ASSEMBLY OF SIGNALING NETWORKS

Keystone Symposia, Silverthorne CO

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (taken from the application) Our knowledge of signaling networks and the role that phosphates and lipids play in the dynamic assembly and disassembly of these pathways has grown exponentially over the past decade. The protein kinases and phosphatases plus the many molecules that regulate and target their activity as well as their protein substrates account for a substantial portion of the gene products that are encoded by the human genome. The synthesis and degradation of many key proteins are also highly dynamic processes that are regulated by protein phosphorylation. Technological advances at all levels have helped to fuel this explosion of information. Genomics is not only rapidly identifying the players and defining the interdigitating networks but also correlating genes with specific diseases. Genetic strategies are also defining who talks to whom and when are where these interactions take place in the cell. Structural biology, on the other hand, is rapidly revealing the molecular features of these molecules, even very large molecular machines, as well as the protein:protein interactions that allow them to communicate and to move between compartments of the cell. The dynamics of these processes is perhaps the largest challenge of all as we move into the next millennium. Extraordinary advances are being made in developing fluorescence strategies to follow these dynamic events in living cells, and to unravel the complexity of the large molecular machines. Efforts will be made to link these signaling networks in an interdisciplinary way so that biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, and structural biology are intertwined. Our goals are to bring together, typically in a single session, interdisciplinary strategies that are being used to probe a variety of signaling networks. Not only will we focus on the key players, but also on how and when they communicate with one another. Through our workshops on Bioinformatics/Genomics, Analysis of Protein Dynamics, and Micro Chip Array Technologies, we hope to expose the participants to some of the newest, most exciting and innovative technological advances that have broad applicability.