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Gordon Research Conference on Macromolecular Organization and Cell Function |
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Gordon Research Conference on Macromolecular Organization and Cell Function |
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Vice-Chairs:
Natalie
Cohen (University of Southern California)
Hans Westerhoff (Free University, Amsterdam)
[program] [Application] [schedule] [Sponsorship] [projection & posters] [Travel] [Oxford links] [Selected bibliography]
The focus of the conference is on the functional organization of cellular components, and the critical role of this organization in metabolism and its regulation. Initially, much of the attention was directed at enzymes, but this has greatly expanded over the years to include nucleic acids (e.g., targeting of mRNAs, assembly of complexes associated with transcription or translation), membranes, organelles, and delicate structures such as the nuclear matrix and cytoskeleton. Principles governing the assembly of such structures, as well as mechanisms by which these assemblies might be changed in response to altered metabolic or hormonal status, are central issues in this conference. Conference participants have been especially sensitive to the fact that much of this organization may be destroyed, or at least grossly perturbed, when studies are performed in vitro. Thus, a persistent feature in the conference has been the cautious extrapolation of in vitro results to the in vivo condition, as well as development and application of techniques that allow one to study cellular structure and function in vivo. The result has been that this conference traditionally brings together scientists with interests ranging from biochemistry, cell biology, and molecular biology to theoretical formalisms, quantitative modelling, biophysics, physics, and instrumentation. This truly interdisciplinary nature has consistently led to broad based discussions and interactions which have been rated highly by those in attendance.
Effective in 1997, the Gordon Conferences have adopted a format in which the opening session of the conference is on Sunday evening, followed by morning and evening sessions on Monday-Thursday. This program has been developed following that format. We are planning for four speakers in each morning session, and three speakers in each evening session. Each speaker will be allotted 35 min for his/her talk, followed by 10 min discussion. An additional general discussion period will be scheduled at the end of each session.
All speakers listed below have already accepted invitations to participate in this conference. There will be a designated Discussion Leader for each session. Where these have already been determined, names are indicated; others will be appointed as program development continues.
| SUNDAY PM
Cell Structure and Microenvironments Discussion Leader:
Jim
Clegg |
Evolving Concepts of Cell Structure and the Intracellular
Milieu: A Historical Perspective Jim Clegg Bodega Bay Marine Laboratory, Univ. of California, Davis |
| Organization of Cellular Water Adrian Parsegian Laboratory of Structural Biology, NIH |
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| Control of Intracellular Transport by the Cytoplasmic
Architecture Kate Luby-Phelps Dept. of Physiology, Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center |
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| MONDAY AM
Cellular Mobility and Intracellular Transport Discussion Leader:
Kate
Luby-Phelps |
Axonal Transport Scott Brady Dept of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center |
| Cytokinesis and Cell Locomotion Kevin Burton Science & Technology Center, Carnegie Mellon University |
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| Imaging Intracellular Trafficking Thomas Jovin Dept. of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Inst. For Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen |
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| Cytoskeletal Function in Plant Cells Mel Schindler Dept. of Biochemistry, Michigan State Univ. |
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| MONDAY PM
Molecular Basis for Channeled Metabolism Discussion Leader:
Paul
Srere |
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| Principles of Protein-Protein Interaction Susan Jones Dept. of Biochemistry, University College London |
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| Tryptophan Synthase: Allosteric Regulation of Substrate
Channeling Michael Dunn Dept. of Biochemistry, Univ. of California-Riverside |
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| Protein-Protein Interaction and the Molecular Mechanism of
Substrate Channelling in 2-Oxo Acid Dehydrogenase Complexes Richard Perham Dept. of Biochemistry, Univ. of Cambridge |
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| TUESDAY AM
Non-invasive Approaches for Exploring Macromolecular and Cellular Organization Discussion Leader:
Douglas
Kell |
Luminescent Indicator and Reporter Genes Tony Campbell Dept. of Medical Biochemistry, Univ. of Wales, Cardiff |
| Spectroscopic Analysis of Proteins in vivo
Kevin Brindle Dept. of Biochemistry, Univ. of Cambridge |
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| Detection of Protein-Protein Interactions with the Reverse Two
Hybrid System Marc Vidal Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Univ. |
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| Detection and localization of genes and gene products by
fluorescence microcopy in prokaryotes: linking genotype and phenotype? Nanne Nanninga Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Amsterdam. |
