Summer Conference on Molecular Mechanisms of Development
15th & 16th February 2003
Report for the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cell &
Developmental Biology http://www.anzscdbi.adelaide.edu.au/index.html
The first Summer Conference on Molecular Mechanisms in Development in Perth
was a great success!
The first “Summer Conference on Molecular Mechanisms in Development” was held
on the beautiful campus of the University of Western Australia (UWA) in Perth.
Miranda Grounds from the School of Anatomy and Human Biology of UWA
organized the meeting, together with Lydia Sorokin and Rupert Hallmann, two
visiting professors from Lund University. The two-day conference was well attended,
and was an excellent addition to the newly established 3rd year course in
Developmental Biology at UWA. Students from the course had the prime chance of
participating in a high impact conference and to make contact with some of the
world's leading experts in their fields:
Prof. Ruth Lehmann: Skirball Institute, New York, presented a firework of
data on the migration of primordial germ cells into their final destination, the
forming gonad, and the identification of gene products that play a crucial role
in this process, like ‘slam’ - slow as molasses, a new gene product, and
‘columbus’, which could be identified as enzyme in the mevalonate synthesis.
Barbara Demeneix: Natural History Museum, Paris, presented work on her
two central fields of interest, the use of cationic lipids for the non-viral gene
transfer across the blood-brain-barrier into the central nervous system in the
mouse, and the role of thyroid hormone in amphibian development.
Steve Burden: also Skirball Institute, New York discussed his work on the
formation of the neuromuscular synapse. The neuromuscular synapse forms in
a complex exchange of signals between the motorneuron, the muscle fiber and
Schwann cells. The role of agrin in fixing the acetylcholinreceptor and a new
muscle specific receptortyrosinekinase ‘musk’ at the site of the future synapse
were discussed. Musk mRNA is localized specifically at the future
neuromuscular synapse, while other proteins like neuregulin-1 or the
Acetylcholinreceptor are synthesized elsewhere, and are subsequently
deposited in the synapse.
Jonathan Raper: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, discussed his
latest data on the role of chemokines, namely the factor SDF-1, for the axonal
outgrowth and survival of neurons. Professor Raper was the first to identify
factors which limit neuron – neuron adhesion, nowadays named semaphorin
sema3A. The semaphorins are a superfamily with seven subfamilies, and
Professor Raper presented not only the biological function of those, but also of
other molecules like ‘slit-2’, which interferes with axon outgrowth as well. His
presentation focused on the identification of ‘modulatory guidance cues’,
factors like SDF-1, known as a chemotactic signal for leukocytes, which is
neither repellent nor chemotactic for neurons. However, its presence reduces
the neuronal response to sema3A and slit-2. Furthermore, mice without
functional receptors for the SDF-1, CXCR4, show axonal guidance defects,
suggesting that the modulating activity is important for the development of the
normal development of the nervous system.
Reinhard Faessler: Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry, Martinsried,
discussed data on his bone marrow specific knockout of the integrin beta1
chain. Using a very elegant approach, his lab produced mice with this integrin
gene being inactive only in bone marrow stem cells. With this approach,
Professor Faessler convincingly showed that once stem cells are located in the
bone marrow they do not need the beta1-integrins for either differentiation
into different hematopoietic cell lineages nor for the migration out into the
blood stream.
Scientists from different Australian universities also presented excellent work, and a
lively discussion made the conference a success.
We look forward to the next summer conference and the next 3rd year course in
Developmental Biology (hb308) will take place in January 2004 at the School of
Anatomy and Human Biology. The course is open to all interested scientists and
students. Please get further information from the homepage
http://www.lab.anhb.uwa.edu.au/hb308/