Elucidation of the signal transduction pathways of TGF-Beta has heralded an exciting new era enabling insights into molecular mechanisms of this multifunctional molecule in both normal adult physiology and disease pathogenesis, including especially wound healing, fibrosis, carcinogenesis and immune cell dysfunction. Characterization of the receptor kinases and identification of the Smad signaling pathway has identified new molecular targets and led to development of novel inhibitors of the pathway. Increased understanding of the biochemistry of TGF-Beta itself has also enabled developed of anti-ligand approaches. This is a particularly exciting time in the history of TGF-Beta as enough is known about its actions to have identified particular diseases in which it plays a role and finally, for the first time, pharmaceutical companies and biotech companies are developing new approaches to control this pathway with the goal of developing new therapies for wound healing, for fibrosis, and for treatment of cancer. Our goal for this conference is to bring together researchers focused on the basic biochemistry of TGF-Beta and on the use of animal models to elucidate its roles in disease pathogenesis and researchers from Biotech/Pharma who are developing these new drugs based on the TGF-Beta pathway. The hope is that this meeting will both enhance our insights into pathogenetic mechanisms of action of TGF-Beta in disease and provide novel therapeutic approaches for clinical treatment of disease.
