Faseb - Receptors and Signal Transduction

Kahn, C

Abstract

This is a proposal for support for the 1992 FASEB Summer Conference on Receptors and Signal Transduction. This conference has been held every other summer since 1982 and is viewed as one of the most successful of this important series of conferences. The 1992 conference will be held from July 12-17, 1992, in Copper Mountain, Colorado, with Dr. C. Ronald Kahn of the Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School as Chairman, and Dr. William T. Schrader of the Department of Cell Biology, Baylor College of Medicine as Vice-Chairman. The basic format of the conference is 9 sessions of oral presentations and 2 poster sessions held over 4 1/2 days, Session 1 will focus on receptors coupled to G-proteins with talks on adrenergic receptors, the TRH receptor, the LH/hCG receptor, the bombesin receptor and G-proteins themselves. Receptors with intrinsic enzymatic activity such as the ANP receptor, the insulin receptor, the EGF receptor and the PDGF receptor will be discussed in Sessions 2 and 3, along with some of the intracellular molecules involved in signal propagation through SH2 domain interactions. Session 4 deals with receptors that stimulate or inhibit cell growth such as HGH, TGFbeta and phosphotyrosine phosphatase system. Two other membrane systems will be discussed including receptors of the immune system (T-cell receptor, B-cell receptor, MHC antigen receptor) and receptors initiating signalling by cell-cell contact. The latter includes a variety of cell adhesion molecules and integrins, as well as the recently described mutation in the system of the Steel mouse. There will also be 2 sessions dealing with receptors acting through nuclear sites and affecting primarily gene transcription. Emphasis in these talks will be based on accessory factors and post-translational modification. The keynote address is to be devoted to the subject of the use of chimeric animals and targeted gene knockout to study the role, of proteins in cells. In addition, there will be 2 or 3 poster sessions for abstracts which have been submitted by conference attendees. This grant specifically requests support for approximately 50% of the cost of running this meeting and in particularly travel and housing for speakers and session chairpersons. The remainder of the funds will be derived from FASEB itself and, hopefully, industrial support.