We request partial funding for a FASEB conference on """"""""Transcriptional Regulation During Cell Growth, Differentiation, and Development"""""""" to be held at Saxtons River, Vermont, June 29-July 4, 2002. Gene Regulation through transcription is fundamental for cell fate specification, cell differentiation, and the control of cell proliferation. Transcriptional regulation is critical for the development of multicellular organisms and for genesis of specific organs. Cell type specific transcription programs govern production of signature gene products such as insulin in the pancreas, neuropeptides in the brain, and the contractile machinery in heart and skeletal muscle. Transcription programs also set critical aspects of cell behavior including proliferation, response to environmental signals, cell adhesion, senescence and cell death. This conference will bring gether researchers studying the fundamental molecular mechanisms of transcriptional regulation with those studying cell fate decisions, developmental programs, cell proliferation, and differentiation to work toward a dtailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which the developmental program regulates granscription and transcriptional mechanisms regulate development. The sessions will communicate recent advances in understanding fundamental mechanisms of transcriptional activation and repression, chromatin structure, and long-range and epigenetic effects on gene expression and their relationship to the biology of cell fate decisions and response to extracellular signals during development, establishment of cell type specific gene expression programs during differentiation, and cell-cycle control. The conference will explore the important role of transcriptional regulation in normal differentiation and development and how aberrant gene expression is involved in cancer and disease. This conference differs from other transcription meetings in that does not focus simply on molecular mechanisms, but rather emphasizes how transcription is used by cells to specify development and differentiation, culminating in global changes in transcription during development in multicellular organisms. The meeting will cover problems encountered and solved across a wide range of species, including yeast, worms, flies, and mammals, highlighting both the similarities and differences. This conference will provide an up-to-date overview of one of the most fundamental and rapidly moving fields in bology and generate new directions for future research.
