Light,endocrine systems and cancer--a meeting report

The International Symposium "Light, Endocrine Systems and Cancer" was held on May 2-3 at Cologne University, Germany. The symposium was organized by Professor Claus Piekarski and Dr. Thomas C. Erren, Institute and Polyclinic for Occupational and Social Medicine. The main goal of the symposium was to evaluate the epidemiological and experimental data on the effect of the exposure to light-at-night on cancer risk and to indicate the main directions of future research in the field. The symposium covered also the mechanisms and epidemiology of skin cancer which, however, are not included in the present summary.     

Report on the Na+/H+ Exchanger Satellite Meeting at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology

The Satellite Meeting on Na+/H+ Exchangers, held on 17 April 2010, covered a range of new developments in this field. The symposium was chaired by Dr. Larry Fliegel, University of Alberta, and the speakers were Dr. John Orlowski of McGill University, Dr. Jan Rainey of Dalhousie University, Dr. Etana Padan of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dr. Masa Numata of The University of British Columbia, Dr. Pavel Dibrov from the University of Manitoba, Dr. Todd Alexander of the University of Alberta, and Grant Kemp of the University of Alberta. Talks ranged from organellar pH homeostasis to structure and function of Na+/H+ exchanger proteins. Highlights of the symposium included elucidation of the structure of transmembrane regions of the NHE1 isoform and development of a new model of the NHE1 protein based on the E. coli Na+/H+ exchanger. The symposium brought together scientists from different corners of the world. The discussions that followed were lively and many scientists received constructive comments from their peers.     

Autophagy

Multidisciplinary approaches are increasingly being used to elucidate the role of autophagy in health and disease and to harness it for therapeutic purposes. The broad range of topics included in the program of the Vancouver Autophagy Symposium (VAS) 2013 illustrated this multidisciplinarity: structural biology of Atg proteins, mechanisms of selective autophagy, in silico drug design targeting ATG proteins, strategies for drug screening, autophagy-metabolism interplay, and therapeutic approaches to modulate autophagy. VAS 2013 took place at the British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, and was hosted by the CIHR Team in Investigating Autophagy Proteins as Molecular Targets for Cancer Treatment. The program was designed as a day of research exchanges, featuring two invited keynote speakers, internationally recognized for their groundbreaking contributions in autophagy, Dr Ana Maria Cuervo (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY) and Dr Jayanta Debnath (University of California, San Francisco). By bringing together international and local experts in cell biology, drug discovery, and clinical translation, the symposium facilitated rich interdisciplinary discussions focused on multiple forms of autophagy and their regulation and modulation in the context of cancer.     

Oxidative Mechanisms in Neurodegenerative Disorders. Proceedings from a satellite symposium, Guilin, China, 7-11 February 2004

This special issue of Molecular Neurobiology presents a series of mini-reviews resulting from an ISN satellite symposium entitled Oxidative Mechanisms in Neurodegenerative Disorders Held at the Guilin Park Hotel, Guilin, China on February 7-11, 2004. The timely topics in this symposium were contributed by more than 20 internationally acclaimed scientists and attended by more than 100 participants interested in this subject matter. This satellite symposium was also part of the 6th Biennial Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry (APSN) meeting held in Hong Kong, China. Organizers included Dr. Piu Chan (Capital University of Medical Sciences and Beijing Institute of Geriatrics) Dr. Albert Y. Sun and Dr. Grace Y. Sun (University of Missouri, Columbia, MO). The satellite meeting was hosted by Xuanwu Hospital of Capital University of Medical Sciences and Guilin Medical College, and was generously supported by the following: the International Society of Neurochemistry (ISN), National Institutes of Health (USA) (1 R13 NS047414), the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) VA Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA, The Chinese Society of Neuroscience, Chinese Medical Association, Chinese Journal of Neurology, Shanghai Roche Pharmaceuticals Ltd., and Beijing QuiXave United Technology Ltd. Corporation.     

Commentary on Papers Presented at the New Orleans Shark Symposium and Some Reflections on Current Shark Research

The fifteen papers presented at a symposium, organized by Dr.R. Glenn Northcutt, entitled "Recent advances in the biologyof sharks" are briefly summarized. Comments are made where appropriateand fruitful areas for future research recommended.     

Pulmonary and renal pressure-flow relationships: what should be taught?

