The last few years have witnessed an explosion of interest in amyloids and other conformational diseases. Major breakthroughs include the discovery that protein misfolding is responsible not only for the classical amyloid diseases, but many other degenerative diseases including the polyglutamine expansion diseases and nonneurological diseases like liver disease that accompanies the misfolding of serpins. This conference will integrate discussions of advances in understanding the structural basis for misfolding and aggregation with discussion of the cellular and organismal responses to these abnormal proteins. By providing a mixture of internationally renown academic and industrial investigators at the forefront of research and younger scientists in an intimate setting conducive to interaction and discussion, it is expected that this meeting will help to generate new ideas and collaborations in this rapidly developing area of research. The conference will be organized around seven basic questions which will form the basis of the scientific sessions. These questions are: What kind of protein conformational changes are associated with disease? What are the structural and cellular factors that contribute to protein misfolding? What are the molecular pathways of protein aggregation? What are the cellular responses to protein aggregation?How do organisms protect against conformational toxicity? What is the relationship between protein misfolding and pathogenesis? How has insight into these questions influenced rational drug design? Therefore, the emphasis of this meeting is to provide an avenue for in-depth exploration of the biology of protein aggregation and its relation to conformational diseases. By covering topics that span the range of investigation levels from molecular structure to cell biology and pathophysiology, and by not focusing on a single disease, this conference provides a unique venue for productive interactions among scientists from a wide range of disciplines.
