FASEB Summer Research Conference Research Articles

Meeting report-Small GTPases in membrane processes: FASEB summer research conference.

In September 2018, conference organizers Nava Segev (University of Illinois, Chicago) and Marino Zerial (MPI, Dresden) hosted the 5th FASEB Meeting in Small GTPases in Membrane Processes: Trafficking, Autophagy and Disease at the National Conference Center in Leesburg, Virginia. With over 100 attendees from across the globe sharing their varied expertise and interests, we came together with the common goal of gaining a better understanding of how small GTPases and their regulators act in both canonical and non-canonical pathways to conduct a diversity of essential cellular functions. A broad range of disciplines was covered in this meeting, including the study of biophysical and structural properties of these proteins, functional studies to get at the roles of these proteins in various cellular contexts (eg, ciliary function, mitophagy, cell motility, cell cycle, and development), and translational approaches to understand the greater implications of small GTPases and their regulators in multicellular systems and disease pathology. This meeting provided attendees with the opportunity to discuss pressing questions that are driving the study of small GTPases and to explore directions for the future. Of particular note, both formal talks and informal discussions very clearly highlighted the clinical importance of these proteins and pathways, the ways in which cutting edge imaging technologies are expanding our understanding of them, and the need to work better in groups to tackle the larger questions of how GTPases contribute to cellular homeostasis or dysfunction. In this meeting report, we focus upon these three themes, as they have the potential to help shape our future studies of both the biology of small GTPases and their roles in a wide array of fundamental cellular functions.

Meeting report – Arf and Rab family G proteins

A FASEB Summer Research Conference entitled 'Arf and Rab family G proteins' was held in July 2013 at Snowmass Village, Snowmass, Colorado. Arfs and Rabs are two families of GTPases that control membrane trafficking in eukaryotic cells, and increasing evidence indicates that their functions are tightly coordinated. Because many workers in this field have focused on only one family, this meeting was designed to integrate our understanding of the two families. The conference was organized by Elizabeth Sztul (University of Alabama, Birmingham, USA) and Jim Casanova (University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA), and provided an opportunity for approximately 90 scientists to communicate their work and discuss future directions for the field. The talks highlighted the structural, functional and regulatory properties of Arf and Rab GTPases and the need to develop coordinated approaches to investigate them. Here, we present the major themes that emerged from the meeting.

Meeting report – TGF-β superfamily: signaling in development and disease

The latest advances on the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathways were reported at the July 2013 FASEB Summer Research Conference 'The TGF-β Superfamily: Development and Disease'. The meeting was held in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, USA at 6700 feet above sea level in the Rocky Mountains. This was the seventh biannual meeting in the series. In attendance were investigators from a broad range of disciplines with a common interest in the mechanics of TGF-β and BMP signaling pathways, their normal developmental and homeostatic functions, and the diseases associated with pathway misregulation.

A taste of TGFβ in Tuscany

The recent FASEB Summer Research Conference entitled 'The TGFβ Superfamily: Signaling in Development and Disease' was held in August, 2011 in the spectacular setting of Il Ciocco, Lucca, amidst the olive trees in Tuscany, Italy. The organizers assembled an amazing forum, which included 53 speakers and 67 poster presentations from laboratories around the world, to showcase recent advances made in our understanding of the transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) signaling pathway.

Carl W. Gottschalk Distinguished Lecture of the American Physiological Society Renal Section

AnnouncementsCarl W. Gottschalk Distinguished Lecture of the American Physiological Society Renal SectionPublished Online:01 Apr 2011https://doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.00098.2011This is the final version - click for previous versionMoreSectionsPDF (140 KB)Download PDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesGet permissionsTrack citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInEmail Jeff Garvin, PhD, will present the Carl W. Gottschalk Lectureship at the annual Experimental Biology meeting on April 11, 2011, in Washington, DC. Dr. Garvin is a well-respected leader in renal physiology and hypertension, whose work has gained recognition over his career.Dr. Jeff. GarvinDownload figureDownload PowerPointDr. Garvin earned his PhD at Duke University under the mentorship of Dr. Lazlo Mandel. There he began his interest in ion transport, identifying sodium channels in the toad bladder and tongue. He then joined the lab of Mark Knepper, PhD at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a postdoctoral fellow. During this period, he carried out a series of very influential studies on ammonium transport in proximal tubules and thick ascending limbs. These studies established beyond any doubt that both renal tubule segments are capable of significant transport of ammonium ions. This was an extremely important set of observations, which added substantially to our understanding of renal acid base transport in the mammalian kidney.At NIH, he developed a myriad of technical skills, which provided a solid basis for his research career. However, his work generated from the perfusion of isolated rat proximal tubules in vitro has led to his most novel findings. In his first faculty position at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, he focused on the regulation of solute and fluid transport in proximal tubule, thick ascending limb and collecting duct using the isolated, perfused tubule technique and cultured cell techniques. He has shown convincingly that angiotensin II stimulates salt and fluid absorption from the rat proximal tubule and that atrial natriuretic factor inhibits angiotensin II stimulated fluid absorption. Later, he focused on the roles of nitric oxide and superoxide in regulation of solute transport in the thick ascending limb (TAL). One of his most important discoveries was the novel observation that superoxide stimulates salt transport in the TAL. Subsequent studies have tested function in other nephron segments and have explored the regulation of tubuloglomerular feedback. All of these studies have derived from unique applications of difficult techniques to further understanding of salt and water handling by the nephron and how it affects systemic blood pressure.Dr. Garvin has published more than 110 studies and his work has been supported by numerous NIH grants. He presented the Dahl Lecture at the Council for High Blood Pressure Research meeting in 2005. He is currently an Associate Editor of the American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology and was Chair of the FASEB Summer Research Conference on Renal Hemodynamics in 2010. In addition, Dr. Garvin has mentored a productive group of trainees now working as independent scientists.Dr. Garvin is an outstanding scientist who continues to make important and novel discoveries in how the kidney regulates salt and water balance. The Renal Section is honored to have Dr. Garvin present the Gottschalk Distinguished Lecture for 2011.The Carl W. Gottschalk Lecture selection committee was composed of Bill Welch (Chair), Tom Kleyman, and David Pollock.This article has no references to display. Previous Back to Top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedInformation More from this issue > Volume 300Issue 4April 2011Pages F1044-F1044 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2011 the American Physiological Societyhttps://doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.00098.2011History Published online 1 April 2011 Published in print 1 April 2011 PDF download Metrics Downloaded 76 times

