(from abstract): The application requests partial funding to support the 2000 FASEB Summer Research Conference on Amyloid and Other Abnormal Protein Assembly Processes, to be held at Copper Mountain, Colorado, June 11-16, 2000. The main objective of this meeting is to bring together clinicians and cell biologists familiar with the biology of abnormal protein with geneticists, molecular biologists and biophysicists who will ultimately establish an understanding of the molecular basis of these phenomena. The focus is on the underlying molecular basis of amyloid diseases, protein aggregation (especially amyloid and inclusion body formation) and other manifestations of protein-protein, as well as potential methods of intervention. The conference attendance will be restricted to 150-160 participants. Invited speakers will be chosen from among the leaders in these fields, with particular emphasis on under-represented groups. The conference will consist of a keynote address providing a history of amyloid, nine formal sessions of oral presentations, as well as poster sessions and a workshop session, whose topics will include protein and beta sheet structure, protein aggregation during folding, prion particles, clinical summaries of major amyloid diseases, structural basis of amyloid formation by peptides, the amyloid pathway in AD, new roles for amyloid in heredity, physical methods for the study of insoluble protein complexes, factors associated with amyloid in vivo and new model biological systems. There will also be two poster sessions. The format of the FASEB Summer Research Conferences is ideal for stimulating cross-fertilization in developing areas of research: the limited size of the conference, focused meeting schedule and isolated atmosphere all encourage interactions among the participants. There have been two previous meetings in this series, the first in 1995 and one subsequently. The format here is small, intimate, promoting close discussions. Two related meetings in the near term are (1) the Salk Institute conference in February, 1999, and (2) a forthcoming Banbury conference. These focus on disease issues and on protein folding. The proposed FASEB conference combines these topics and includes students, post-docs and junior faculty.
