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WELCOME! Welcome to the gateway to Wnt2011 in Los Angeles.DATES: June 29-July 3, 2011
Meeting organizers:Tim Lane, UC Los Angeles (UCLA) hostMarian Waterman, UC Irvine (UCI) Marianne Bronner,Caltech HistoryFor more than a decade, the Wnt research community in north America has gathered every two years to share new information in this fast-moving field. These meetings have taken place in university settings to minimize expenses and encourage participation of both young and more senior investigators in a congenial atmosphere that fosters informal discussion. Foundation of this tradition can be credited to Dr. Harold Varmus, who hosted the first one in 1995 at the NIH. Subsequent meetings took place at Stanford University (1996 and 1999), Harvard University (1998), Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Center (2001), University of Michigan (2004), University of California San Diego (2007) and at Georgetown University (2009).OverviewWnt proteins comprise a large family of secreted, lipid-modified glycoproteins that have many important activities during embryonic development in a wide variety of multicellular organisms. They regulate cell fate determination, proliferation, migration, motility and polarity, as well as tissue patterning, organogenesis and organization of the body plan. In the adult, they participate in tissue homoestasis.Multiple signaling pathways mediate Wnt activities. The canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway requires binding of Wnt ligand both to a seven-pass cell membrane receptor of the Frizzled family and to LDL receptor-related protein 5 or 6 (or orthologs). These interactions result in the disruption of a multi-protein complex that normally functions to facilitate the phosphorylation of β-catenin, which targets it for ubiquitination and rapid proteasomal degradation. Consequently, β-catenin accumulate in the cytosol and ultimately the nucleus, where it combines with members of the T cell factor (TCF) family of DNA-binding proteins, as well as other transcriptional co-factors, to turn on specific gene expression. Other Wnt signaling pathways rely on binding to Frizzleds alone, or to other Wnt receptors such as Ror tyrosine kinases or the catalytically inactive atypical tyrosine kinase, Ryk/Derailed. The planar cell polarity pathway is instrumental in tissue polarity, in addition to convergent extension movements during gastrulation. Wnt/calcium pathway signaling also contributes to cell motility and a number of developmental events. Regulation of these signaling mechanisms is complicated and occurs at many levels, including cross-talk among the pathways. Dysregulation of Wnt signaling has been observed in several diseases. Inappropriate activation of the β-catenin pathway is common in many types of cancer, with a particularly high prevalence in colorectal carcinoma. Constitutive activation results either from loss of function mutations in tumor suppressors, such as the Adenomatous Polyposis Coli protein, or activating mutations in effectors like β-catenin. Epigenetic silencing of genes that encode secreted Wnt antagonists is also frequently seen in malignant tumors. Aberrant Wnt signaling also contributes to congenital malformations, musculoskeletal, psychiatric and neurological disorders. Proper Wnt signaling appears to be critical for normal development of almost all organ systems. Accumulating evidence suggests a critical role for Wnt proteins in stem cell maintenance and differentiation. Hence, they are central components of homeostasis in many self-renewing tissues. Given the many roles of Wnt signaling in development and disease processes, many strategies are being explored to target these processes for therapeutic applications. Topics to be coveredThe 2011 Wnt meeting is the 9th in a series of biennial meetings hosted in United States. The 2011 meeting will focus on emerging areas and novel findings in this rapidly progressing field. All presentations will be selected from Abstracts and there are no registration fees. This structure is designed encourage broad participation from diverse fields and the presentation of novel work:
Potential topics will include
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