GTPases: Mechanisms, Interactions and Applications
Suzhou, China
September 22-26, 2014
Abstract Deadline extended to: August 3, 2014

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Organized by:
Channing Der, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
Jianping Ding, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences,CAS, China
Klaus Gerwert, Ruhr-University Bochum / CAS-Max-Planck-Institute, PICB, Germany / China
Linda Van Aelst, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA

We are pleased to announce Cold Spring Harbor Asia conference on  GTPases: Mechanisms, Interactions and Applications which will be held in Suzhou, China, located approximately 60 miles west of Shanghai.The conference will begin at 7:00pm on the evening of Monday September 22, and will conclude after lunch on September 26, 2014.

The conference will include eight oral sessions and one poster session covering the latest findings across many topics in GTPases research. Many talks will be selected from the openly submitted abstracts on the basis of scientific merit and relevance. Social events throughout the conference provide ample opportunity for informal interactions.

With this year´s conference on GTPases: Mechanisms, Interactions and Applications we will expand the scope of the 2012 conference on Small GTPases at Different Scales: Proteins, Membranes, Cells to heterotrimeric G-Proteins. One highlight of the last conference was the contribution of Arieh Warshel, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2013. GTPases play important roles in diverse cellular processes that include signal transduction, protein biosynthesis, control and differentiation during cell division, translocation of proteins through membranes and vesicle transport within the cell. Aberrant GTPase functions contribute to disease and therefore are promising drug targets. Heterotrimeric G-Proteins are activated by G-protein coupled receptors as exchange factors. The Ras superfamily of small GTPases serve as molecular switches that regulate fundamental processes of cell biology, especially cell growth. Oncogenic mutated Ras is involved in almost all types of cancer and therefore an important target for the pharmaceutical industry. Common motifs and differences in the activation and signaling of G alpha and small GTPases will be discussed at different scales starting from protein-protein-interactions at the atomic level up to the signaling networks within the living cell and organism. The meeting will provide a state-of-the-art overview of these important membrane associated proteins and their role within the living cell.

Major Topics:
Biomolecular simulations and model systems for GTP hydrolysis
Molecular mechanism of GTP hydrolysis by GTPases and their associated GAPs
Posttranslational modifications of GTPases
Interactions of GTPases with membranes
Interactions with effector proteins
Pritein-Protein interactions of GTPases in vitro
Dynamics and Trafficking of GTPases in vivo
GTPases in disease and drugs for GTPases

Invited Speakers:
Philippe Bastiaens, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Dortmund, GERMANY
Abstract title:Investigation of the properties of Acyl Protein Thioesterases and their role in Ras depalmitoylation
Jacqueline Cherfils, CNRS, FRANCE
Abstract title:Endocytic ArfGEFs : regulation by auto-inhibition, feedback loops and membranes
Adrienne Cox, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
Abstract title:TBA
Channing Der, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
Abstract title:Targeting Ras effector signaling for cancer treatment
Jianping Ding, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences,CAS, China
Abstract title:Molecular mechanism for Rabex-5 GEF activation by Rabaptin-5
Klaus Gerwert, Ruhr-University Bochum / CAS-Max-Planck-Institute, PICB, Shanghai, Germany
Abstract title:How dynamic interactions of small GTPases with their respective GAPs provide catalysis and specificity in signal-transduction
Alemayehu Gorfe, University of Texas Medical School - Houston, USA
Abstract title:Ras proteins: Clustering, lateral organization and effect on membrane
Jay Groves, University of California, USA
Abstract title:Molecular signaling reactions on membrane surfaces
John Hancock, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, USA
Abstract title:Ras nanoclusters on plasma membrane: lipid sorting, signal integration and electrical control
Hans Robert Kalbitzer, University of Regensburg, GERMANY
Abstract title:Intrinsic allosteric inhibition of signaling proteins by targeting rare interaction states.
Edward Manser, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, SINGAPORE
Abstract title:New insights into the regulation and localization of PAK4
Shuh Narumiya, Kyoto University, JAPAN
Abstract title:mDia1 and mDia3, formin family actin nucleators and Rho effectors, mediate TCR microcluster dynamics and signaling and are critical for positive selection of thymocytes.
Alexander Nemukhin, M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, RUSSIA
Abstract title:Modeling of chemical transformations in GTPase active sites upon GTP hydrolysis
Klaus Scheffzek, Innsbruck Medical University, AUSTRIA
Abstract title:Disease cross talk at the Ras/MAPK pathway - defining the details of the neufofibromin spred1 interaction
Stephen Sprang, University of Montana, USA
Abstract title:The guanine nucleotide exchange factor and Chaperone Ric-8A induces structural plasticity in Gai1
Roger Sunahara, University of Michigan, USA
Abstract title:Heterotrimeric G proteins and their allosteric interactions with GPCRs: activation and regulation
John Tesmer, University of Michigan, USA
Abstract title:Regulation of effector enzymes by heterotrimeric G proteins
Linda van Aelst, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA
Abstract title:TGF-ß/Smad signaling through DOCK4 and Rac1 facilitates lung adenocarcinoma metastasis




We encourage abstracts to contain new and unpublished materials. The abstracts must be submitted electronically by the abstract deadline. Selection of material for oral and poster presentation will be made by the organizers. Status (fellow's talk/poster) of abstracts will be posted on our web site as soon as decisions have been made by the organizers.

Fellowship:
We are eager to have as many young people as possible attend since they are likely to benefit most from this meeting. A certain number of presentations by graduate students and postdocs in this conference will be selected as fellowship (USD $200-$500) awards. For more details, please visit Stipends

We look forward to seeing you at Suzhou in June 2014.

Sponsored by:

Package Content:

Please kindly note:

1. Registration includes food, but does NOT include Housing. Due to requests from participants to provide more housing at lower prices, we have expanded our housing options to include some lower priced nearby hotels. After completing the online registration, you will receive a link to the full list of housing options.
*Reference Room Rate:
CNY 500 per standard room per night in the Conference Hotel (Worldhotel Grand Dushulake Suzhou)
Up from CNY 200 per standard room per night in nearby budget hotels (within 5 km)
CNY 400-700 per standard room per night in nearby 4-5 star hotels

2. The early price will be available if the full payment is finished before the exact due date.
For USD participants, we will automatically change your package price to the update one if we could not successfully charge the payment from your registered credit card before the deadline.
For CNY participants, we will automatically change your package price to the update one if our bank account could not receive your full payment by wire transfer before the deadline.

3. For late registrations, your registration materials may not be guaranteed since the order is usually made in advance.

4. Please inform us your special request on food (vegetarian, kosher…etc.) or other things during the online registration or email us as early as possible so that we could make relevant arrangement accordingly.

5. Student package is exclusively designed for all the graduate, undergraduate and doctor students who have not received the doctor degree. (Student ID will be required upon arrival).

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