A Biochemical Society Focused Meeting

Abstract submission deadline: 15 July 2008
Abstract submission is now closed

Earlybird registration deadline: 15 August 2008
Online registration is now closed.

Student travel grants are available for this meeting.


Proceedings (invited speakers) will be published in Biochemical Society Transactions

Oral communication slots are available at this meeting. All attendees, particularly researchers in the early stages of their career, are invited to submit a poster abstract for consideration as an oral communication.
Student Travel Grants are available for this meeting.

The mTOR pathway is an important regulator of growth and potential target in diabetes and cancer. The pathway is positively regulated by growth factors and nutrients, and negatively regulated by stresses. The principle molecule in the pathway, TOR, has been extensively studied in yeast, Drosophila and mammals; accumulated evidence suggests that it principally regulates rates of protein translation. However, other evidence indicates its involvement in regulation of transcription, autophagy, and potentially endocytosis. The role of nutrients in regulation of this pathway has been appreciated for many years. However, the mechanisms of nutrient (mainly amino acids, but also glucose) regulation of the pathway are only starting to be unravelled. This may well impact on homeostatic control of insulin signalling due to negative feedback control of PI3K, underscoring the relevance of this pathway to diabetes. Conversely, the drugging of this pathway currently underway in cancer is likely to lead to activation of PI3K.

This meeting will cover the following topics:

Insulin/TOR signalling and translational control
Nutrient Regulation of mTOR
The mTOR signaling pathway: Physiology, Pathology and Treatments