new advances in protein modelling for drug discovery

[Barry Hardy <barry.hardy [a] tiscalinet.ch>]

 Activities, programs, abstracts and speaker bios of the eCheminfo Protein
 Interest group exploring new best practices and advances in protein
 modelling for drug discovery are now located at:
 http://echeminfo.colayer.net/COMTY_proteins
 Upcoming activities include a Web conference (opening May 9),
 and sessions at the eCheminfo Autumn InterAction meetings in
 Philadelphia, US (October 11-13) and Basel, Switzerland (November
 8-10).
 
 Web-based conference session, May 2005 
 Protein Folding & Misfolding: Applications to Drug
 Discovery, chaired by Nikolay V. Dokholyan (University of North
 Carolina) and Marc Fasnacht (Columbia University)
 
 New invited seminars to be presented and discussed:
 Folding - at - Home: Using worldwide desktop grid computing to break
 fundamental 
 barriers in molecular simulation,Vijay Pande (Stanford University)
 Design of a folding inhibitor of the HIV-1 Protease, Guido Tiana
 (University of Milano)
 Simulations of peptide inhibitors of Amyloid-beta fibrillogenesis,
 Joan-Emma Shea (University of California, Santa Barbara)
 Folding and aggregation: A physics-based all-atom modeling, Yong Duan
 (University of California Davis)
 Application of discrete molecular dynamics to protein folding and
 aggregation, Sergey Buldyrev (Yeshiva University)
 Dewetting in nanoscale hydrophobic plates collapse and multi-domain
 protein folding, Ruhong Zhou (IBM)
 
 Recent invited seminars available in the Proteins Interest Group area
 for viewing and discussion:
 Automated Methods for identifying Structural Motifs: Helix Couples in
 the Globins, Marc Fasnacht (Columbia University)
 Reconstructing evasive protein states using NMR and molecular modeling:
 the Focal Adhesion Kinase story, Nikolay V. Dokholyan (University of
 North Carolina)
 Protein modelling: simulating the thermodynamics and kinetics of protein
 folding, Jed Pitera (IBM)
 Determinants of Functionality in the Ubiquitin Conjugating Enzyme Family,
 Peter Winn (EMBL, Heidelberg) 
 
 Presentations will open on the eCheminfo Web site on the 9 May for a two
 week period of review and discussion and a conference call with the panel
 of presenters for Q&A on Monday, 23 May, 12.00 EDT. 
 
 eCheminfo InterAction Meeting Session, Philadelphia, 12 October
 2005
 Protein Folding, Misfolding & Aggregation: Applications to
 Disease
 chaired by Nikolay V. Dokholyan (University of North Carolina at
 Chapel Hill),
 eCheminfo 2005 InterAction Meeting, 11-13 October 2005, Philadelphia,
 USA
 Updates loaded at
 http://echeminfo.colayer.net/COMTY_program
 
 Approaches to medicine are rapidly changing as we begin to comprehend
 human disease at the most fundamental molecular level. Much of this
 change is heralded by a more quantitative and mechanistic understanding
 of the alterations of molecular structure and dynamics that produce
 disease. Recent years have brought a dramatic increase in the number of
 known associations between human disease and abnormalities in protein
 dynamics and structure. In particular, the number of diseases known to be
 associated with protein aggregation has increased several-fold. Since
 protein structure and dynamics are intimately related to protein cellular
 function, abnormalities in protein folding dynamics and structural
 stability often adversely affect cell life. Understanding protein
 folding, misfolding and aggregation will be vital to understanding human
 diseases, ranging from various forms of cancer to neurodegenerative
 diseases, and will facilitate the development of therapeutic strategies
 to combat these diseases.
 
 The focus of the "Protein Folding, Misfolding & Aggregation:
 Applications to Disease" symposium is to bring together
 world-class researchers working on both theoretical and experimental
 fronts of the protein folding field, and have them present recent
 cutting-edge research results. The emphasis of the symposium is on
 communication and open discussion, which we hope will lead to new ideas
 and collaborations.
 
 eCheminfo InterAction Meeting Session, Basel, 9 November 2005
 Protein Folding & Dynamics
 chaired by Wilfred van Gunsteren (ETH-Zurich)
 eCheminfo 2005 InterAction Meeting, 8-10 November 2005, Basel,
 Switzerland
 Updates loaded at
 http://echeminfo.colayer.net/COMTY_program
 
 After decades of largely independent experimental and theoretical work,
 the field of protein folding is entering a mature age in which the two
 are converging. Experimental techniques have become sophisticated enough
 to probe the folding of small, fast-folding proteins and protein
 elements, while computational power and algorithms have reached a level
 at which simulating these events is tractable. The central goal for the
 "Protein folding and dynamics" symposium is to bring
 together researchers working on both theoretical and experimental fronts
 of the protein folding field, and have them present recent cutting-edge
 research results. The emphasis of the symposium is on communication and
 open discussion, which we hope will lead to new ideas and
 collaborations.
 
 Posters
 All registrants for the above Protein sessions are eligible to submit
 a Conference Poster. Attendees may view and discuss the Posters and leave
 messages for the authors on the Web site. Electronic poster and
 discussion sessions will be scheduled to take place at both the US and
 European InterAction Meetings.
 
 Poster Abstracts (of ca. 300 words) with Title, Institution, Authors and
 Contact Information should be submitted for consideration to echeminfo at
 douglasconnect.com Conference Posters can be presented as HTML, pdf,
 Powerpoint or Word documents.
 
 Access
 Access to all eCheminfo facilities and seminars on the website,
 either past or occurring at any session in 2005, including the Autumn
 meetings in Philadelphia and Basel, requires the completion of an
 eCheminfo membership through the website or by contacting Nicki Douglas
 (nicki.douglas [a] douglasconnect.com)
 
 
 Barry Hardy
 eCheminfo Community of Practice Manager
 
 SignUp for program updates, membership or meeting registration through
 the eCheminfo CoP website:
 http://eCheminfo.com/
 
 eCheminfo Blog: http://barryhardy.blogs.com/cheminfostream/

Barry Hardy, PhD
Douglas Connect, Switzerland
+41 61 851 0170 (office)
www.douglasconnect.com