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Fertilization and Activation of Development

Gordon Research Conference

July 12 - 17, 2009
Chair Alberto Darszon
Vice Chair Janice P. Evans
Holderness School
33 Chapel Lane
Holderness, New Hampshire, United States
 Venue and Travel Information

Conference Description

Generating a new individual in many species requires the fusion of sperm and egg. This crucial event, called fertilization, encompasses cellular processes such as differentiation, motility, signaling, recognition, fusion and development that lay at the heart of Modern Biology. This is an exciting time as some basic concepts in gamete physiology are being revised. Advancing our understanding of these fundamental cellular processes requires the creative combination of tools from biophysics, biochemistry and molecular biology. Junior and senior scientist from all over the globe using broad experimental strategies will be brought together to present their recent findings and discuss the challenging questions confronting the field of Fertilization and Early Development. Scientists using a variety of models that unveil basic molecular mechanisms in the development of a new individual will enrich our perspective. The conference will include thematic introductions by discussion leaders, platform presentations and poster sessions to promote participant interactions. Scientific and personal exchange will be further encouraged during other social activities and afternoon excursions in the beautiful New Hampshire countryside.

Conference Program

SUNDAY
2:00 pm - 9:00 pmArrival and Check-in (Office Closed 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm)
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 7:40 pmWelcome / Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff
7:40 pm - 9:30 pmGAMETE DIFFERENTIATION
7:40 pm - 7:50 pm Discussion Leader: Mariana Wolfner (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA)
"Introduction"
7:50 pm - 8:15 pm Renee Reijo Pera (Institute for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford, California, USA)
"Differentiation of germ cells from human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells"
8:15 pm - 8:25 pm Discussion
8:25 pm - 8:50 pm Tim Schedl (Washington University, School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA)
"MPK-1 ERK substrates and the control of germline development in C. elegans"
8:50 pm - 9:00 pm Discussion
9:00 pm - 9:25 pm Julie Brill (University of Toronto, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada)
"Starring roles for phosphatidylinositol phosphates in cell morphogenesis during Drosophila sperm development"
9:25 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
MONDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
8:45 amGroup Photo
9:00 am - 12:30 pmSPERM EPIDIDYMAL MATURATION AND CAPACITATION
9:00 am - 9:15 am Discussion Leader: Pablo Visconti (Animal Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA)
"Introduction"
9:15 am - 9:45 am Sylvie Breton (Center for Systems Biology, Simches Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA)
"Regulation of luminal acidification in the epididymis via cell-cell cross-talk"
9:45 am - 9:55 am Discussion
9:55 am - 10:25 am Betsy Navarro (Harvard Medical School / Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA)
"Ion channels in sperm cells"
10:25 am - 10:35 am Discussion
10:35 am - 11:05 am Coffee Break
11:05 am - 11:35 am Lindsey A. Burnett (Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, USA)
"How Does Adenosine Increase Sperm Motility?"
11:35 am - 11:45 am Discussion
11:45 am - 12:15 pm Darío Krapf (Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina)
"Egg Water from the Amphibian Bufo arenarum modulates sperm physiology"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 6:00 pmFree Time
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmNEW APPROACHES TO GAMETE AND EMBRYO BIOLOGY
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm Discussion Leader: Michael Whitaker (University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle, UK)
"Introduction"
7:40 pm - 8:05 pm Daniel Sánchez (Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Monterrey, México)
"Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy, an approach to study cell physiology"
8:05 pm - 8:15 pm Discussion
8:15 pm - 8:40 pm Hitoshi Sawada (Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan)
"Allogeneic authentication mechanisms during ascidian fertilization"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pm Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:15 pm Takeharu Nagai (Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan)
"Deciphering enigma of biological function by a genetically-encoded fluorescent indicator"
9:15 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
TUESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pmFERTILIZATION AND ACTIVATION OF DEVELOPMENT
9:00 am - 9:15 am Discussion Leader: Janice P. Evans (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA)
"Introduction"
9:15 am - 9:45 am Keith Jones (University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia)
"The role of Anaphase-Promoting Complex in coordinating the meiotic divisions"
9:45 am - 9:55 am Discussion
9:55 am - 10:25 am John Parrington (Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK)
"Dissection of the molecular basis of the cADPR and NAADP signaling pathways through a study of egg activation in echinoderms"
10:25 am - 10:35 am Discussion
10:35 am - 11:05 am Coffee Break
11:05 am - 11:35 am Luigia Santella (Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy)
