Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia meeting entitled Autophagy, organized by Eric H. Baehrecke and Jayanta Debnath. The meeting will be held in Breckenridge, Colorado, Canada from June 19-24, 2015. Autophagy is an essential catabolic process that plays important roles in cell stress management and nutrient homeostasis. Following the landmark discoveries of the molecules controlling autophagy in yeast, genetic studies in multicellular organisms have revealed diverse roles for autophagy in development, physiology and in the etiology and pathogenesis of multiple age-associated disorders. Hence, interest in manipulating autophagy to treat human disease has rapidly intensified. This symposium will explore the frontiers of autophagy research, with themes that focus on newly discovered molecules, pathways and mechanisms that specify forms of autophagy in development and disease. Emphasis will be placed on how our emerging understanding of autophagy may influence disease.
Recent studies indicate that genotype and potentially cell context can influence the therapeutic benefit of modulating autophagy in cancer. Interest in manipulating autophagy for therapeutic purposes raises important issues about understanding this fundamental cellular process. The Keynote Symposia meeting on Autophagy is dedicated to a fundamental understanding of the regulation and function of autophagy, and the majority of speakers will contribute information with potential to advance our understanding of this process in the context of cancer.
