The ASMB/Vanderbilt Workshop on Basement Membranes will be held on July 12 to July 14th 2017 at Vanderbilt Medical Center, Nashville, TN. The workshop will be jointly chaired by Dr. Roy Zent of Vanderbilt Medical Center and Dr. Jeffrey Miner from Washington University. This is the only international forum for the dissemination of new ideas and information about the structure and biological functions of basement membranes (BMs). The Workshop will be used to communicate and disseminate new data and concepts concerning known and novel BM components, including biological activities, defined both in vitro and in vivo; molecular and structural biology; assembly and turnover; cell and developmental functions; cellular mechanisms of recognition and adhesion and their downstream effects; roles of BM components in stem cell niche biology; and potential clinical applications, including effects on wound healing and autoimmune diseases; gene therapy for inherited BM diseases (epidermolysis bullosa, muscular dystrophies); inhibition of tumor invasion, metastasis, and angiogenesis; and tissue regeneration within complex BM-organized three-dimensional systems. It will increase interactions and collaborations among basic research groups, clinical research groups, and pharmaceutical or biotechnology firms interested in BMs or extracellular matrix constituents, their receptors, or their signalling pathways (e.g. in the context of stem cell research and tissue regeneration). It should foster new collaborative ventures between investigators working in distinct organ model systems, using the BM as the unifying theme that is ideally suited to transcend traditional intellectual barriers between defined fields.
We anticipate that this meeting will help with the sharing of the latest research in the field of Basement Membrane Research. This knowledge is fundamental to our understanding of how multicellular organisms are put together and function.
