Research Project
6189398
The telomere-telomerase hypothesis of aging and cancer implicates telomere length and telomerase as regulators of replicative senescence and cellular immortality. In support of this hypothesis, telomeres have been shown to shorten with cellular senescence in vitro and with aging in vivo, telomerase expression is detected in tumor cells but not in most normal cells, and telomerase inhibition leads to telomere shortening and eventually cell crisis and apoptosis in tumor cells. Significant advances have made it possible to experimentally test many aspects of this hypothesis. These include the cloning of the telomerase RNA and protein components, telomerase associated proteins, telomere binding proteins, telomerase and telomere assays, and the discovery of both positive and negative regulators of telomere dynamics. Further understanding of the pathways connecting telomere shortening, cellular senescence, telomerase and cancer will have significant impact on the development of novel therapeutic approaches for cancer and age-related diseases. The proposed symposium will focus in depth on the most rapidly emerging areas in the field of telomere and telomerase biology. The advent of research on telomerase and telomere dynamics in pluripotent stem cell biology and mammalian cloning through nuclear transfer experiments adds a new dimension to this meeting. Special emphasis would be placed on studies relevant to the aging disciplines as well as those which explore the relationships between cancer and aging. The symposium will consist of formal sessions that will include both invited and contributed presentations. In addition to having highly regarded scientists who have already accepted to participate, additional invited speakers and time slots will be available for speakers selected from submitted abstracts and for those with late-breaking results. There will be formal sessions each morning and evening and informal time each afternoon for posters and to facilitate interactions. This meeting will, therefore, bring together both basic scientists investigating telomere/telomerase biology and clinicians interested in fundamental aging and cancer mechanisms, to present new discoveries and to discuss the most late-breaking findings.
