This is a request for support for the first meeting of a newly organized society, the International Proteolysis Society. A formal society was formed to facilitate interactions among basic, clinical and industry scientists resulting from an increased awareness of the multiple roles played by proteases and their inhibitors in normal and pathological processes in organisms ranging from bacteria to humans. The International Proteolysis Society evolved from an informal organization, the International Committee on Proteolysis or ICOP which was comprised of three regional committees: the American Committee on Proteolysis, the European Committee on Proteolysis and the Japanese committee on Proteolysis. ICOP organized eleven international conferences of scientists with research interests in intracellular proteolysis and protein turnover from 1973-1996. The last ICOP meeting in the USA was help in Williamsburg, VA in 1992 and organized by one of the co-PIs (J.Bond) and the PI (B. Sloane). The objectives of the International Proteolysis Society are to organize international meetings of scientists who share an interest in the subject area, to provide a forum for dissemination of the latest research, to facilitate collaborations, and to serve as a clearing house for meetings on proteases and their inhibitors. About 30 of the conferees will be internationally recognized experts who will give platform presentations. Since a major goal of the society is to encourage younger scientists who are chosen on the basis of submitted abstracts. It is expected that the remainder of the attendees (approximately 350) will give poster presentations of their work. Recent advances in elucidating the structures, mechanisms, regulation, and biological and pathological functions of proteolytic enzymes and their inhibitors will be discussed. The conference will provide a stimulating academic environment for free-flowing discussion of data and concepts at the frontiers of knowledge in this field. We anticipate that this conference will be attended by basic, clinical and applied investigators from a wide variety of specialities in academia and industry. The success of the first International Proteolysis Society meeting will depend on the organizers' ability to attract excellent speakers doing the research on the leading edge of the field and to fund their travel, hotel and registration costs.