This article is from a symposium presented at the annual meeting of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS) on June 11, 2000. The presentation was funded under the auspices of a National Science Foundation Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement Program entitled "Development of Active Learning Materials for Physiology and Functional Anatomy: A Cooperative HAPS-APS Initiative." This symposium was part of the first module to be developed on "gradients and conductances: what flows where and why?" This presentation was designed to model the usefulness of the general model of gradients and conductances in the physiology and pathophysiology of the respiratory and renal systems. Thirteen different examples of pressure-flow-resistance and concentration-flux relationships are introduced; several ideas for active-learning activities and simple figures appropriate for undergraduate physiology classes are included. The symposium assumes that undergraduate students have already learned about diffusion, osmosis, and the basic principles of cardiovascular physiology. The presentation was designed to follow a symposium entitled: "Cardiovascular pressure-flow relationships: what should be taught?"     

Principles of Calcium Signaling

A three-day International Symposium entitled "Principles of Calcium Signaling" organized by James N. Weiss, Yale E. Goldman, Stéphane Hatem, Lars Cleemann and Nikolai M. Soldatov in honor of the research contributions of Professor Martin Morad was held at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, Salisbury Cove, Maine. Support for this meeting was provided in part by GlaxoSmithKline, Leica Microsystems, Nikon Corp., St. Jude Medical, Inc., UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, Dr. Donald S. Orkand, Bob Hillis Family and OML, and Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. The symposium featured sessions on Cardiac physiology, Ion channels and Calcium signaling.     

Principles of calcium signaling. Salisbury Cove, Maine, June 28-30, 2007

A three-day International Symposium entitled "Principles of Calcium Signaling" organized by James N. Weiss, Yale E. Goldman, Stéphane Hatem, Lars Cleemann and Nikolai M. Soldatov in honor of the research contributions of Professor Martin Morad was held at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, Salisbury Cove, Maine. Support for this meeting was provided in part by GlaxoSmithKline, Leica Microsystems, Nikon Corp., St. Jude Medical, Inc., UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, Dr. Donald S. Orkand, Bob Hillis Family and OML, and Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. The symposium featured sessions on Cardiac physiology, Ion channels and Calcium signaling.     

Antifertility drugs. Introductory remarks

The introductory remarks on the subject of antifertility drugs made by V.A. Drill at the 1970 Pharmacology Society Symposium are presented. The development of oral contraceptives is described. It is noted that oral contraceptives were develoepd coincident with the increasing public awareness of the "population explosion". At a certain point in the population growth, the public interest will become manifest, and each nation will establish a population policy. Among the papers presented at the symposium will be 2 by Dr. Saunders and Dr. Goldzieher, which review certain of the basic and clinical studies performed with oral contraceptives. Dr. Rudel will discuss the low-dose progestins. Drs. Duncan and Pharris will describe new approaches which are currently being explored. Ultimately, in order to control world population effectively, an immunological treatment may be required whereby 1 injection will control fertility for 2.5, or even 10 years. Dr. Garcia will summarize papers on this area of study.     

Constitutional Robertsonian T(15;22) in Ph-positive CML

Summary Chromosome studies in a phenotypically normal 40-year-old man with Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome-positive chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) and a constitutional Robertsonian translocation are reported. The possibility of carriers of Robertsonian translocations having an increased risk to develop Ph-positive CML is mentioned.     

Cancer and stem cell biology: how tightly intertwined?

Ever since the discovery of cancer stem cells in leukemia and, more recently, in solid tumors, enormous attention has been paid to the apparent stem cell nature of cancer. These concepts were the focus of the "Stem Cells and Cancer" symposium held recently at the University of California, San Francisco, and the inspiration for this overview of current research and important questions emerging in this area.     

Multivariate analysis of simultaneously active motor units in human skeletal muscle

The joint activity of simultaneously active motor units was analyzed, using several methods including interunit interval and expectation density functions. The results show that there is no significant interaction between any motor units and, except for a slight coupling, the units fire independently of one another. The coupling is weak but pervasive and affects motor units overlapping and disjoint territories. Synchronous action potentions were recorded at sites whose distance is greater than the acknowledged diameter of motor unit territories. It is proposed that these expansive motor units and the viscoelastic properties of muscle are responsible for smooth contractions in human muscle.This work was supported in part by the Social Rehabilitation Service through the Krusen Research Center, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while Dr. Shiavi was with the Biomedical Engineering and Science Program, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Krusen Research Center.     

Biology in a gray box: targeting the emergent properties of protein complexes: 2011 Yale Chemical Biology Symposium

At the 2011 Yale Chemical Biology Symposium, Jason Gestwicki presented a novel yet intuitive approach to drug screening. This method, which he termed "gray box" screening, targets protein complexes that have been reconstituted in vitro. Therefore, the gray box screen can achieve greater phenotypic complexity than biochemical assays but avoids the need for target identification that follows cell-based assays. Dr. Gestwicki's research group was able to use the gray box screen to identify myricetin as an inhibitor of the DnaK-DnaJ chaperone complex. This review will discuss Dr. Gestwicki's approach to identifying DnaK-DnaJ inhibitors as well as where the gray box screen fits among traditional techniques in drug discovery.     

