THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON OSTEOPONTIN will take place May 10, 12, 2002 in San Antonio, Texas, at the Menger Hotel. Although osteopontin (OPN) is featured in the name, the meeting is actually somewhat broader in that other members of the SIBLING family (besides OPN, other well known members are bone sialoprotein and dentin matrix protein) will be included. The meeting is an international one, with participants coming from Japan, Europe and Canada. By making financial assistance available, the organizers will strongly encourage the participation of younger investigators and minorities. The goal of the meeting is to bring together and facilitate interactions among researchers who otherwise rarely meet because they work in different disciplines and attend different scientific meetings. Topics include the role of OPN in mineralized tissues and arthritic processes, in inflammatory processes and vascular lesions, in immune reactions and granulomatosis, in response to infection and injury, in tumorigenesis and metastatic disease. As a cytokine present in all body fluids, OPN signaling via integrins and CD44 isoforms impacts on many biological systems, often acting to promote cell survival, after ischermc insult for example. Recent work also suggests involvement in early development and certain autoimmune reactions. Publication of many of the contributions in the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry will assure that all the important new information presented at the conference will be widely disseminated.
