9414161 Summers The 1995 Keystone Symposium METAL AND OXYGEN REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION will be held March 18 - March 24 at Park City, Utah. Although the sub-discipline of biochemistry called "metallo-enzymology" has recognized since early in this century a role for metals in certain biological catalyses, it is only in the last 12 - 14 years that the pervasive role of metals in every aspect of cellular function has come more widely to light. This new appreciation of metallo-biochemistry or bio-organic chemistry is largely a result of advances in biophysics and chemical spectroscopy which allow sophisticated assessment of the behavior of metals with a variety of biological ligands, from proteins or their prosthetic groups to nucleic acids and carbohydrates. The information gathered through this new observational and analytic power suggests that all significant biological processes are influenced by metals at some stage. Moreover, this information understanding is not simply of academic interest, as certain metals have already proven to be potent anti-tumor agents and powerful tools for analysis and manipulation of biomolecules. Similarly, we are at a watershed in our appreciation of the role of oxygen compounds and intermediates in biology. While always seen as essential for higher forms of life, oxygen and its metabolites have been more recently recognized as key players in development, host defense mechanisms, neoplasia, and aging. Since the discovery of the mechanism of hemoglobin, oxygen metabolism has been clearly associated with metal chemistry. In intervening decades much more of the enzymology of oxygen metabolism (as well as that of other biologically important gases including nitrogen, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide) has been shown to involve metals at key steps. This conference is unique in including both metals and oxygen and in focusing on the subject of regulation of gene expression by them. %%% Metals and oxygen play a role in virtually every aspect of ce llular function. Increasingly, these roles are being recognized and studied. The 1995 Keystone Symposium on metal and oxygen regulation of gene expression will bring together researchers in this important and developing field. Genetic regulation by metal and oxygen has significant impact on the environment, agriculture, and health. ***
