Cell cycle: bridging scales in cell division

Roscoff (Brittany), France, October 11-15, 2014

 

Deadline for application: June 30, 2014

 

Chairperson: Andrea MUSACCHIO

Department of Mechanistic Cell Biology, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Otto-Hahn Str. 11, 44227 Dortmund, Germany
Phone: +49 231 133 2101 - Fax +49 231 133 2199
Email: andrea.musacchio@mpi-dortmund.mpg.de

 

Vice-chairperson: Renata BASTO

Département de Biologie Cellulaire, CNRS - UMR144, Institut Curie, 12 rue Lhomond, 75248 Paris cedex 05, France
Phone: +33 (0) 1 56 24 69 103 – Fax: +33 (0) 1 56 24 63 77
Email : renata.basto@curie.fr

 

A robust biochemical oscillator drives the division of our cells. The main “engines” of the cell cycle are kinases (most notably the cyclin-dependent kinases), phosphatases, and ubiquitin ligases. The way these enzymes control each other’s activity as reciprocal “friends” and “enemies” and give rise to a complex succession of positive and negative feedback loops remains one of the most exciting examples of self-organization of biological matter.

The macroscopic events and transitions observed in dividing cells, such as for instance centrosome duplication, nuclear envelope breakdown, or the assembly of the mitotic spindle ultimately depends on the state of the cell cycle oscillator. The coupling of the cell cycle to the mechanical devices required for cell cycle progression and for the division of the genome is controlled by checkpoint mechanisms, which are designed to maintain a certain phase of the cell cycle until completion of the events that need to be completed during that particular phase. At the beginning of the third decade of checkpoint studies, the field remains highly vibrant and controversial.

In recent years, the burgeoning field of developmental biology started exploring the cell cycle during embryonic cell divisions in model systems, also in this case identifying many common traits. The ability of stem cells to self-renew while also giving rise to a different progeny capable of building tissues and maintaining their homeostasis relies on the ability of these cells to divide asymmetrically. How does the cell division cycle work in these cells? What checkpoints are in place to ensure asymmetry during cell division? Similar questions pervade an ongoing discussion on the mechanism of tumorigenesis, in particular for what regards the controversial but very interesting discussion on whether cancers originate from a brand of “stem” cells that have the ability to self-renew.

The conference will provide a balanced discussion of these exciting themes by gathering investigators at the forefront of the field and by selection of oral presentations from the most exciting submitted abstracts.

 

Invited speakers
(provisional titles)

 

ABRIEU Ariane (Montpellier, France)
Mitosis, Microtubules and Cancer

ALMOUZNI Geneviève (Paris, France)
Chromatin assembly from Nucleosome to heterochromatin: the issue of DNA damage

BASTO Renata (Paris, France)
Different responses to centrosome amplification

BOLLEN Matthieu (Leuven, Belgium)
Coordination of mitotic phosphatases

CASTRO Anna (Montpellier, France)
Deciphering the role of the Gwl/Arpp19-ENSA/PP2A pathway in the control of the cell cycle

COUDREUSE Damien (Rennes, France)
Operation and regulation of synthetic cell cycles

DESAI Arshad (San Diego, USA)
Control of Microtubule Attachment Formation at the Kinetochore

ECHARD Arnaud (Paris, France)
Cytokinesis abscission: what happens next?

FERRELL James (Stanford, USA)
Dissecting the Mitotic Trigger

GERLICH Daniel (Vienna, Austria)
Mitotic chromosome assembly

GÖNCZY Pierre (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Mechanisms of centriole assembly

GOSHIMA Gohta (Nagoya, Japan)
Molecular dissection of plant mitosis

GRUNEBERG Ulrike (Oxford, UK)
Regulation of the metaphase-to -anaphase transition in mammalian cells

LAMPSON Michael (Philadelphia, USA)
Chromosome segregation in meiosis: violation of Mendel's First Law

LAUB Michael (Cambridge, USA)
High-resolution mapping of chromosome structure during the Caulobacter cell cycle

LI Rong (Kansas City, USA)
The impact of gene and chromosome dosage imbalance on genome stability and cell behavior

LORENTZEN Esben (Martiensried, Germany)
Molecular mechanisms of ciliary assembly

MATSUZAKI Fumio (Kobe, Japan)
Transitions in the division mode of neural stem cells during mammalian cortical development

MEDEMA René (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Balancing the fidelity of chromosome segregation

MORGAN David (San Francisco, USA)
Control of chromosome segregation

MUSACCHIO Andrea (Dortmund, Germany)
Biochemical reconstitution of spindle checkpoint signaling

RAFF Jordan (Oxfork, UK)
Centrosome assembly and asymmetric stem cell division

TAYLOR Stephen (Manchester, UK)
Cell cycle responses to mitotic errors

TOURNIER Sylvie (Toulouse, France)
Different spatio-temporal control of centromeric and telomeric heterochromatin during mitosis

TRAN Phong (Paris, France)
Mitochondria dynamics throughout the cell cycle

TYSON John (Blacksburg, USA)
What can mathematical modeling teach us about cell cycle regulation?

ZACHARIAE Wolfgang (Martiensried, Germany)
Control of cohesin cleavage in meiosis

 

Deadline for application: June 30, 2014

 

Registration fee (including board and lodging)

450 € for PhD students
650 € for other participants

 

Application for registration
The total number of participants is limited to 115 and all participants are expected to attend for the whole duration of the conference. Selection is made on the basis of the affinity of potential participants with the topics of the conference. Scientists and PhD Students interested in the meeting should send:

- their curriculum vitae
- the list of their main publications for the 3 last years
- the abstract of their presentation

to the Chairperson of the conference (andrea.musacchio@mpi-dortmund.mpg.de) before the deadline. After it, the organizers will select the participants. Except in some particular cases approved by the Chairperson, it is recommended that all selected participants present their work during the conference, either in poster form or by a brief in- session talk. The organizers choose the form in which the presentations are made. No payment will be sent with application. Information on how and when to pay will be mailed in due time to those selected.