Lipocalins in Health and Disease
September 14-17, 2006

The fifteenth annual Growth Factor and Signal Transduction Conference was held September 14-17, 2006 at the Scheman Building on the Iowa State University campus in Ames, Iowa. The symposium was sponsored by the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology of Iowa State University, with additional funding provided by the Office of Biotechnology, Iowa State University; and Molecular Express, Inc.

Topics for the conference were:

Evolution of Lipocalin Structural Motifs

Molecular Features of Lipocalins

Lipocalins in the Blood and Hematopoietic Cells

Lipocalins in Disease

Apoptosis and Differentiation

Insect Lipocalins

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, Jonathan Barasch, Niels Borregaard, Fiorella Descalzi Cancedda, William Montfort

The Plenary Speakers for the 2006 Conference were:

Bo Åkerström
Lund University, Lund, Sweden
John F. Andersen
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Ralph Arlinghaus
University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Jonathan Barasch
Columbia University, New York, New York
Thorsten Berger
Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research and the Ontario Cancer Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Niels Borregaard
Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
Matthew Cordes
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
Fiorella Descalzi Cancedda
Istituto de Bioimmagini e Fisiologia Molecolare, Genova, Italy
Jane Hurst
University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Marsha Moses
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Robert Matusik
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
William Montfort
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
Yukio Nakamura
University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
Marit Nilsen-Hamilton
Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
Bernhard Redl
Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria
Yoshihiro Urade
Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan
Diego Sanchez
Universidad de Valladolid-CSIC, Valladolid, Spain
Roland Strong
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington
Arne Skerra
Technische Universitat Munchen, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany

Short talks were given by:

James Sodetz, University of South Carolina, Abstract #12 "Crystal Structure of a Complex Between the Lipocalin C8gamma and a Synthetic Peptide Encoding the C8gamma Binding Site on Complemment Protein C8alpha: Implications for C8gamma Ligand Binding"
Elizabeth Shell, Berry College, Abstract #11 "Macromolecular Crowding of Alpha-1-Acid Glycoprotein
Lennart E. Logdberg, Emory University School of Medicine, Abstract #20, "Inducible Megalin- Expression on Mast Cells- A Clue to Lipocalin Allergenicity?"
Amandine Viau, Hospital Necker, Abstract #15, "Progression of Chronic Renal Lesions: Role of Lipocalin 2"
Felix Aigner, Innsbruck Medical Facility, Abstract 6 "The role of Lipocalin-2 in Ischemia and Reperfusion Injury During Heart Transplantation with Regard to its Function on Polymorphnuclear Cells"
Maria Ganfornina, Universidad de Valladolid, Abstract #2, "Glial Lazarillo, a Homolog of Apoplipoprotein D in Flies, Confers Protection in Situations of Unbalanced Oxidative Stress"

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