Partial support is requested for the 2002 Gordon Research Conference on Glycolipid and Sphingolipid Biology, to be held at the Holiday Inn, Ventura, CA from January 26 to February 1. The purpose of the conference is to encourage the transfer of ideas and information within the community of scientists who work at the forefront of glycolipid and sphingolipid research as well as to provide an environment where investigators from other scientific disciplines can learn about, and contribute to, this rapidly evolving field. Sphingolipids participate in many biological processes--such as cell-cell recognition, cell-substratum adhesion, immune regulation, cell growth and differentiation, but only in the past decade have the molecular bases for these functions become clear, i.e. that the functions of (glyco)sphingolipids reside in both their complex headgroups (as modulators of membrane structure, cell-cell interactions, receptor functions, etc.) and the lipid backbones (ceramide, sphingosine, sphingosine 1-phosphate and others, as first and second messengers). Furthermore, this understanding is not only giving insight into normal cell regulation, but also, into the pathways whereby toxins and toxicants (including cancer chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents) kill cells. An important aspect of this Gordon Conference is that it brings together scientists that work in many different disciplines, such as basic biochemistry, genetics, developmental biology, cancer chemoprevention and chemotherapy, degenerative disorders, toxicology and environmental health sciences. Because of this breadth (and depth), the Gordon Conference on Glycolipid and Sphingolipid Biology plays a unique and valuable role in advancing this field. A broad range of speakers and participants will be sought for the 2002 Conference, including graduate and postgraduate students, and junior investigators. As with previous Gordon Conferences in this series, there will be a high percentage of participants from countries outside the U.S. as well as participation by women and minorities. Conferees will be encouraged to participate both in the formal lecture/discussion sessions, and less formally in poster presentations. The platform sessions will cover leading edge research in basic sphingolipid biology (e.g. biophysics, metabolism, intracellular trafficking as well as genomics and gene targeting approaches, modem analytical methodologies such as HPLC tandem mass spectrometry , and studies of the in vivo roles of sphingolipids in cell regulation, particularly cell growth and apoptosis) and will emphasize the insights that these new paradigms and experimental approaches are providing for disease etiology, prevention and therapy.
