Research in the past decade has spurred tremendous progress in our understanding of molecular mechanisms that underlie cell function. Advances have come from multiple cell types and organisms. Notably, yeast systems often have been at the forefront in the discovery of new proteins, pathways, structures, and in mechanistic insights. Despite its existence as a unicellular organism, yeast research has also revealed unexpected insights into the physiology of multicellular organisms and the functions of specialized tissues. Yeast cell biology continues to be a vibrant field of research, and yeast systems are critically important to the larger research community by serving as the test bed for new concepts and technologies. The intellectual merit of the meeting series on Yeast Cell Biology (2011, 2013 and 2015) is that it will create a premier forum for the discussion and exchange of cutting-edge discoveries about the internal functions of eukaryotic cells. The program will include eight sessions covering a wide range of topics in cell biology including membrane trafficking, cytoskeleton, the cell cycle, polarity, chromosomes, nuclear organization, and signaling, with a focus on higher order regulation that integrates these diverse events. Each session will be led by two outstanding and well-known investigators in the relevant area. With the exception of short talks presented by the session chairs, all of the talks and posters to be presented will be selected from submitted abstracts, and most of the talks will be given by students, postdoctoral fellows and other junior investigators. It is expected that more than 275 scientists will attend. Of these, over half are likely to be graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The meeting will serve to provide a stimulating environment for the free flowing discussion of some of the most exciting data and concepts at the frontiers of knowledge in cell biology. Given the rapid pace of developments in the field, this meeting presents an exciting opportunity for participants to learn about recent breakthroughs that will be relevant to their own research both in yeast and in other systems. The broader impacts of the proposed activity are manifold. First, they include the scientific implications for other fields beyond yeast cell biology, as discoveries in this field will continue to foster a rapid pace of fundamental discoveries and insights that impact the physiologies of all life forms. Second, they also include elements of education, training, resource sharing, and opportunities for interaction and collaboration. In particular, the meeting will provide: (i) training opportunities for junior scientists that will promote the development of presentation skills as well as overall scientific quality and analytical rigor; (ii) an intimate setting that will foster meaningful scientific interactions among scientists at all career levels; (iii) the dissemination of knowledge among multiple strata of research and educational institutions; (iv) sharing of resources, both material and informational; and (v) opportunities for the initiation of collaborations, which can benefit scientists from smaller labs and/or from primarily undergraduate (teaching) institutions who may have fewer resources and more limited access to cutting-edge technologies than do scientists from major research institutions.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Conference on Yeast Cell Biology August 16-20, 2011 ARRANGED BY Kerry Bloom, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Martha Cyert, Stanford University Lois Weisman, University of Michigan 219 Participants The conference on Yeast Cell Biology was the fourteenth bi-annual international meeting devoted to diverse aspects of cell biology in yeasts. Studies of these simple eukaryotes continue to generate key insights into fundamental, conserved aspects of cell function. This year’s meeting highlighted the combined use of mathematical modeling and quantitative imaging of fluorescently-labeled proteins in live cells to understand complex biological processes such as cytokinesis and endocytosis. Tom Pollard’s and Rong Li’s lab (using S. pombe and S. cerevisiae, respectively) are constructing detailed mechanistic models that explain the dynamic behavior of actin and myosin during the assembly and contraction of the cytokinetic ring. Stunning progress in this area is a testament to the enduring power of yeast as an experimental organism for cell biology. Marko Kaksonen’s lab used fluorescence cross correlation spectroscopy to measure precise protein concentrations and interactions in vivo for key components of endocytosis. Jan Skotheim, a mathematician recently recruited to cell biology, used single cell analyses to quantitatively describe mating factor-induced cell cycle arrest. Studies such as these elucidate macroscopic cell behaviors at a mechanistic level, and are revealing that common regulatory principles underlie diverse biological responses. Quantitative live cell imaging at a systems level was discussed by Brenda Andrews who determined a "subcellular flux network" for approximately 3,000 GFP-labeled yeast proteins, which describes how each protein changes in abundance or localization under several different conditions, and offers biologists an integrated, dynamic view of protein function within the cell. Regulation of protein function by post-translational modifications was a major topic at the conference. The Gasser lab showed that protein sumoylation causes tethering of telomeres to the nuclear envelope, and that short telomeres dissociate from the nuclear envelope when they are elongating. Thus, telomere anchoring, mediated by sumoylation, may regulate telomerase activity, and similar observations in C. elegans suggest that this mechanism is conserved. The growing role of acetylation in modifying protein function was highlighted (Baetz and Strich labs) and insights into the recognition of protein targets by kinases and phosphatases were presented (Pryciak, Weiss, Turk, Stuart and Cyert labs). Other topics included chromosome instability and its consequences in yeast and cancer cells. Inhibition of Hsp90 increases chromosome loss (Rong Li’s lab), and the resulting aneuploidy facilitates the rapid acquisition of novel traits, including resistance to several drugs. Aneuploid yeast strains also have high levels of genomic instability due to increased chromosome loss and recombination and impaired DNA damage repair (Amon lab). Thus, by analogy, changes in the karyotype of human cells may profoundly influence the evolution of cancer cells. Mutations in the yeast mRNA processing machinery also result in chromosome instability and DNA damage that may be caused by persistence of RNA:DNA hybrids (Hieter lab). These studies suggest new insights into human leukemias, in which similar mutations occur. This intensely enjoyable conference united scientists from disparate areas of cell biology who share common organism-specific approaches. As always, this cross-fertilization revealed surprising new connections between well-studied processes, and will stimulate the next generation of advances in cell biology.