2nd PEGS Annual Symposium on Antibodies for Cancer Therapy

The 2nd Annual Antibodies for Cancer Therapy symposium, organized again by Cambridge Healthtech Institute as part of the Protein Engineering Summit, was held in Boston, USA from April 30^th to May 1^st, 2012. Since the approval of the first cancer antibody therapeutic, rituximab, fifteen years ago, eleven have been approved for cancer therapy, although one, gemtuzumab ozogamicin, was withdrawn from the market. The first day of the symposium started with a historical review of early work for lymphomas and leukemias and the evolution from murine to human antibodies. The symposium discussed the current status and future perspectives of therapeutic antibodies in the biology of immunoglobulin, emerging research on biosimilars and biobetters, and engineering bispecific antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates. The tumor penetration session was focused on the understanding of antibody therapy using ex vivo tumor spheroids and the development of novel agents targeting epithelial junctions in solid tumors. The second day of the symposium discussed the development of new generation recombinant immunotoxins with low immunogenicity, construction of chimeric antigen receptors, and the proof-of-concept of ‘photoimmunotherapy’. The preclinical and clinical session presented antibodies targeting Notch signaling and chemokine receptors. Finally, the symposium discussed emerging technologies and platforms for therapeutic antibody discovery.     

A window into biocatalysis and biotransformations

Eight papers were presented in this year's symposium "Advances in Biocatalysis" at the 232nd ACS National Meeting, accentuating the most recent development in biocatalysis. Researchers from both industry and academia are addressing several fundamental problems in biocatalysis, including the limited number of commercially available enzymes that can be provided in bulk quantities, the limited enzyme stability and activity in nonaqueous environments, and the permeability issue and cell localization problems in whole-cell systems. A trend that can be discerned from these eight talks is the infusion of new tools and technologies in addressing various challenges facing biocatalysis. Nanotechnology, bioinformatics, cellular membrane engineering and metabolic engineering (for engineering whole-cell catalysts), and protein engineering (to improve enzymes and create novel enzymes) are becoming more routinely used in research laboratories and are providing satisfactory solutions to the problems in biocatalysis. Significant progress in various aspects of biocatalysis from discovery to industrial applications was highlighted in this symposium.     

2nd PEGS Annual Symposium on Antibodies for Cancer Therapy: April 30–May 1, 2012, Boston,USA

The 2nd Annual Antibodies for Cancer Therapy symposium, organized again by Cambridge Healthtech Institute as part of the Protein Engineering Summit, was held in Boston, USA from April 30^th to May 1^st, 2012. Since the approval of the first cancer antibody therapeutic, rituximab, fifteen years ago, eleven have been approved for cancer therapy, although one, gemtuzumab ozogamicin, was withdrawn from the market.  The first day of the symposium started with a historical review of early work for lymphomas and leukemias and the evolution from murine to human antibodies. The symposium discussed the current status and future perspectives of therapeutic antibodies in the biology of immunoglobulin, emerging research on biosimilars and biobetters, and engineering bispecific antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates. The tumor penetration session was focused on the understanding of antibody therapy using ex vivo tumor spheroids and the development of novel agents targeting epithelial junctions in solid tumors. The second day of the symposium discussed the development of new generation recombinant immunotoxins with low immunogenicity, construction of chimeric antigen receptors, and the proof-of-concept of ‘photoimmunotherapy’. The preclinical and clinical session presented antibodies targeting Notch signaling and chemokine receptors.  Finally, the symposium discussed emerging technologies and platforms for therapeutic antibody discovery.     

Plant hormones and signaling: common themes and new developments

About 200 plant biologists convened in Keystone, Colorado, for the "Plant Hormones and Signaling" symposium, which was organized by Joanne Chory, Joe Ecker, and Mark Estelle. The meeting was run concurrently with the "Plant Innate Immunity" symposium organized by Jonathan Jones and Jane Glazebrook. In this report, we summarize the progress in plant hormones and signaling.     

Zonation of metabolism and gene expression in liver

Conclusion The zonation of gene expression resulting in the different cellular equipment of liver cells with enzymes, translocators and subcellular structures is regulated mainly at a pretranslational level. In the dynamic zonation of carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes, gradients in oxygen and in the glucagon/insulin ratio decreasing from the periportal to the perivenous area appear to be major effectors. In the stable zonation of ammonia-metabolizing enzymes local paracrine cell-cell interactions via diffusible mediators could play a major role (Fig. 6).This paper was presented at the symposium Metabolic Zonation of the Liver: New Answers to Old Questions, held in honour of Prof. Dr. D. Sasse's 60th birthday, 26 August 1994, in Basel