The conference on """"""""Dynamic Interplay Between Cytoskeletal and Membrane Systems,"""""""" to be held June 27-30, 2007 in Dijon, France, is a one-time joint American Society for Cell Biology-European Cytoskeleton Forum (ASCB-ECF) conference. The molecular events occurring in the special microenvironments at membrane-cytoskeleton interfaces underlie diverse biological processes; including cell morphogenesis and cell polarity development, intracellular trafficking, cell adhesion, cell signaling, cell motility, tumor cell invasion, and host-pathogen interactions. Understanding how these diverse biological processes are mediated by membrane-cytoskeleton interactions will require the combined expertise of investigators studying cellular membranes and investigators studying cytoskeletal proteins, as well as the use of a variety of experimental approaches. In the past, opportunities for intense and focused discussions of membrane-cytoskeleton interactions have been rare or entirely lacking. The goals of this conference are to promote among two distinct communities, cytoskeletal researchers and membrane researchers, the lively exchange of ideas and reporting of conceptual advances, and to identify the most pressing challenges and the most promising opportunities for future research. The latest results from cutting-edge research on membrane cytoskeleton interactions will be presented, and ample opportunity for formal and informal communication among all conference attendees will be provided. An especially important feature of this conference is that it will bring together leading researchers from the United States, Europe and Asia thus promoting international scientific discourse. This meeting will bring together scientists from two traditionally non-overlapping research areas, and employing diverse state-of-the-art approaches including real-time imaging, electron microscopy, biochemistry, biophysics and genetics. The unique focus of this conference will facilitate interactions and exchanges that would be lacking in less focused conferences, or diluted at larger conferences. ? ? ?
