaborations in this rapidly expanding field. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: RUNX proteins play key regulatory roles in a number of essential developmental pathways. Importantly, perturbations in RUNX function have been shown to be causally associated with a number of different human diseases, including effects on the differentiation of stem cells in multiple lineages and the development of a variety of leukemias, solid tumors and bone disorders. The complexity in their expression, regulation and function has made the RUNX genes a focus of study of several fields of research, including developmental biology, virology, genetics, structural biology, cancer biology, systems biology and more recently in therapeutic interventions.