GAPs

Whether your passion is to understand and reverse disease processes or "simply" a better understanding of how cells work, anyone wishing to understand cell regulation today must have a detailed and accurate understanding of regulatory GTPase mechanisms and their application to specific pathways. This is becoming increasingly difficult as the details of signaling by members of different families of GTPases and their regulators expand. But this is all the more reason to continually ask, which aspects of GTPase signaling are distinct to a GTPase or its subfamily and which are conserved throughout the superfamily? We each have slightly different views of the key aspects of GTPase signaling that are derived from the main GTPases studied in our own labs; e.g., translocation onto a membrane is an essential and integral aspect of Arf activation but not of other GTPases. However, one aspect of GTPase signaling that I had come to believe to be widespread and of general importance is not universally accepted. In fact, through my conversations at the recent FASEB summer research conference on "Arf Family GTPases" and reading of the literature in a graduate tutorial class, I realized that it is not known or accepted by the majority of researchers. The question is the role of GTPase activating proteins (GAPs) in signaling. Are they "pure" terminators of signaling or do they serve effector functions?

Nuclear Hormone Receptor Architecture - Form and Dynamics: The 2009 FASEB Summer Conference on Dynamic Structure of the Nuclear Hormone Receptors

Nuclear hormone receptors (NHRs) represent a large and diverse family of ligand-activated transcription factors involved in regulating development, metabolic homeostasis, salt balance and reproductive health. The ligands for these receptors are typically small hydrophobic molecules such as steroid hormones, thyroid hormone, vitamin D3 and fatty acid derivatives. The first NHR structural information appeared ~20 years ago with the solution and crystal structures of the DNA binding domains and was followed by the structure of the agonist and antagonist bound ligand binding domains of different NHR members. Interestingly, in addition to these defined structural features, it has become clear that NHRs also possess significant structural plasticity. Thus, the dynamic structure of the NHRs was the topic of a recent stimulating and informative FASEB Summer Research Conference held in Vermont.

Mechanisms and variation in plant development: sorting the wood from the trees in Vermont

The biannual FASEB summer research conference ;Mechanisms in Plant Development' was recently held in Saxtons River, Vermont and was organised by Neelima Sinha and Cris Kuhlemeier. Although most of the work discussed at the meeting concentrated on developmental mechanisms and on studies in Arabidopsis and maize, the meeting also emphasised the importance of variation between species and the elaboration of a broader range of model systems.

Consensus nomenclature for the human ArfGAP domain-containing proteins

At the FASEB summer research conference on “Arf Family GTPases”, held in Il Ciocco, Italy in June, 2007, it became evident to researchers that our understanding of the family of Arf GTPase activating proteins (ArfGAPs) has grown exponentially in recent years. A common nomenclature for these genes and proteins will facilitate discovery of biological functions and possible connections to pathogenesis. Nearly 100 researchers were contacted to generate a consensus nomenclature for human ArfGAPs. This article describes the resulting consensus nomenclature and provides a brief description of each of the 10 subfamilies of 31 human genes encoding proteins containing the ArfGAP domain.

