The Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) and The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) are joining forces this year to bring you The FEBS EMBO Conference 2014. Normally held as two separate scientific meetings, the alliance promises to bring researchers a congress that delivers a scientific program bursting with fresh, wide-reaching science. Hosted by the French Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SFBBM) in Paris (France), the “City of Light” (a nickname referencing its centuries-old status as a center of learning and enlightenment, as well as street lighting pioneer), the meeting gets underway on August 30 at the Palais des Congrés in the city, and lasts until Thursday September 4. In the run up to the meeting, Proteintech’s blog editor has taken a look at the meeting program and picked her favorites from the line-up…
A Neandertal Perspective on Human Origins
Svant Pääbo. Source: FEBS EMBO
Fresh from giving the closing talk at the FENS Forum 2014, Svante Pääbo will deliver one of the opening talks of the FEBS EMBO Conference, alongside molecular neuroscientist and HHMI Investigator Catherine Dulac . Pääbo has made the list (again!) mainly because, having attended past talks, I can confirm that he is certainly one engaging speaker.
As a pioneer and expert on extracting and working with ancient DNA, Pääbo and his team at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have sequenced large chunks of the Neandertal genome, and that of their related cousins the Denisovans. As well as unlocking secrets of these ancient species, Pääbo’s work is so captivating because it also provides a narrative of what makes us human – how do we differ from our ancient relations? Did we intermix with them? And what gave us the survival advantage?
I’ve seen Pääbo discuss his work in terms of speech development and the FOXP2 gene in the past, and can’t wait for another instalment of team Pääbo’s bioarchaeological findings.
Catch the Opening Session and its talks from 5:30 pm on Saturday, August 30th in the Grand Auditorium.
Epitheleal plasticity in health and disease
The main plenary session on Sunday features some heavyweights of stem cell research, including Elaine Fuchs of The Rockefeller University – who established the “reverse genetics” practice – and (past blog interviewee) Hans Clevers, whose lab pioneered the development of “mini-gut” structures from single cells. The reverse genetics method starts with a disease-causing protein-of-interest and works backwards to the genetic basis of the human disorder caused by its mutations. Using this approach, Fuchs’ lab has elucidated the genetic bases of a number of skin disorders, including skin cancers.
The Clevers’ lab’s work at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht (NL) has also exposed the inner-workings of bowel and intestinal cancers, identifying Lgr5+ stem cells as the cell-of-origin of adenomas in the gut.
Joining Fuchs and Clevers in Sunday’s afternoon plenary session will be Angela Nieto, Professor and Head of the Developmental Neurobiology Unit at Instituto de Neurociencias (CSIC-UMH) in Alicante, Spain. In addition to epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) – a process integral to both embryogenesis and metastasis – Nieto will discuss the reverse process of mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET). Similar to stem cell migration to distant sites in embryos, MET is the process that enables metastatic colonization once malignant cells leave the blood stream and find their niche in distant organs. Nieto will also cover the role of EMT and MET in fibrosis, as well as the therapeutic potential of targeting both these processes.
Epitheleal plasticity in health and disease will run from 4:30 pm on Sunday, August 31st in the Grand Auditorium.
Cilia and disease
Proteintech’s anti-ARL13B antibody (red) stains the primary cilium (control antibody: blue, basal body: green). Credit Kevin Corbit.
Studies concerning primary cilia and their related diseases, known as ciliopathies, permeate the Life Science discipline. Primary cilia are found in a wide variety of research, from cancer and developmental biology to diabetes and kidney failure: a testament to the importance of this organelle structure in health and disease. If the primary cilium is your subject, or perhaps you want to find out more about this fascinating organelle, then I recommend attending the concurrent session entitled “Cilia and disease”, featuring the likes of Peter Jackson and Sarah Goetz, from Kathryn Anderson’s lab. You may even spot some Proteintech antibodies in the mix as these two speakers have published papers featuring multiple Proteintech antibodies – anti-IFT88, Arl13b, TMEM67 and ATXN10 to name but a few.
Attend the concurrent session: Cilia and disease in room 241, starting at 9 am on Monday, September 1st.
Mitochondria and mitochondrial disorders
Another concurrent session that might feature Proteintech antibodies at work is the “Mitochondria and mitochondrial disorders” session, taking place in the Grand Auditorium on Tuesday, September 2nd between 9 and 11 am.
The neural crest | A source of stem cells
Nicole Le Douarin. Source: FEBS EMBO
The FEBS Prakash Datta Lecture presents an opportunity to attend a plenary lecture given by a famous local – well, an alumna of the University of Paris, and researcher, and later Director, at the Institut d’Embryologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire there. Nicole Le Douarin, is a celebrated developmental biologist who has contributed much to the understanding of neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) – a transient, multipotent, migratory cell population unique to vertebrates.
Le Douarin’s research on NCSCs saw her develop an embryo manipulation technology to produce chimeric embryos from chicks and quails. This technique enabled her and her contemporaries to trace the migratory patterns of NCSCs and, in consequence, attribute the development of many tissues to this, at first unlikely, population of cells. Thanks to Le Douarin’s pioneering work, we now know that neural crest cells go on to form the vertebrate head and give rise to, among other vertebrate features, the neurons and glial cells of the sensory, sympathetic, and parasympathetic nervous systems.
As well as the fascinating science, Le Douarin’s backstory is one interwoven with an era of research resurrection in post-war France, a career change from teaching in her late twenties and the Japanese quail.
Attend Nicole Le Douarin’s talk in the Grand Auditorium on Wednesday, September 3rd, starting at 11:45 am.
Selective autophagy in the cellular response to stress
Autophagy – the process that brings about the degradation of unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components – is understood to be vital for cell survival and, ultimately, that of an entire organism. Several different types of autophagy exist, and Ana Maria Cuervo – who is a Professor based at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York, US) – will discuss the role of selective autophagy in the face of different cell stressors and the consequences of its malfunctioning in aging and disease.
With a strong background in neurodegenerative diseases (Cuervo co-directs the Einstein Institute for Aging Studies, and is the Robert and Renee Belfer Chair for the Study of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the same institution) expect her discussion to take on this context. Cuervo is giving the final plenary lecture of the conference and its penultimate talk– she will be followed by the conference’s closing lecture at 12:30 pm.
Learn about the role of selective autophagy in the cellular response to stress from 11:45 am in the Grand Auditorium on Thursday September 4th.
In summary, with such a rich and varied scientific menu on offer, I doubt you will leave “La Ville-Lumière” without a little enlightenment!
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