Organizers: Peter Cullen (Bristol, UK) and Robin Irvine (Cambridge, UK)
The awesome proliferation of inositol lipids and phosphates and their functions has been one of the most high profile aspects of cell biology since the 1980s, and it shows no sign of slowing down. There are now seven known polyphosphoinositol lipids, all of which have defined (often multiple) functions; indeed phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2) is involved in the regulation of at least fifteen (and rising) physiological events. The inositol phosphates are even more in number, and although the regulation of their synthesis and their functions are less well understood, their functions too are proliferating.
The enzymology of the synthesis and breakdown of inositides is, as might be expected, proving to be a complex issue, involving many isoforms regulated in complex fashion. In particular, the regulation of the PI 3-kinase family, and the downstream consequences of their products, is one of the most intensively investigated areas of intracellular signalling.
This conference will be structured around groups of inositol-containing compounds, but will inevitably cover a diverse range of cell biology, not least because there are few areas of cell biology that do not involve inositides.
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