Reining in RNA

Figure 1. The first joint EMBO/FASEB Workshop on Intracellular RNA Localization and Localized Translation took place between 1 and 6 July 2007, in Il Ciocco, Italy, and was organized by A. Ephrussi, E. Gavis, D. Ish‐Horowicz and J. Richter. Originally a biannual FASEB summer research conference, it is anticipated that the joint meeting will in future alternate between sites in Europe and the USA. Intracellular RNA localization and localized translation are involved in diverse processes such as embryonic patterning in Drosophila , jellyfish, tunicates, frogs and fish; the asymmetrical partitioning of fates in Drosophila neural stem cells and yeast mating types; fibroblast and neuronal growth cone motility; and synapse function (St Johnston, 2005; Du et al , 2007; Jambhekar & Derisi, 2007). The subjects discussed at this meeting included structural insights into RNA localization, improved methods for live imaging of RNA transport, and the combination of genome‐wide screens and biochemical approaches to identify localized RNAs and localization factors. Here, we highlight some of the crucial findings that were presented. Drosophila melanogaster has been widely used as a model organism to study mRNA localization and localized translation. This reflects the importance of these processes during Drosophila embryogenesis and the success of genetic screens in this organism. Indeed, visual screening methods continue to be used for the identification of new localization factors. For example, in a screen for new factors controlling microtubule organization in the fly oocyte, A. Guichet (Paris, France) found that the phosphatidylinositol‐4‐phosphate 5‐kinase (PIP5K) Skittles is necessary for phosphatidylinositol 4,5‐bisphosphate (PIP2) production and subsequent microtubule polarization, as well as for actin organization at the cortex. A. Ephrussi (Heidelberg, Germany) used a protein‐trap screen to identify Drosophila heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein 1/polypyrimidine tract binding protein 1 (hnRNP1/PTB) as a new component of the oskar ( osk ) RNP complex. Oocytes of ptb mutants show …

Mitochondrial biogenesis: is an old dog still teaching us new tricks?

Figure 1. The FASEB Summer Research Conference on the Assembly of the Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain took place between 5 and 10 August 2007, in Tucson, Arizona, USA, and was organized by D. Winge and E. Shoubridge. Participants of this meeting were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Ron Butow (Dallas, TX, USA), who died on 8 August 2007. Originally scheduled to present at the meeting, Butow cancelled his participation just shortly beforehand. Butow heroically battled cancer for more than 10 years and had remained an extremely active member of the mitochondrial community during this time. Butow was a giant in this field and throughout his career had used elegant genetic and biochemical approaches to study many areas of mitochondrial function, including protein import and, more recently, the organization and inheritance of the mitochondrial genome. His contributions to this field were enormous and he will be deeply missed by all in the mitochondrial and yeast genetic communities. A FASEB summer research conference held in Tuscon, Arizona, USA in August 2007 focused on the broad field of mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes, their assembly and regulation. Although commonly referred to as the ‘powerhouse of the cell’, mitochondria and their functions are not limited to the aerobic production of ATP. Rather, mitochondrial metabolism interfaces with many cellular metabolic processes, such as lipid metabolism—both catabolic and anabolic—FeS cluster metabolism, haem biosynthesis, programmed cell death and metal metabolism, to name but a few. As mitochondrial function and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) capacity are crucial to all eukaryotic cells, perturbations in the function of this organelle underlie many cellular metabolic disorders, and therefore give rise to various clinical disorders, from cardiac and muscle myopathies to neuromuscular defects (Shoubridge, 2001; Zeviani & Spinazzola, 2003; Fig 1). This FASEB conference saw the gathering of many scientists active in …

Satellite and stem cells in muscle growth and repair

The FASEB summer research conference on Skeletal Muscle Satellite and Stem Cells, organized by Thomas Rando, Giulio Cossu and Jeffrey Chamberlain, was held in Indian Wells, California, in July. An international array of researchers gathered to share numerous new insights into the cellular and molecular regulation of stem cells and satellite cells in skeletal muscle biology. The conference is unique in that it brings together investigators from diverse backgrounds, who work on the growth and repair of skeletal muscle in humans and model systems, in health and disease.

Announcement “Mitosis: spindle assembly and function”. A FASEB summer research conference in honor of Dr. B.R. Brinkley

Announcement “Mitosis: spindle assembly and function”. A FASEB summer research conference in honor of Dr. B.R. Brinkley

Tipping the balance in autoimmune disease

A report on the FASEB Summer Research Conference on Autoimmunity, Saxtons River, USA, 14-29 July 2007.

FASEB Summer Research Conference on DYNAMIC STRUCTURE OF NUCLEAR HORMONE RECEPTORS

FASEB Summer Research Conference on DYNAMIC STRUCTURE OF NUCLEAR HORMONE RECEPTORS

Moonlight in Vermont illuminates plant development

A report on the FASEB summer research conference 'Mechanisms in plant development', Saxtons River, USA, 5-9 August 2006.

FASEB Summer Research Conference on DYNAMIC STRUCTURE OF NUCLEAR HORMONE RECEPTORS

FASEB Summer Research Conference on DYNAMIC STRUCTURE OF NUCLEAR HORMONE RECEPTORS

FASEB Summer Research Conference on DYNAMIC STRUCTURE OF NUCLEAR HORMONE RECEPTORS

FASEB Summer Research Conference on DYNAMIC STRUCTURE OF NUCLEAR HORMONE RECEPTORS

FASEB Summer Research Conference on DYNAMIC STRUCTURE OF NUCLEAR HORMONE RECEPTORS

FASEB Summer Research Conference on DYNAMIC STRUCTURE OF NUCLEAR HORMONE RECEPTORS

Chromatin dynamics rule the genome

A report on the FASEB Summer Research Conference 'Chromatin and Transcription', Snowmass, USA, 9-14 July 2005.