The Forefronts in Nephrology Conference entitled 'In and Out of Control: The Regulation of Renal Growth' is scheduled for June 13-16, 1998 at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. The overall goal of the Symposium is to bring together scientists from diverse disciplines to bring a fresh and integrative perspective to the study of renal growth. Jackson Lake Lodge was selected as the setting for the meeting because its isolation will facilitate interaction between the 'non-nephrology' and 'nephrology' participants. Presently there is intense interest, but little knowledge about the regulation of renal cell growth, including the key extra- and intracellular signaling pathways that mediate changes in renal growth and the role of cell cycle kinases or kinase inhibitors in the growth process and in renal disease. Unregulated cell growth occurs in renal cancer, polycystic kidney disease, acquired cystic disease, and the progressive loss of renal function associated with loss of renal mass, diabetes mellitus, and most forms of glomerular injury. Since basic and clinical scientists interested in kidney growth have only recently begun to elucidate the regulatory pathways involved, this Symposium is timely, and is designed to expose the renal community to the techniques and approaches used by other disciplines to study cell growth, and to the most recent advances in our understanding of cell growth. Thirteen of the 20 invited speakers are leading cell biologists working in the area of cell growth (non-renal); the remaining 7 speakers are leading scientists currently working on renal growth. The anticipated audience will be outstanding U.S. and foreign basic and clinical scientists from the renal community. Included in the targeted audience pool will be promising, young investigators, investigators of under represented racial/ethnic backgrounds, handicapped individuals, and women. The lecture sessions are designed to allow ample time for discussion (20 minutes of each 45 minute session; 10 minutes of each 30 minute session). There will be one poster session to permit participants from the renal community to present their work. The symposium is divided into 5 major sessions. These include: 1) cyclin-dependent kinase biology and biochemistry; 2) mitogenic signaling pathways; 3) cell cycle involvement in cancer; 4) apoptosis; and 5) cell cycle involvement in development. Wherever possible, we have identified speakers from the renal community who are working in these areas, and integrated their talks with the speakers from the non-renal community.
