The objective of the conference is to review and critically examine the recent advances and current issues in areas of fatty acid metabolism that have been shown to play a fundamental role in human physiology and disease. Emphasis will be placed on recent advances in the modulation of cellular functions by fatty acids in adipose tissue and in the liver, as well as the very important recognition and transport of fatty acids by cells. This will be both at the level of intermediary metabolism of fatty acids as well as the effect fatty acids have on gene transcription and cellular proliferation of white and brown adipocytes. This will be followed by a session on fatty acid binding and transport proteins. There is an increasing appreciation of the role that transport and carrier proteins of fatty acids have in fatty acid uptake by cells and cellular organelles, cytosolic transport and compartmentalization, and biotransformation; and these fatty acid binding proteins will be discussed in detail. The next session will integrate the regulation of mitochondrial and peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation with the function of the recently discovered peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor, a member of the nuclear hormone receptor hormone receptor super family. This topic is most timely and of great importance in view of the substantial progress that has been made in defining the cis and trans elements involved in the regulation of gene transcription resulting in the modulation of fatty acid metabolism by peroxisomes. A major transport pathway of fatty acids in plasma is in the form of lipoprotein triacylglycerol, and this will be the focus of the last session of the conference. Significant advances have been recently made in the identification of new factors involved in the formation of lipoproteins and the incorporation of lipids into these particles, and these findings are having a major impact on our understanding of both fatty acid and lipoprotein metabolism. Thus, the conference focuses on fatty acids with an integration of the molecular and cellular regulation of metabolism as well as an integration of the metabolism of fatty acids by the liver and adipose tissue. The conference will focus on recent advances in the basic biology of these processes with substantial time being allocated to discuss the physiological and disease implications of these findings. These topics are not typically presented together and in such a focused manner, and to the best of our knowledge, this will be the first such interdisciplinary conference.
