Session 1, Sun Evening - Invertebrate Matrix: Evolution of an Elastic Matrix

• Fred Keeley (Discussion Leader, Toronto): The evolutionary lineage of elastin
• Susanne Reber-Mueller (Portland/Basel): Jellyfish fibrillins
• Edwin DeMont (Nova Scotia): Mechanical properties of microfibril-based arteries

Sunday Evening - Social

Session 2, Mon Morning - Microfibrillar Proteins

• Francesco Ramirez (Discussion Leader, New York)
• Michael Raghunath (Muenster): Extracellular modifications of profibrillin
• Mark Gibson (Adelaide): MAGP-2
• Scott Argraves (Charleston): New perspectives on the function of fibulin-1
• Timothy Ritty (St. Louis): Proteolytic processing of the fibrillin-1 C-terminal domain

Poster Session 1, Mon 4-6 PM: Matrix Structure and Assembly

Session 3, Mon Evening - Molecular Structure of Microfibrils

• Lynn Sakai (Discussion Leader, Portland): Heterogeneity in microfibrils
• Cay Keitly (Manchester): Fibrillin microfibrils in tight skin mice
• Penny Handford (Oxford): Structural Analysis of Fibrillin Domains
• Deiter Reinhardt (Portland): Self-interaction and characterization of the N-terminal end of fibrillin-1

Session 4, Tue Morning - Animal Models of Matrix Assembly

• Robert Mecham (Discussion Leader, St. Louis)
• Francesco Ramirez (New York): Fibrillin-1 and Marfan syndrome
• Renato V. Iozzo (Philadelphia): Decorin: A regulator of matrix assembly and cellular growth
• Dean Li (Salt Lake City): Cell phenotypes in the elastin knock-out
• Gilles Faury (St. Louis): Vascular mechanics in the elastin deficient mice
• Rosario Hernandez (St. Louis): Ocular abnormalities in elastin deficient mice
• Steve Perrin (Boston): Zebra fish with elastic tissue defects

Poster Session 1, Tue 4-6 PM: Matrix Structure and Assembly (cont'd)

Session 5, Tue Evening - Cytokines and Extracellular Matrix

• Jeffrey Bonadio (Discussion Leader, Ann Arbor): Targeting latent growth factors to extracellular matrix
• Jorma Keski-Oja (Helsinki): ECM-associated LTBPs
• Daniel Rifkin (New York): Latent TGF-ß binding protein
• Mats Hellström (Seattle): PDGF-A signaling in lung development and elastin deposition

Session 6, Wed Morning - Vasculogenesis

• Charles Little (Discussion Leader, Charleston): How the embryo builds a blood vessel
• Karen Hischi (Boston): Cell-cell interactions during vessel assembly
• Brenda Rongish (Nashville): Fibrillin-2 and embryonic morphogenesis
• Chitra Suri (Tarrytown): Angiopoietin-1 during embryonic angiogenesis
• Paul Skoglund (Charlottesville): Expression of a dominant negative Xenopus fibrillin construct in developing mesoderm perturbs convergent extension at gastrulation

Poster Session 2, Wed 4-6 PM: Regulation of Matrix Production, Matrix Gene Mutations and Responses to Disease

Session 7, Wed Evening - Mutations in Matrix Genes

• Dianna Milewicz (Discussion Leader, Houston): Fibrillin gene mutations
• Mark Keating (Salt Lake City): Mutations in the elastin gene
• Maurice Godfrey (Omaha): Marfan-like phenotype caused by mutations in LTBP-2
• Terhi Rantamäki (Helsinki): Cellular modelling of Marfan mutations
• Jeffrey Davidson (Nashville): Elastin gene mutations in cutis laxa patients

Session 8, Thu Morning - Matrix Biosynthesis

• William Parks (Discussion Leader, St. Louis): Post-transcriptional control of elastin production
• Judith Foster (Boston): Transcriptional regulation of tropoelastin
• Joel Rosenbloom (Philadelphia): Elastin expression in strange places
• Elaine Davis (Dallas): Helper proteins for tropoelastin: Potential folding and trafficking chaperones
• Herb Kagan (Boston): Localization and activity of lysyl oxidase within nuclei of fibrogenic cells

Poster Session 2, Thu 4-6 PM: Regulation of Matrix Production, Matrix Gene Mutations and Responses to Disease (cont'd)

Session 9, Thu Evening - Repair of Elastic Tissue

• Jeffrey Davidson (Discussion Leader, Nashville): Elastin induction in pulmonary fibrosis
• Richard Pierce (St. Louis): Induction of elastin expression in fetal lung mesenchyme: role of epithelium-derived signals
• Celeste Rich (Boston): FGF and elastin transcription: a novel model of emphysema
• Steven Shapiro (St. Louis): Elastase and lung disease