This award provides support for the 21st Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on the Chemistry and Biology of Tetrapyrroles at Salve Regina University, Newport, RI to be held July 23-28, 2006. The conference will provide a forum for the exchange of ideas between established and new investigators from a wide variety of scientific disciplines with common interests in the chemistry and biology of tetrapyrrole compounds. Tetrapyrroles have diverse roles, such as catalyzing redox reactions, harvesting light energy, and activating, delivering and sensing diatomic gases (e.g. oxygen, carbon monoxide and nitric oxide). In addition, they are essential nutrients (e.g. vitamin B12) and often act as regulators of signaling systems and protein expression, via transcriptional and translational effects (e.g. heme). Discussion topics include: LIGHT SENSING TETRAPYRROLES, BIOCHEMICAL & CELLULAR ASPECTS OF TETRAPYRROLE SYNTHESIS, NOVEL ASPECTS OF TETRAPYRROLE SYNTHESIS, HEME IN COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES, TETRAPYRROLE CHEMISTRY: NANOSTRUCTURES AND ARTIFICIAL HEME-PROTEINS, TETRAPYRROLES AS REGULATORS, ENZYMES OF HEME METABOLISM IN HEALTH & DISEASE, and TETRAPYRROLE TRAFFICKING.
Broader impacts: The inter-disciplinary nature and broad range of tetrapyrrole research presented and discussed at this GRC integrate research and education by advancing discovery and understanding of many fundamental scientific processes and applications. Furthermore, teaching and training are promoted via planned poster sessions and oral presentations of young investigators, which generate an atmosphere that fosters interactions between junior and senior investigators. The meeting broadens the participation of underrepresented groups in the area of tetrapyrrole science by including a significant proportion of women, members of other minority groups, and junior investigators (graduate students and post-doctoral fellows) in the GRC conference program as speakers and discussion leaders. The potential benefits to society at large include the development of many practical applications derived from the chemical and photochemical properties of natural and synthetic tetrapyrroles such as biosensors, crop yield improvement, pesticides, catalysts, fluorescent probes and solar energy conversion.
