A symposium covering the topic of secretion and its control is planned, to be held at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachussetts, Sept. 7-11, 1988. The symposium will be sponsored by the Society of General Physiologists, and will be the Society's 35th annual symposium. Under the central theme of secretion and its control, consideration will be given to a wide variety of questions, tissues, and techniques, from production and routing of secretory products to the mechanism of exocytosis, from viruses to endocrine tissues, and from cell biology to biophysics. The major areas to be covered are the following. Cell Biological Insights into the Secretory Process. This will include discussions of intracellular protein traffic and targeting; how secreted substances are packaged in vesicles; fusion of viruses with cells and organelles (perhaps a model for exocytosis); endocytosis and clathrin; and the movement of subcellular particles and vesicles. Cell Surface Receptors and Second Messengers, including discussions of the structure and activity of cell surface receptors and second messenger systems involved with the control of secretion. The role of Electrical Phenomena in Secretory Control, including discussions of spontaneous pacemaking activity and its influence on insulin secretion in pancreatic islet and pituitary cells. Calcium and Calcium Channels, with discussions of their role in controlling secretion, and an examination of possible alternate means of secretory control that do not involve calcium. Exocytosis, with discussion of biophysical, biochemical, and physicochemical approaches to understanding of the fusion process and exocytosis, 29 speakers have been invited, including 3 speakers from abroad. In addition there will be poster sessions which will contain predominantly work related to secretion. The program will consist of five lecture-discussion periods, each of approximately four hours duration. A full afternoon will be devoted to each of the poster sessions. There will be no overlapping sessions. Dr. Michael S. Brown has agreed to be the keynote speaker for the symposium.
