The Gordon Conference """"""""The Cell Biology of the Neuron,"""""""" to be held for the fourth time between June 18 and June 23, 2000 in Plymouth, NH, has established itself as an important meeting for discussing recent advances in the rapidly moving field of cellular neurobiology. While the focus of the meeting is on cell biological aspects of neural function, the scope is interdisciplinary, encompassing molecular biological, biochemical, electrophysiological, biophysical, structural, and behavioral approaches to understanding neural function. The following areas will be covered: physiology of transmitter release, vesicle transport, exocytosis, endocytosis and membrane dynamics, receptors, transporters and channel structure and function, postsynaptic mechanisms and signal transduction, molecular targeting of channels and receptors, molecular dynamics in axons and dendrites, and signal processing. The roster of invited speakers includes senior scientist who are established leaders of their fields as well as junior scientists who have recently contributed exciting data. Furthermore, we will reserve some slots for the inclusion of late-breaking developments. With its interdisciplinary focus on neural mechanisms, this conference is of potential interest to the missions of several institutes including NIMH, NINDS, NIA, and NIDA. During the course of the conference, molecular and cellular advances in the understanding of several aspects of neural function relevant to neural diseases will be discussed. Invited speakers will report research funded by NIMH, NINDS, NIA, and NIDA. While the focus of the conference will be basic science, discussions of dysfunction in synaptic transmission will be an integral part of the program, which will be relevant to Alzheimer's disease, neurodegenerative diseases, affective disorders and epilepsy. Recent genetic work in humans, mice and C. elegans will be presented that sheds new light on the molecular basis of neuronal dysfunction.
