International EMT meeting

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The specific aim of this proposal is to obtain partial funding for expenses (travel and lodging) for younger academic speakers and students from the USA to attend the 6th International Meeting on Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition. The meeting will be held Nov 13-15, 2013 in Alicante, Spain under the auspices of the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition International Association (TEMTIA). The objectives of the meeting are to 1. Bring together investigators in the separate disciplines of cancer, pathology and development to discuss their observations on EMT and explore whether there is a consensus on important components of the process. 2. Provide a forum where students and junior investigators can interact with senior investigators and display their own work and ideas in the field. 3. Expand a viable co-operative cross- disciplinary forum of EMT- related researchers internationally. This will continue to provide a worldwide network for exchange of expertise, reagents and techniques across disciplines. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a fundamental cellular process undertaken by cells in the embryo to form 3-dimensional structures from sheets of cells. During EMT, epithelial cells lose adherence to adjacent cells, degrade the local basement membrane and invade the underlying interstitial extracellular matrix. At the cellular level, this process requires specific signal transduction elements, new gene transcription, reorganization of the cytoskeleton, secretion of extracellular matrix molecules and growth factors. In the embryo, this process is reiterated at gastrulation, neural crest cell formation, heart formation and in several other areas of organogenesis. In the adult, EMT occurs as a component of wound healing and in the pathologies of cancer metastasis and tissue fibrosis. Since the first of these TEMTIA meetings, the growth of the field has been dramatic and there are now more than 1200 primary papers published each year on the topic. The meeting is an important one that continues to shape the translational progress in the field.