The Federation of American Societies for Experimental biology (FASEB) Conference on the Ras Superfamily of GTPases will be held from July 6-11, 2002 at Snowmass Village, Colorado. This will be the sixth such conference, and it has been authorized by FASEB because of the success of the previous conferences. This application seeks partial support for the operation of this conference. The focus of the conference will be on the function, regulation and structure of five main branches of Ras-related GTPases: Ras, Rho, Rab, Arf and Ran. In particular, special emphasis will be given to the function of these GTPases in physiological processes and their interconnections. Also, the present trend of post-genomics, and novel techniques for live cell imaging will be highlighted. Research on the above GTPases is proceeding at a rapid pace, revealing the fundamental importance in the signal transduction pathways that govern fundamental aspects of cell growth, adhesion, differentiation and development. Aberrations in signaling pathways mediated by several of these G proteins have been associated with different disease phenotypes, including tumor formation, metastasis, and cognitive diseases. Within the past few years, numerous regulators and effectors have been isolated for these GTPases and crystal structures of several G proteins, their regulators and effectors have now been determined yielding important insights into their mechanisms of regulation. This conference will serve as a forum for dissemination of the most recent information of the function, structure and regulation of the GTPases, their regulators and effectors. Like other FASEB Summer Conferences, this meeting selected approximately 200 participants from applications, including representatives from industry and academia. There is a constant infusion of new researchers from various disciplines and the 2002 conference will be important for a focused presentation and discussion of the genetics, biochemistry and cell biology of the small GTPases, their regulations and effectors. The conference will consist of nine sessions, each with a discussion leader and at least five speakers, selected from investigators who have made important recent contributions and from submitted abstracts. In addition, there will be at least ten short talks selected from submitted abstracts. This will help to ensure inclusion of young investigators, women and minorities as primary participants. Also, three poster sessions will be organized which will provide another important format for scientific exchange.
