This proposal is to request support for a Keystone Symposia meeting entitled """"""""NF-kappaB in Inflammation and Disease"""""""", organized by Michelle A. Kelliher, Manolis Pasparakis and Jurg Tschopp, which will be held in Santa Fe, New Mexico from January 5 - 10, 2010. In the past 10 years, impressive progress has been made on how the NF- kappaB transcription factor is regulated and how diverse signals frequently use ubiquitin-dependent mechanisms to activate NF- kappaB. Many of the signal transducers and regulatory enzymes have been identified and their essential roles in NF- kappaB regulation revealed through genetic analyses in mice. More recent work highlights the importance of NF- kappaB in innate immune signaling by cell surface Toll-like receptors and cytosolic Nod-like receptors. Although current research clearly implicates NF- kappaB in diabetes, inflammatory diseases and cancer, a challenge for the future will be to reveal the precise molecular and cellular mechanisms of NF- kappaB dysfunction in disease. The realization that NF- kappaB activity is regulated by kinases and ubiquitin modifying enzymes presents multiple opportunities for therapeutic intervention. In addition to highlights from basic research, results from clinical trials using IKK and other NF- kappaB inhibitors are expected to be presented at 2010 NF- kappaB meeting.
The continuing growth in the field of NF- B research has been accelerated by discoveries that reveal the ever- increasing importance of NF- B in several diseases including cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, and in immune and inflammatory disorders. As a result of these discoveries, NF- B has become of great interest to the pharmaceutical industry and remains a prime target for therapeutic intervention in many diseases. The NF-kappaB in Inflammation and Disease meeting will be organized to foster interaction between basic scientists and clinicians alike to view the importance of NF- B from the perspective of the whole organism.
