This application requests support for the 2015 summer research conference on Helicases and Nucleic- Acid Based Machines: From Mechanism to Insight into Disease. The meeting is sponsored by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and will take place from July 26-31, 2015, in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The conference organizers are Maria Spies (University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA) and Karsten Weis (University of California, Berkeley, USA, and ETH Zurich, Switzerland). Due to their capacity to unwind structures of double-stranded DNA and RNA, and to remodel nucleoprotein complexes, helicases and helicase-like translocases are critical components of numerous nucleic acid processing machines. Consequently, their activities are obligatory to all cellular information transactions and defects in these enzymes are associated with a broad spectrum of human diseases including cancer and premature aging. In recent years, the field has developed a first grasp of the basic mechano-chemistry and general structural organization of both RNA- and DNA helicases. Furthermore, we have come to appreciate the importance of these enzymes for many fundamental cellular processes. The development and application of many cutting edge experimental approaches ranging from structural biology and single- molecule biophysics to manipulation of pluripotent stem cells for the study of these systems attend to this fact. The critical roles of helicases in the regulation o DNA replication, repair, recombination and gene expression and their dysregulation in many diseases, combined with the breadth of the experimental approaches applied to helicases has created a growing need for an exchange of information among the diverse group of scientists studying the helicase structure, regulation, molecular and cellular functions, and disease-processes associated with defects in or dysregulation of these enzymes. To address this need, the ninth bi-annual meeting on Helicases and Nucleic-Acid Based Machines aims at expanding the helicases related research. It will promote the information exchange among experienced and young investigators studying RNA and DNA helicases and helicase-like translocases, and will integrate the knowledge obtained through a broad range of experimental strategies. The meeting will focus on understanding the regulation of these enzymes, how they fit into supramolecular machines of the cell, and how the knowledge of their structures and mechanisms can be exploited to improve human health. The FASEB conference format combines an optimally sized meeting (approximately 150 participants) with an environment that promotes continuous formal and informal interactions between the participants. It will allow us to emphasize truly exceptional research and provide opportunities for the exchange of information, technology and perspective on helicases and helicase-like translocases.
Molecular machines that contain RNA or DNA helicases play essential roles in all cellular information transactions. The discovery that helicas defects are associated with a broad spectrum of disorders including premature aging, susceptibility to cancers, immunodeficiency and developmental abnormalities (exemplified by Bloom syndrome, Werner syndrome, Fanconi Anemia, Xeroderma pigmentosum, Cockayne syndrome, trichothiodystrophy and hereditary forms of breast cancer) has fueled the continuous growth of helicase-related research. This meeting will help to delineate connections between helicases and cancer and aging by facilitating an exchange of information among a diverse group of scientists studying all aspects of the structure, molecular and cellular functions of thes important enzymes and will lay the foundation for advances in understanding, diagnosing, and treating genomic instability disorders, cancer and aging.
