Funds are requested for partial support of a workshop entitled, """"""""Immortalization of Salivary Cells and Other Cells: New Opportunities to Study Growth, Differentiation and Transformation."""""""" The molecular events which regulate the synthesis and secretion of saliva is poorly understood. The establishment of long-term cultures of acinar cells is an essential first step for such an investigation. This workshop will provide a comprehensive analysis of different approaches that have been used to generate long-term cultures of acinar cells from rodent and human salivary glands. They include the manipulation of culture medium and cell surface substrates, insertion of an exogeneous gene, the use of transgenic animals, and immortalized cell lines from rat and human parotid glands that have been established. Investigators who have established long-term cultures of salivary glands as well as of other organs have been invited to discuss their most recent results. The latter group was invited in order to insure cross fertilization of ideas that are being generated and of problems that are faced during investigation of non-salivary gland cell cultures. Investigators and students will be encouraged to present their work on the proposed theme through poster sessions. The workshop will be held in Denver, Colorado on October 13-I5, 1994. The expected number of participants is approximately 100 including invited speakers. The meeting information will be widely advertised through journals and direct mailing of brochures to dental schools and cancer centers.
