• Weber, K. (U. Gottingen, Germany):
  Molecular aspects of the evolution of intermediate filament proteins
• Herrmann, H. (Heidelberg, Germany):
  Functional domains and class-specific parameters in the initiation of intermediate filament assembly
• Steinert, P. (NIH, Bethesda):
  Structural features of hair keratin intermediate filaments
• Parry, David (Massey University, New Zealand
  Fibrous proteins: The ultimate challenge

• Conference Photo, 8:30 am

• Omary, B. (Stanford Univ):
  Posttranslational regulation of simple epithelial keratins
• Shea, T. (U. Massachusetts, Lowell):
  Neuronal If assembly
• Nixon, R.A.. (Nathan Kline Inst., NY):
  Molecular determinants of neurofilament transport and organization
• Mushynski, W. (McGill, Montreal):
  Stress-activated kinase and neurofilaments
• Liem, R.K. (Columbia, NY):
  Dynamics, transport and phosphorylation of neuronal intermediate filaments
• Pant, H. (NIH, Bethesda):
  Phosphorylation of KSP repeats in neurofilament proteins by kinases purified from rat brain and its role in neuronal morphology

• Goldman, R. (Northwestern U.):
  Regulation of the dynamic properties of intermediate filaments
• Coulombe, P. (Johns Hopkins U.):
  The biochemical basis of the distinct functional properties of keratins 16 and 17
• Baribault, Hélène (Burnham Inst.)
  Aggregation with tetraploid morulae reveals the extraembryonic origin of embryonic lethality in mK8 mutant mice
• Selzer, M.E. (U. Pennsylvania.):
  Neurofilaments in regeneration
• Szaro, B.G. (U. Albany-SUNY):
  Neurofilaments in axonal development and regeneration in Xenopus laevis

• Capetanaki, Yassemi (Baylor, Houston):
  Desmin in muscle integrity and maintenance
• Josephson, Richard (NIH):
  Nestin regulation reveals a general mechanism for CNS gene control
• Elder, G. (Mount-Sinai, NY):
  Characterization of NF-M and NF-H knock-out mice
• Magin, Thomas (U. Bonn)
  New insights in keratin organisation and function from K10 and K18- deficient mice
• Oshima, R.G. (Burnham Institute, LaJolla):
  Regulation and function of keratin IFs during apoptosis
• Babinet, C. (Pasteur Institute, Paris):
  Phenotypic alterations in mice and cells without vimentin

• Lane, Birgit (U. Dundee, UK):
  Keratin mutations in skin diseases
• Wojcik, Sonja (Baylor College, Houston):
  Multiple K6 genes: Are they functional or redundant?
• Compton, J.G. (NIH, Bethesda):
  Congenital recessive ichthyoses and keratin diseases
• Germain, Lucie (Hôpital St-Sacrement, Québec):
  Keratin 19 in skin cell differentiation
• Hendrix, Mary J.C. (U. Iowa):
  Differentially expressed genes directly associated with the epithelial/mesenchymal interconverted cell phenotype: Role of keratin(s) and vimentin IFs in breast cancer

• Lee, Virginia (U. Pennsylvania):
  Neurofilament in health and disease
• Perry, G. (Case Western, Cleveland):
  Neurofilaments, a major site of oxidative modification in health and disease.
• Durham, Heather (Montreal Neurol. Inst.):
  Aggregation of mutant superoxide dismutase in a culture model of ALS
• Julien, J.P. (McGill University, Montreal):
  Mouse models suggesting causative and protective roles for neurofilaments in disease
• Cleveland, D.W. (Ludwig Institute, LaJolla):
  Mechanisms of disease induced by neurofilaments and SOD1 mutations
• Xu, Zuoshang (Univ. of Massachusetts):
  Mechanism of cytoskeleton transport in neuronal physiology and pathology

• Aebi, Ueli (U. Basel, Switzerland):
  Dissecting IF structure, assembly and dynamics at molecular detail and beyond - an update.
• Wormann, H. (Columbia U.):
  Lamin binding proteins of the inner clear membrane and nucleoplasm
• Leterrier, J.F. (INSERM, Angers):
  Regulation of neurofilament interactions in vitro by natural and synthetic polypeptides sharing Lys-Ser-Pro sequences with the heavy neurofilament subunit NF-H
• Fuchs, Elaine (U. Chicago):
  Intermediate filament linker proteins
• Kothari, R. (Ottawa General Hospital):
  Dystonin-like proteins

• Pekny Milos (Univ. Goteborg):
  Mice deficient for GFAP and vimentin
• Schweizer, J. (GCRC, Heidelberg):
  Human hair keratin expression in health and disease
• Quinlan, R. (Univ. Dundee):
  Eye lens intermediate filament proteins: evolution, assembly and function

• 6 speakers (15 min each)

In this session, the chairpersons (Pierre Coulombe and Jean-Pierre Julien) will select a number of posters from those presented for further discussion. From past meetings it is expected that approximately 60 abstracts will be submitted as poster presentations. These will be divided into two groups based on their content. Each group will be posted for viewing for two consecutive days, and presenters will be available for discussing their work from 4-6pm in the afternoon. Selected participants will be asked to present brief (10 min.) descriptions of their poster and the presentation will be open for discussion by the general audience. This format has been quite popular since it allows for unscheduled presentations by a number of investigators who will be new to the field or have very recent results of interest to the group. In addition, the winners of the Young Scientist Competition will be asked to present their work at this session.

• Green, Kathleen (Northwestern U.)
  Assembly of intermediate filament-associated adhesive junctions
• Klymkowsky, M. (U. Colorado, Boulder):
  Desmosomes, desmin and plakoglobin: adhesion, cytoskeletal integration and intracellular signaling
• Wiche G. (Vienna Biocenter)
  Plectin: structural and functional complexity
• Traub, Peter (Max-Planck-Institut für Zellbiologie, Ladenburg
  Intermediate filament(protein)-nucleic acid interactions