"Actin cytoskeleton and Ca signaling in the maturation and fertilization of starfish eggs"
11:35 am - 11:45 am Discussion
11:45 am - 12:15 pm William H. Kinsey (Center for Reproductive Sciences, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas, USA)
"Role of Protein Tyrosine Kinases in egg cortex organization and function"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session #1
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmSPERM FLAGELLAR REGULATION
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm Discussion Leader: Susan Suarez (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA)
"Introduction"
7:40 pm - 8:05 pm Benjamin Kaupp (Center of Advanced European Studies and Research, Department of Sensory Systems, Bonn, Germany)
"How to detect a single molecule of chemoattractant"
8:05 pm - 8:15 pm Discussion
8:15 pm - 8:40 pm Ritsu Kamiya (Department of Biological Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan)
"Functional diversity of axonemal dyneins"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pm Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:15 pm Stephen Publicover (University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK)
"Ca2+ stores and flagellar regulation in human sperm"
9:15 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
WEDNESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pmEGG AND EMBRYO POLARITY
9:00 am - 9:15 am Discussion Leader: Christian Sardet (BioMarCell group, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Villefranche-sur-Mer, France)
"Introduction"
9:15 am - 9:45 am Tsuyoshi Momose (Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Villefranche-sur Mer, France)
"Establishment of oocyte and embryo polarity in the micromedusa Clytia"
9:45 am - 9:55 am Discussion
9:55 am - 10:25 am Geraldine Seydoux (Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA)
"Polarity establishment at fertilization in the nematode C. elegans"
10:25 am - 10:35 am Discussion
10:35 am - 11:05 am Coffee Break
11:05 am - 11:35 am John Carroll (University College London, London, UK)
"Mechanisms of establishing polarity in mammalian oocytes"
11:35 am - 11:45 am Discussion
11:45 am - 12:15 pm John Bothwell (Marine Biological Association of the UK, The Laboratory, Plymouth, UK)
"Fertilization signals and the coordination of cell cycle and polarization in algal zygotes"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 6:00 pmFree Time
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmEMBRYOGENESIS AND EPIGENETICS
7:30 pm - 7:45 pm Discussion Leader: Richard M. Schultz (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA)
"Introduction"
7:45 pm - 8:10 pm Jacquetta Trasler (Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada)
"Developmental impact of perturbing genomic imprinting in preimplantation embryos"
8:10 pm - 8:20 pm Discussion
8:20 pm - 8:45 pm Antoine Peters (Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Novartis Research Foundation, Basel Switzerland)
"Transgenerational epigenetic contributions to early development"
8:45 pm - 8:55 pm Discussion
8:55 pm - 9:05 pm Petr Svoboda (Institute of Molecular Genetics, Prague, Czech Republic)
“Conversion of p-bodies into storage RNA granules in mouse oocytes”
9:05 pm - 9:10 pm Discussion
9:10 pm - 9:20 pm Jesse Mager (Veterinary & Animal Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA)
“Essential functions of the Polycomb group gene Yin-Yang1 during oocyte growth and early development”
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
THURSDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pmEGG ENVELOPES AND THE SPERM ACROSOME REACTION
9:00 am - 9:15 am Discussion Leader: Luis Mayorga (Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina)
"Introduction"
9:15 am - 9:45 am Luca Jovine (Karolinska Institutet, Hälsovägen, Sweden)
"Crystallographic studies of sperm receptor ZP3: implications for egg coat architecture and fertilization"
9:45 am - 9:55 am Discussion
9:55 am - 10:25 am Barbara Wakimoto (University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA)
"On the function of the acrosome: lessons from Drosophila"
10:25 am - 10:35 am Discussion
10:35 am - 11:05 am Coffee Break
11:05 am - 11:35 am George Gerton (University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA)
"The role of the acrosome in sperm-zona interactions"
11:35 am - 11:45 am Discussion
11:45 am - 12:15 pm David J. Miller (University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA)
"Regulation of membrane fusion during acrosomal exocytosis"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session #2
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmKEYNOTE SESSION
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm Discussion Leader: Vic Vacquier (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA)
"Introduction"
7:40 pm - 8:25 pm Willie Swanson (University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA)
"Evolution of gamete recognition proteins"
8:25 pm - 8:35 pm Discussion
8:35 pm - 8:50 pm Montserrat Gamendio (Reproductive Ecology and Biology Group, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales - CSIC, Madrid, Spain)
"Is sexual selection driving the evolution of reproductive traits and genes?"
8:50 pm - 9:00 pm Discussion
9:00 pm - 9:30 pmBusiness Meeting
(Nominations for the next Vice Chair; Fill out Conference Evaluation Forms; Discuss future Site & Scheduling preferences; Election of the next Vice Chair)
FRIDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 amDepart

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