BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Memento EPFL//
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Molecular Simulations of Membrane Proteins: From Biophysics to Pha
 rmacological Applications
DTSTART:20120307T140000
DTEND:20120309T160000
DTSTAMP:20260405T191542Z
UID:dcc0189ce8898822f351ac0a79a158838bf192cc8be969a130f99862
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Mauro BOERO\, Paolo CARLONI\, Ursula ROETHLISBERGER \nInvesti
 gating ion transport and signaling processes involving membrane receptors 
 is currently a hot topic in several fields at the crossroads with biophysi
 cs\, biochemistry\, cell biology and pharmacology [1-4]. These processes a
 re governed by membrane proteins\, which allow cells to communicate with t
 heir surrounding environment. In this respect\, membrane proteins represen
 t the link between the inner processes of cells and the related response t
 o the external ambient. A practical consequence is the fact that they dete
 rmine\, for instance\, whether or not the immune system is able to recogni
 ze a cell as foreign or not and to react consequently [4-5]. Such a crucia
 l role makes membrane proteins one of the best targets of most – if not 
 all – pharmaceutical research. Moreover\, membrane proteins are responsi
 ble for cell adhesion in the tissues formation processes\, control a wide 
 spectrum of metabolic processes\, perform energy production and transmissi
 on to proton and ion transfer in channels [6-8]\, and to photosynthesis [9
 ]. Such a wealth of functions makes these biological units interesting and
  important in biochemistry\, life science\, medicine and agriculture. Memb
 rane receptor investigations are also crucial for food research: To contro
 l precisely perception of small molecules (odorant and taste molecules) we
  need to understand the underlying signaling processes\; namely\, each fla
 voring ingredient is as an agonist\, or an allosteric modulator targeting 
 smell or taste membrane receptors (typically GPCR’s\, which encompass mo
 re than 1% of the human genome) and ion channels.The multidisciplinary cha
 racter and the biological relevance of the topic proposed here\, provides 
 a clear motivation for a workshop and recently developed computational tec
 hniques [10-14]\, along with advances in the computational power of nowada
 ys available platforms make a meeting on this subject also timely.
LOCATION:2103 http://plan.epfl.ch/?zoom=20&recenter_y=5864077.50878&recent
 er_x=731638.75922&layerNodes=fonds\,batiments\,labels\,information\,parkin
 gs_publics\,arrets_metro
STATUS:CONFIRMED
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR