The Conference, """"""""Ubiquitin and Protein Degradation"""""""" will be held from June 23-28, 2001, at the Conference Center of the Vermont Academy in Saxton's River, VT. This conference is sponsored and partially funded by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and has been held biannually since 1989. This conference is the only regularly held meeting devoted primarily to the biology and biochemistry of ubiquitin. This application requests partial funding for the 2001 conference.The conserved protein ubiquitin, and many of the enzymes that act upon and with it, are essential in eukaryotes. The biological functions of ubiquitin require its covalent attachment to cellular proteins by a cascade of ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes. The best-studied and understood consequence of this modification is that of a signal which targets ubiquitin-modified proteins for ATP-dependent degradation by a large protease complex, the 26S proteasome. The selective degradation of proteins by the ubiquitin system is now recognized as a common mechanism for control of many cellular processes by regulating the level of critical proteins required for those processes. Such processes include the cell cycle, transcription, flux of substrates through metabolic pathways, development, and antigen processing. Ubiquitinylation can also be involved in fates other than proteasomal degradation, such as membrane receptor internalization. These novel processes are only beginning to be understood. Moreover, recent work has identified a set of proteins with structural similarities to ubiquitin. These proteins undergo a metabolism which is parallel to, but distinct from, that of ubiquitin. These molecules appear to function as covalent signals that target their unique substrates to specific locations with within she cell. These topics are among those to be addressed in the nine scientific sessions of the 2001 Conference. There will be seven regular sessions, each consisting of six invited presentations, and two special sessions, each consisting of seven talks selected from submitted abstracts. The latter presentations will be chosen with special consideration for women and younger investigators, unusually important recent findings, and new participants. In addition to the platform presentation, there will be two poster sessions, a historically active and beneficial part of this conference. The small size of the conference, and its location and format are designed to foster maximal interactions among the 175 participants.
