Intermediate Filaments at the Crossroads Between Health and Disease

The human genome contains at least 65 functional genes encoding intermediate filament (IF) proteins, placing them among the 100 largest gene families in humans. The remarkable discoveries of hundreds of mutations in IF genes, giving rise to a plethora of human diseases, have attracted the attention of basic scientists and physicians. The etiology and clinical manifestations of abnormal intermediate filament proteins are wide-ranging, including premature aging diseases such as progeria, cardiomyopathies, numerous forms of muscular dystrophy, as well as blistering diseases of the epidermis, amongst many others. In neurodegenerative diseases abnormal aggregates of IF are now being recognized as key factors, including motor neuron diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and giant axonal neuropathy. Furthermore, intermediate filament proteins can serve as markers of the tissue origin of poorly differentiated tumors, as tumor markers in serum, and as a means of detecting micrometastases.

Intermediate filaments are traditionally regarded as structural proteins. Recently, intermediate filaments have been linked to the integration of cytoskeletal, signaling, and transcriptional processes and to the regulation of metabolism, survival, differentiation, development, and immunity. These recently established interactions provide a likely explanation for the broad range of diseases and phenotypes that stem from intermediate filament mutations. The obtained knowledge is consequential for the basic understanding of signal integration in cells and tissues and for the numerous pathological conditions that intermediate filaments are involved in. The goal of this conference is to focus on the dramatic paradigm shift occurring in the intermediate filament field and to discuss the broad ramifications of this paradigm shift, both in terms of basic research and many aspects of human health.

The GRC on Intermediate Filaments brings together individuals that would not otherwise gather in a similarly intimate scientific forum. The 2014 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Intermediate Filaments, together with the pre-meeting Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) will bring together leaders in the field, junior researchers, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to discuss their most recent findings and provide a better understanding of the normal functions of IF and will shed light on how their defective functions contribute to human disease. All applicants are invited to present posters describing their latest research and a number of platform presentations will be chosen from the submitted abstracts in order to ensure inclusion of the latest breakthroughs during the formal sessions.

Some of the new features of the conference are especially student-friendly, designed to assist the learning experience. There will be a Linked-In Forum for pre- and post-conference discussions on the individual topics of the meeting. The meeting also features a separate web page billboard containing timely information. The individual speakers have assembled relevant pre-conference reading, formed by a selection of historical, overview, and timely research articles, giving relevant background information when listening to the actual talks. The selected articles are enjoyable and interesting material for journal clubs during the forthcoming weeks before the meeting. The Linked-In forum will have a number of moderators who will discuss timely topics related to the different disease and research aspects that come across in the pre-conference reading.