Ligand-gated ion channels from atomic structure to synaptic transmission

Roscoff (Bretagne), France, May 20-24, 2019

Deadline for application : February 18, 2019

Chairperson: Pierre-Jean Corringer

Unité Récepteurs-Canaux, CNRS UMR 3571, Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France
Phone: +33 (0)1 40 61 31 02
Email: pierre-jean.corringer@pasteur.fr

Vice-chairpersons: Ingo Greger

Neurobiology Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 (01223) 267 046
Email: ig@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk

Communication between neurons is primarily performed by chemical synapses, which promote either excitatory or inhibitory transmission. The time course and strength of synaptic communication is regulated by a wide range of chemical signals, underlying the unique ability of neuronal networks to compute and store information. Central to the complex machinery of chemical synapses are ligand-gated ion channels (LGICs), that sense the neurotransmitters released from the presynaptic compartment, converting this chemical signal into an electrical signal through the opening of their intrinsic ion channel. LGICs are thus highly dynamic allosteric proteins, and their study has been revolutionized by recent advances in biochemistry and X-ray crystallography techniques as well as, more recently, by single particle cryo-electron microscopy. Together with electrophysiology and fluorescence techniques at the ensemble and single molecule level, as well as molecular dynamic simulation and mass spectrometry, the molecular mechanisms of signal transduction, and their regulation by drugs, lipids and associated proteins is being emerging. This meeting will show the current advances on the major classes of receptors, notably the trimeric P2X (ATP-gated purinergic receptors) and ASICs (acid-sensing ion channels), the tetrameric glutamate receptors, as well as the pentameric receptors, including nicotinic acetylcholine, 5-HT3 serotonin, glycine and γ-aminobutyric GABAA receptors. Other channels and receptors including GPCRs will also be presented. In addition, pLGICs will also be replaced in the synaptic context, and their interaction with accessory and scaffolding proteins, as well as their mobility, diffusion and aggregation will be addressed using cutting edge imaging techniques. Throughout the sessions, we will also address how the fundamental knowledge gathered by combined structural and functional approaches is currently applied to invent novel chemical tools such as light-activated channels, as well as to develop new classes of allosteric effectors.
These multidisciplinary challenges and many others will be addressed at this meeting. It will be a great opportunity to foster new collaborations to undertake novel challenges that will push further our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of signal transduction the are at the heart of the functioning of the nervous system.”

Invited speakers
(provisional titles)

Radu Aricescu (Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Human GABAA Receptor Structures and Signaling Mechanisms

Isabelle Baconguis (Portland, USA)
Architecture of the gating domains in the epithelial sodium channel

Ivet Bahar (Pittsburgh, USA)
Signature dynamics of ionotropic glutamate receptors: learning from theory and experiments

Jean-Louis Bessereau (Lyon, France)
Extracellular scaffolding proteins control localization and function of nicotinic receptors in C. elegans

Marco Cecchini (Strasbourg, France)
Modeling ion permeation in the glycine receptor channel: structure-function relationship and permeation pathways

Pierre-Jean Corringer (Paris, France)
Pentameric channels allosteric transitions monitored using fluorescence quenching

Stuart Cull-Candy (London, United Kingdom)
Synaptic calcium-permeable AMPARs, and their regulation by auxiliary subunits

Annette Dolphin (London, United Kingdom)
Neuronal calcium channel trafficking and function: roles of the auxiliary subunits

Margot Ernst (Vienna, Austria)
Alprazolam in wonderland: The diversity of allosteric sites on GABAA receptor subtypes

Bernd Fakler (Freiburg, Germany)
Assembly of AMPA-type glutamate receptors and its implication for excitatory neurotransmission

Tereza Giraldez (La Laguna, Spain)
Functional roles of NMDAR-BK complexes

Eric Gouaux (Portland, USA)
Mechanisms of gating and modulation of ionotropic glutamate receptors

Ingo Greger (Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Investigating structural dynamics of the AMPA receptor extracellular region - mechanisms and consequences

Claudio Grosman (Urbana, USA)
Allosteric mechanisms of signal transduction in members of the nicotinic-receptor superfamily

Thomas Grutter (Strasbourg, France)
Molecular engineering provides new insights into permeation and gating mechanisms in ATP-gated P2X ion channels

Ryan Hibbs (Dallas, USA)
Nicotinic receptor architecture and mechanism

Rebecca Howard (Stockholm, Sweden)
Biochemical and simulation studies of allosteric mechanisms in a model Cys-loop receptor

Vasanthi Jayaraman (Huston, USA)
Glutamate receptor allostery at the single molecule level

Sabine Levy (Paris, France)
Impact of GABAA receptor conformation on its membrane dynamics and synaptic accumulation

Harold MacGillavry (Utrecht, Netherlands)
Resolving the nanoscale organization of glutamate receptor complexes at excitatory synapses

Hugues Nury (Grenoble, France)
Conformational transition of the serotonin 5-HT3 receptor revealed by cryo-EM

Pierre Paoletti (Paris, France)
Mechanism of allosteric transduction in NMDA receptors

Jean-Philippe Pin (Montpellier, France)
Allosteric interactions between class C GPCR subunits

Stephan Pless (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Expanding the toolbox to study trimeric ligand-gated ion channels

Lucia Sivilotti (London, United Kingdom)
A single channel view of agonist efficacy in pentameric ligand-gated channels

Trevor Smart (London, United Kingdom)
Pending

Alexander Sobolevsky (New York, USA)
Structural mechanisms of AMPA receptor regulation and gating

Yael Stern-Bach (Jerusalem, Israel)
Regulation of AMPA receptors by associated proteins

Michisuke Yuzaki (Keiko, Japan)
The Tale of an Orphan: A Lesson from GluD2

Deadline for application : February 18, 2019

Registration fee (including board and lodging)

460 € for PhD students
700 € 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 deposit online before the deadline: https://cjm2-2019.sciencesconf.org/

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

The abstract must respect the following template: TemplateResumeFile
- First line: title
- Second line: list of authors. Presenting author underlined
- Third line: author's addresses
- Fourth line: e-mail of the presenting author
Abstracts should be no longer than an A4 page and preferably be submitted in Times New Roman, font size 10 pts. No figures. ".docx" file format.

After the deadline, 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.