We seek partial funding for a FASEB Summer Conference entitled """"""""Molecular Biophysics of Cellular Membranes,"""""""" which will be held on 13-18 July 2002 at the Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, Vermont. This will be seventh conference of an on-going series, the first of which was held in 1988. Because of the long and successful history of these conferences, we also request funding for conferences anticipated in 2004 and 2006. Funding for these years will, of course, be contingent upon continuation of the series by FASEB and favorable review by NIGMS staff.Sequence information now available in genomic databases indicates that there are a large number of genes in all species devoted to the specification of membrane proteins. Because of the well-known difficulties associated with their solubility, stability, and purification, membrane proteins and their lipid environment have yielded only slowly to the tools of structural biology, biochemistry, biophysics, physiology, and cell biology. New approaches and ideas are essential for further progress. This conference will address the subject of applying ideas from biophysics and biophysical chemistry to challenging problems in membrane biology. Few meetings approach the subject with the depth and rigor that has characterized past meetings, and is planned for future meetings. As in the previous meeting (2000), the conference will be organized around a series of questions on timely topics.By providing a venue for a deep treatment of fundamental ideas in membrane biology, an environment is created for the education of young scientists just entering the field, as well as for the development of thinking by more senior scientists. The emphasis will be on the use of quantitative approaches to understanding structure and mechanism. A sharp focus on detailed and quantitative analyses of specific problems is arguably the most important pathway toward elucidation of general principles that underlie cellular membrane function--and misfunction.
