2018 Intermediate Filaments Gordon Research Conference and Gordon Research Seminar

Gordon Research Conferences, East Greenwich RI

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

Project Summary Intermediate filament (IF) proteins are encoded by ~65 functionally distinct genes, placing them among the 100 largest gene families in humans. The remarkable discoveries of hundreds of mutations in IF genes causing a plethora of human diseases have attracted the attention of basic scientists and physicians. The etiology and clinical manifestations of abnormal intermediate filament proteins are wide-ranging, including premature aging, cardiomyopathies, neurodegenerative disorders, myopathies and muscular dystrophies, as well as skin blistering diseases, amongst many others. Abnormal IF aggregates are now recognized factors in motor neuron diseases, Alzheimer?s disease, Parkinson?s disease and giant axonal neuropathy. The first therapeutic interventions based on this primary research are now benefiting patients, and it is therefore an exciting time and a new phase for the field. Furthermore, intermediate filament proteins, which serve as markers of the tissue origin of poorly differentiated tumors, as tumor markers in serum, and as a means of detecting micro-metastases, are now recognized as key initiating points in the metastatic cascade. The 2018 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) IF Meeting aims to unite researchers and clinicians who are contributing distinct perspectives and experience, but who together reveal insights relevant to intermediate filament biology, such as their structural and functional relationships to other established or emerging areas, including clinical medicine. Our objective is to promote a stimulating series of scientific sessions and an environment attractive to young investigators/trainees from diverse backgrounds while encouraging established scientists to embark on novel questions and deliver new therapeutic interventions. In addition to the use of human tissue and database resources, model systems represented will include Drosophila, Xenopus, zebrafish, C. elegans, and mouse. The approaches represented will include molecular/biochemical, cellular and structural/biophysical, genetic/developmental, grouped into nine sessions that represent the broad range of physiological and pathological processes in which IF proteins play a central role. The GRC IF meetings, which have been held continuously since 1990, bring together individuals that would not otherwise gather in a similarly intimate scientific forum. Thus, both established investigators and trainees look-forward to this opportunity once every two years. As represented in our speaker/chair list, we have been attentive to gender diversity, early-career investigators, and researchers new to the IF field. All applicants are invited to present posters describing their latest research; all of these will be at least briefly introduced orally. In addition, a number of platform presentations will be chosen from the submitted abstracts in order to ensure inclusion of the latest breakthroughs during the formal sessions. The attendance of young scientists has always been encouraged and in recognition of this, the meeting will include the fourth IF Gordon Research Seminar (GRS), which will precede the GRC and which will be organized by graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.