Upcoming Medical Conferences in Snowbird

Ubiquitin Biology (X7) is organized by Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology and will be held from Mar 29 - Apr 01, 2020 at Snowbird Resort, Snowbird, Utah, United States of America. Description Protein ubiquitylation regulates nearly every critical cellular pathway and emerging evidence has demonstrated that defects within the ubiquitin proteasome system can directly lead human disease. This has fueled a recent expansion of drug development efforts to harness the ubiquitin proteasome system to both aid in its functionality during disease progression and to specify individual targets for degradation. Several key questions regarding ubiquitin biology remain unanswered. What are the different mechanisms utilized by ubiquitin pathway enzymes to impart regulatory control over specific cellular pathways? What are the major factors that limit ubiquitin proteasome function during disease pathogenesis? How do infectious diseases impact the ubiquitin system, and can we utilize these diverse mechanisms to develop new tools and paradigms to manipulate the ubiquitin system?  Specific goals of the proposed meeting include:  • Establish detailed connections between the diverse cellular pathways regulated by the ubiquitin system.  • Determine the structural rules defining how individual proteins are specifically targeted by ubiquitin pathway enzymes.  • Identify emerging themes used by pathogens to subvert the ubiquitin system.  • Foster enhanced collaboration between academia and the biotechnology industry toward the goal of developing therapeutics targeting the ubiquitin system.  This joint meeting with “Targeted Protein Degradation” will provide a cross-disciplinary understanding of the various genetic and chemical approaches to identify mechanisms to specifically target individual proteins for degradation. One key outcome will be the establishment of collaborations between ubiquitin biologists studying how individual pathways are regulated by ubiquitin and industry leaders developing tools to both activate and inhibit ubiquitin pathway components.

Targeted Protein Degradation (X8) is organized by Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology and will be held from Mar 29 - Apr 01, 2020 at Snowbird Resort, Snowbird, Utah, United States of America. Description The aim of this symposium is to showcase the recent excitement around the concept of targeting proteins for degradation as an alternative to conventional inhibitory small molecules and antibodies. Protein degradation can be undertaken by bifunctional molecules that bind the target for ubiquitin mediated degradation by complexing them with Cereblon (CRBN), von Hippel-Lindau or other E3 ligases. Alternatively, ligase receptors such as CRBN or DCAF15 can also be used as a ‘template’ to bind IMiD or sulphonamide like compounds to degrade multiple context specific proteins by the selected E3 ligases. The ‘template approach’ results in the degradation of neo-substrates, some of which would be difficult to drug using conventional approaches. The chemical properties necessary for drug discovery, the rules by which neo-substrates are selected by ligase receptors and defining the optimal components of the ubiquitin proteasome for protein degradation are still to be fully elucidated. This symposium will bring together early pioneers in the field, emerging scientists and experts from industry to describe how these challenges are being addressed. Furthermore, we are also inviting experts who have used IMiD agents and proteasome inhibition in the clinic in order to understand the practical application of protein degradation agents. Additional details will be posted as soon as they are available.

New Discoveries in the Immunobiology of Asthma: Implications for Therapy (D1) is organized by Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology and will be held from Apr 02 - 06, 2020 at Snowbird Resort, Snowbird, Utah, United States of America. Description The goals of this conference, distinct from the previous ones in 2013 and 2017, are to highlight the most recent basic-science breakthroughs in the pathogenesis of asthma and related inflammatory airway diseases, and to place these discoveries in the context of new therapeutics and therapeutic directions for this type of disease. The organizers are particularly intent on highlighting immunological and interrelated non-immunological approaches to identify, validate, and translate new biological targets into new therapeutics.  The topic is timely and urgent given the recent mechanistic insights into inflammatory airway disease and the current maturation of new biological therapies for asthma that are now just entering clinical application. Indeed, the recent successes and in some cases unforeseen failures of clinical trials of anti-asthma therapeutics highlights the importance of convening a broad-based high-level scientific conference to highlight and focus the discovery and development of new therapeutics for asthma and related chronic lower respiratory disease, now the third most common cause of death in the U.S and the fifth most common worldwide. Additional details will be posted as soon as they are available.