Stem Cells: Development and Plasticity
September 16 - 19, 2004

The thirteenth annual Growth Factor and Signal Transduction Conference was held September 16-19, 2004 at the Scheman Building on the Iowa State University campus in Ames, Iowa. The symposium was jointly sponsored by National Institutes of Health, ISU Office of Biotechnology, ISU Graduate College, ISU Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Merck & Co., Inc. and Molecular Express Inc.

Topics for the conference were:

• Regulators of Stem Cell Biology
• Regional Determinants of Cell Fate
• Intrinsic Determinants of Stem Cells
• Transdifferentiation
• Stem Cell Responses to Perturbation
• Reciprocal Communication Between Graft and Host

The proceedings of this symposium were published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Speakers and participants submitted abstracts for posters and short oral presentations of their research. The atmosphere was informal and the format allowed for exstensive discussion both during and between sessions. An important purpose of the symposium was to promote new collaboration and interdisciplinary interactions between individuals who might not have encountered each other in a less focused meeting. By doing this, a broad spectrum of participants, ranging from distinguished scientists to highly promising students and post-doctoral fellows attended the annual symposium. This was a valuable educational opportunity for the students and post-doctoral fellows to have a chance to interact with leading researchers in the field as well as focus on a current topic in plant biochemistry and molecular biology.

The organizing committee consisted of Marit Nilsen-Hamilton, Iowa State University, Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology; Vaclav Ourednik, Iowa State University, Department of Biomedical Sciences; Jitka Ourednik, Iowa State University, Department of Biomedical Sciences; Don Sakaguchi, Iowa State University, Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology; and Evan Snyder, The Burnham Institute, Stem Cells and Regeneration Program Director.

The Plenary Speakers for the 2004 Conference were:

• Ernest Arenas, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden: "Engineering a Dopaminergic Phenotype in Stem Cells: Role of Nurr1, Glial-derived Signals and Wnts"
• Elena Cattaneo, University of Milano, Milan, Italy: "Stem Cells for Signaling and Disease Mechanism Studies"
• Marie Csete, Emory University, Atlanta, GA: "Oxygen and Reactive Oxygen Species in Stem Cell Fate"
• Steve Goldman, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY: "Isolation, Induction and Use of Neural Prgenito Cells of the Adult Human Brain"
• Carl Gregory, Tulane University School of Medicine: "The Role of Wnt Signaling in the Repair of Bone by Mesenchymal Stem Cells"
• Linheng Liu, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO: Signaling Regulation of Stem Cell Development in the Hematopoietic and Intestinal Systems"
• Jitka Ourednik, Iowa State University, Ames, IA: "Cooperation of Graft and Host in Restorative and Neuro-protective Events in the Damaged Central Nervous System"
• Theo Palmer, Stanford University, Stanford, CA: "Learning From Your Mistakes...Or Not: Stem Cells, Adult Nerogenesis and Hippocampal Malfunction"
• Don Sakaguchi, Iowa State University, Ames, IA: "Neural Progenitor Cell Transplants into the Developing CNS"
• Paul R. Sanberg, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, FL: "Umbilical Cord Blood Derived Stem Cells and Brain Repair"
• Evan Snyder, The Burnham Institute, La Jolla, CA: "Neural Stem Cells: Developmental Insights May Suggest Therapeutic Options"
• Clive Svendsen, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI: "Defining the Human Neural Stem Cell and is Possible Role in Treating Neurodegenerative Diseases"
• Eva Sykova, Charles University and Institute of Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic: "Imaging and Fate of Stem Cells Labeled with Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles in Brain and Spinal Cord Injury"
• Derek van der Kooy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada: "Where do Brains Come From"

Short talks were given by: Walter C. Low, "Characterization and Transplantation of a Novel Population of Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells in Experimental Ischemic Brain Injury"; Jason Meyer, Embryonic Stem Cell-mediated Repair of the Degenerating Retina"; Debbie Greenway, "Investigating the Role of Rest in Neural Stem Cells and Adult Neurons"; Lalitha Madhavan, "Preventive Transplantation of Neural Stem Cells (NCSs) protects Striatal Neurons from Oxidative Stress"; and Atta Behfar, "Cytokine-directed Switch from Pluripotency to Cardiopoesis."

Full speaker abstracts are available
List of All Abstracts

Symposium Office
3208 Molecular Biology Building
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011-3260 USA
TEL: 515-294-7978 FAX: 515-294-2244
pbmb@iastate.edu