Resolving the Molecular Mechanisms of Contractile Biology

The 2014 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Muscle and Molecular Motors will focus on muscle and motor protein structure and function, the mechanisms of energy transduction, and the roles of cytoskeletal molecular motors in human health and disease. The unique feature of this meeting is the assembly of scientists working on chemomechanical coupling, single-molecule biophysics, protein biochemistry, cell biology, and organ physiology. Thus, our GRC attendees will not only be interested in understanding how motors work, but how they are connected to the machinery they are powering, how they are regulated, how they interact with other motors and signaling networks, and how their fundamental biophysical parameters impact cell function. There will be presentations and discussions by scientists who study the highly diverse kinesin, dynein, and myosin families. The scientific sessions will be organized in a bottom-up manner, integrating the three motor systems from the very start.

The aim of this conference is to further accelerate motor research by bringing together leading investigators from a range of fields to develop a continuum of understanding from atomic models through to the physiology and biology of intact living organisms. The meeting encourages interdisciplinary discussions among attending structural biologists, biochemists, cell biologists, theoreticians, and physiologists. Importantly, the conference will provide opportunities for junior scientists and graduate students to present their work in poster format and exchange ideas with leaders in the field. Participants will also include academic and industrial scientists that are taking advantage of the position of cytoskeletal motors at the nexus of key regulatory pathways, allowing the design of new drugs therapies.