The Gordon Conference on Molecular Membrane Biology will provide an informal forum for current advances and directions in this rapidly developing field. Sessions will be devoted to the structure of membrane proteins; translocation of proteins into and across membranes; sorting of proteins in the secretory and endocytic pathways; interaction of membrane proteins with the cytoskeleton and mobility or organelles; cell polarity; transmembrane signalling by cell surface receptors; structure and function of membrane lipids; receptors and endocytosis; and cell-cell recognition during development and the immune response. These topics are closely interrelated, yet involve sufficiently diverse disciplines that participants will benefit greatly from the formal and informal interactions characteristic of this meeting. We will devote one session to about six 15 minute talks on exciting new developments, presented by younger applicants to the meeting who submit abstracts to the chairman. This, together with two extensive poster sessions, will maximize the dissemination of new data, and should allow workers to make important contacts with those in complementary disciplines. We request that this application be reviewed by the Molecular Cytology or Cell Biology (subcommittees I or II) Study Sections, as these groups have considerable expertise in the area. We would also like to ask that this proposal be considered for partial funding by several NIH institutes in addition to NIGMS. The field of molecular membrane biology in general, and the topics to be addressed by this meeting in particular, are of fundamental importance to a wide variety of biological and medical issues including oncogenesis, digestive and metabolic diseases, neurological disorders, immunology, microbial pathogenesis, and AIDS. Thus, the meeting will be of interest to investigators supported by NIAID, NIAMS, NCI, NICHHD, NIDS, NIDDK, NEI, NHLBI, NINDS, AND NIGMS. Funds will be used to increase participation by younger scientists, women, and minority investigators.