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| TUESDAY PM
Enzyme Organization and Channeled Metabolism Discussion Leader:
Harvey
Knull |
Protein-Protein Interactions Within the Bcl-2 Family:
Importance in the Regulation of Apoptosis. Caroline Dive Univ. of Manchester |
| Structural and Functional Organisation of Polyketide Synthases
Peter F. Leadlay Univ. of Cambridge |
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| Production and modelling of Krebs TCA cycle enzyme fusions to
study the metabolon hypothesis Christian Vélot VA Medical Center, Dallas, TX |
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| WEDNESDAY AM
Organization of Gene Expression Discussion Leader:
Chris
Mathews |
Intracellular Localization of mRNAs Natalie Cohen Univ. of Southern California |
| Nucleosome Assembly Jerry Workman Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State Univ. |
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| Nucleotide/DNA Synthesis Chris Mathews Dept. of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Oregon State Univ. |
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| Sensing Stress and Protein Damage by Heat Shock Transcription
Factors and Molecular Chaperones Rick Morimoto Dept. of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology, Northwestern Univ. |
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| WEDNESDAY PM
Organization and Compartmentation of Glycolysis and Glycogen Metabolism Discussion Leader:
John
Wilson |
Discrete Functions of Hexokinase Isozymes Chris Newgard Dept. of Biochemistry, Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center |
| Glycogen Synthesis Joan Guinovart Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Univ. of Barcelona |
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| Translocation of Glucokinase Kasim Mookhtiar Dept. of Metabolic Diseases, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute |
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| THURSDAY AM
Integrative Biology Discussion Leader:
G.
Rickey Welch |
Genome Functional Analysis in the Post-Genomic Era Steve Oliver Dept. of Biomolecular Sciences, Univ. of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology |
| Hierarchical Control Analysis Hans Westerhoff Free Univ., Amsterdam |
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| New Approaches to Defining the Flavonoid Metabolon Brenda Shirley Dept. of Biology, Virginia Tech Univ. |
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| Gene Knockouts in Animals Bé Wieringa Catholic University of Nijmegen |
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| THURSDAY PM
Organization of Signaling Pathways. Discussion Leader: Susan
Jaken |
Signal Transduction Pathways that Regulate Neuronal
Differentiation, Survival, and Adaptive Responses Michael Greenberg Div. of Neurosciences, Children's Hospital, Harvard Univ. |
| Protein Kinase C: Isozymes, Substrates, and Translocation
Susan Jaken W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center |
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| Neuronal Targeting of Kinase Phosphatase Signaling Complexes
John D. Scott Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Vollum Institute |
A detailed conference schedule is available here, and may be printed out using your browser. Please note the Queens' College Phone (+44 1865 279120) and Fax (790819) numbers
To apply for participation in this conference you have to fill in an electronic application form at the G.R.C. site. The G.R.C. will then send you a confirmation of acceptance and a registration form to be sent back with the payment ($720 or $770 if sent after 24 August).
The closest international airport to Oxford is Heathrow, but Gatwick also has good links to Oxford. Travelling from both Heathrow or Gatwick to Oxford is most conveniently done by bus: the X70 Citylink bus leaves Heathrow every 30 minutes (£12 return) with a journey time of about 1 hour. From Gatwick the X80 Citylink bus departs every 2 hours (£19 return) and the journey time is 2 hours.
It is also possible to use Birmingham international airport, which is connected to Oxford by railway. Trains to Oxford approximately every hour, journey time roughly 70 minutes. Railtrack has an online rail journey planner.
If you are travelling by train, use Railtrack's online rail journey planner
Main roads to Oxford are the M40 from London and Birmingham and the A34 from Southampton (also useful if you arrive by ferry in Portsmouth). Bear in mind that Oxford is not a very good town for parking (this is an understatement...) and there is no parking reserved for participants at Queens College. See links below for a map of Oxford.
Within Oxford you may take a taxi from the train station. There is no need for a taxi if you arrive by bus as there is a bus stop right in front of Queens College.
The Queen's College, University of Oxford. Other useful links here
A very useful page with information on how to get to Oxford is The Alien's Guide to Oxford. Sometimes it is useful to have a map before we get to the destination, here is a Map of Oxford (522 Kbytes), print it if you need to!
For those who enjoy walking, Oxford is an excellent place. Here is A walking tour of Oxford.
In the last conference we had access to the Queen's College pub in the evenings and during the Poster sessions, and this will also be available in 1998. In any case here is a guide to the Oxford pubs, there's plenty of choice!
This web page is hosted by the UMIST Bioanalytical Sciences Group and is maintained by Pedro Mendes, although Douglas Kell has occasionally helped him to discover that not all HTML writers adhere to the current international standards for this class of language.
