This is an application for partial funding of a conference on Lymphocytes and the Immune System: Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Mechanisms. This conference will be held under the auspices of FASEB at the Omni Resort, Tuscon, AZ on July 9-14, 2005. This conference is the second in a new series of FASEB Summer Research Conferences and is based upon a growing recognition that the immune system serves as a paradigm for understanding diverse biological processes including the regulation of cell fates, programmed gene rearrangements, genome stability, receptor mediated cell signaling and oncogenesis. Molecular, cellular and genetic characterization of the lymphocytes can provide new insights eukaryotic biology. Our proposed meeting is designed to highlight new investigative approaches and their applications to the analysis of the immune system and lymphocytes. This type of forum will illuminate cell biological and gene regulatory pathways that enable immune cell generation and function. To introduce the versatility of these new approaches we have included speakers who are world leaders in developing and applying cutting edge experimental approaches to a variety of systems as well as internationally recognized speakers who have directly applied these methods to the immune system. Approximately 150 participants will be chosen from among scientists most likely to share new information and to contribute to stimulating exchanges of ideas. The major session topics will be: 1) specification of immune cell fates, 2) antigen receptor gene rearrangements and DMA repair, 3) gene expression and locus accessibility in the immune system, 4) NF-kappaB and links between the innate and humoral immune systems, 5) gene regulatory networks and immune cell differentiation, 6) lymphocyte survival and transformation, 7) B and T cell activation, 8) regulation of immune responses, 9) microenvironments and lympho-organogenesis. There will be oral presentations of selected abstracts and two poster sessions. This conference will provide a forum for dialogue between scientists employing a broad variety of investigative approaches. The meeting will produce a contemporary perspective and overview of the immune system as well as a critical review of the recent research and will permit evaluation of future research directions.
