This grant requests funds to support the Epithelial Differentiation and Keratinization Gordon Research Conference to be held at Tilton School, Tilton New Hampshire on July 28 - August 2, 1991. Funding is requested to support travel, registration, and subsistence for invited participants in the conference. Participants involved in research directly in this area and in investigational techniques german to studies of epithelial differentiation and keratinization will be invited. Differentiation in a variety of epithelial systems will be covered. Investigators dedicated to biology and pharmacology of epithelial differentiation will be exposed to state-of-the-art concepts, investigative techniques and their interpretation. Conversely, investigators from other areas will be exposed to the biological problems of epithelial differentiation. It is hoped that his blending of scientists and disciplines will yield novel insights for research in this area. Eight major overlapping themes will be developed and discussed during the meeting. The general organization is to begin with molecular aspects of expression and function of keratins in several epithelial, and consider characterization of new differentiation markers, regulation of differentiation and epithelial growth, the role of cell adhesion molecules in epithelia and finally consider clinical correlations and applications to genetic disorders and carcinogenesis. The sessions and organized as follows: 1. Regulation and function of keratin genes in development. 2. Epithelial differentiation in non-keratinizing tissues. 3. Retinoids and stratified squamous epithelial differentiation. 4. Differentiation in epidermis and other epithelia. 5. Keratinization. 6. Cell adhesion molecules. 7. Regulation of epithelial growth. 8. Molecular approaches in studies of skin disorders.
