Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled Tissue Plasticity: Preservation and Alteration of Cellular Identity, organized by Drs. Ophir Klein, Ramesh A. Shivdasani and Stacey S. Huppert. The conference will be held in Park City, Utah from October 4-7, 2020. Cellular plasticity, the ability to acquire new identities or adopt alternative fates, occurs in normal physiology and disease states. Researchers are just beginning to understand how plasticity contributes to homeostasis and regeneration in the setting of tissue injury. Alterations in cell fate can be harnessed to treat disease, but uncontrolled plasticity can destabilize cell commitment and contribute toward neoplasia. The cellular and molecular underpinnings of cellular plasticity provide insights into disease processes and enable new therapies. This conference will explore the diverse mechanisms that underlie plasticity in different tissues and contexts. By bringing together leading scientists in stem cell, developmental, regenerative, and cancer biology, this interdisciplinary conference will highlight common principles and unique features of cellular plasticity in different tissues and examine the therapeutic potential of this process. The conference represents a unique opportunity for researchers in diverse fields to visit evolving concepts in cellular plasticity and the molecular mechanisms and physiological consequences of altered adult cell identity in vivo. While the topic has been included marginally at other conferences (i.e., conferences on stem cell biology, regeneration, epigenetics, and cancer) only this Keystone Symposia conference, first held in 2019, has focused on cellular plasticity across mammalian tissues. This conference will assemble speakers from diverse disciplines and organ systems to identify cross-cutting themes and provide a forum for investigators to explore common underlying mechanistic principles and therapeutic potential.
Cellular plasticity is the ability of a cell to acquire a new identity and to adopt an alternative fate; it has also emerged as an important process in normal physiology and in disease states. Therefore, this conference will explore the diverse mechanisms that underlie plasticity in different tissues and contexts. By bringing together leading scientists in stem cell, developmental, regenerative, and cancer biology, this interdisciplinary conference will highlight common principles and unique features of cellular plasticity in different tissues and examine the therapeutic potential of this process.
