COMS

With the help of all attendees, we'll try to cover the significant developments and the different perspectives in the field. In addition to invited presentations by leaders in the field, exciting abstracts will be selected for oral presentation, and stimulating posters will be selected for presentation as part of a hot topics session. We will have ample discussion after each talk, during the poster sessions, and during afternoon walks on the old cities of Toscana.

This year, the conference will be held in conjunction with the Myelin Gordon Research Seminar, which will focus on myelination and remyelination in the CNS . The Myelin GRS will provide an informal venue for the next generation of myelin researchers to meet, present cutting edge research, and forge collaborations.

The research on chemokines has considerably accelerated and spread from initially few principal centers to thousands of institutions worldwide. Hence, nowadays it is hard to predict ahead of time in which laboratories the hottest and the coolest chemokine discoveries of 2012 will emerge. In anticipation of such discoveries and to conform with the spirit of the Gordon Conference, calling to showcase cutting edge unpublished data, we allocated even more speaker slots to the late breaking and short talks selected from abstracts. These should complement invited lectures by top scientists covering biochemistry of chemokines and the cellular responses to them, in vitro and in vivo mechanisms of chemokine induced migration, chemokines in immune organogenesis and immune organ function, chemokines in infection and immunity and the contribution of chemokines to the disease pathogenesis, including cancer.

During the last several years a new generation of young scientists joined the research on chemokines. Students and post-docs constitute now the most numerous group of Chemokine GRC participants. The traditional GRC format provided for their top notch and broad ex cathedra education, but not necessarily fostered their most active participation. This hiatus was addressed and, with considerable pride and excitement, we are announcing that Chemokine GRC 2012 will be twinned for the first time with the Chemokine Gordon Research Seminar, a satellite meeting for young bench scientists, post docs and students, which will take place May 26-27, 2012. This meeting will allow young chemokine researches to interact in an informal setting, exchange ideas, gain confidence as speakers and achieve higher personal visibility. Moreover, it will provide a forum for their concerted mentoring by the most outstanding chemokine scientists.

Our GRC will be returning to Il Ciocco, resort tucked away amidst Toscana Mountains, in the heart of a fascinating land, rich in history and culture, warm, hospitable and welcoming. Despite Il Ciocco being not only one of the most beautiful, but also largest GRC venues, its capacity is finite and only first 200 registered participants will be able to attend the Chemokine GRC, 2012. Our last GRC was oversubscribed with long waiting lists and considerable disappointment for those at end of the queue who could not attend. To assure your participation please register early!

We look forward to seeing you in Il Ciocco in May 2012 and hope that the combination of cutting edge science, passionate scientific debate and relaxing atmosphere of Il Ciocco will be conducive of a successful meeting!

Antal Rot and Andy Luster

Evolution was clever enough to come up with an excellent system of cellular decision makers, but the system can be cheated in the most mischievous way arthritis, cancer, diabetes, obesity, malaria, neurodegenerative disorders and many more can be caused by stray proteolytic enzymes and their inhibitors. Understanding the structures and functions of proteases, watching proteases in action, and approaching their intricacies in the protease web is a must but more so, it is a hope for designing new drugs and better therapeutic treatments based on translational research. On the bright side of life, proteases enable development and maintain physiology. Proteases and their inhibitors are clearly sustainable, they are vital.