Principal organisers : Alberto Podjarny, UPR 9004, IGBMC, Strasbourg, and
Alexandre Urzhumtsev, LCM3B, UPRESA 7036, Université H. Poincaré, Nancy 1
Contact address : e-mail: podjarny@igbmc.u-strasbg.fr ;
FAX to 33-3-8865-3201 (Attn. Dr. A.Podjarny) ; tel : 33-3-8865-3311; regular mail :
Dr. A.Podjarny, IGBMC, Parc d’Innovation, 67404, Illkirch, C.U. de Strasbourg, France
Subjects (each session is of 1:30 hrs and has 3 talks) :
High resolution (3 sessions), Large Structural complexes (3 sessions), Crystallography and EM (1 session), Crystallography and NMR (1 session), Structural Genomics (1 session).
Place: Bischenberg Conference Centre (Bischoffsheim, between Strasbourg and the Vosges Mountains; for more information, consult the web site http://www.bischenberg.e-i.com/).
Invited speakers : P.Alzari, C.Davey, D.Dorset, C.Frazao, U.Heinemann, V.Lamzin, C.Lecomte, D.Moras, A.Podjarny, A. Pastore, I.Uson, M. Van Heel, K.Wilson, A.Yonath
Other speakers, abstract submission : The list of speakers will be completed from the presented abstracts. The abstracts, the preference for oral or poster presentation and the motivation letter should be sent, either as attached documents (RTF format) or included in the text, to podjarny@igbmc.u-strasbg.fr.
Number of participants: 94 staying in Bischenberg, 26 external.
Deadline : Deadline for inscription and for abstracts submission is April 30 2000. Participants will be informed whether they accepted or not and which is the accepted form of their presentation during the first week of May. Please, do not forget to indicate in the Registration Form a way of fast correspondence with you (preferably e-mail).
Inscription fees:
- For participants staying at the centre: 3700 FF (including inscription, lodging, all meals, transportation from Nancy by bus on the 31.08, transportation by bus to the Strasbourg airport or train station on 3.09)
Lodging of external participants: Organisers do not take care neither of hotel reservation nor of the transportation to and from Bischenberg. Eventually, a number of hotels and hostel rooms are available in Strasbourg and closer villages (Obernai, Molsheim) but a preliminary reservation is strictly recommended for this period of year.
Arrival : for the participants of the ECM-19: by free-of-charge bus from Nancy. Other participants can reach Bischenberg by taxi from Strasbourg or from Strasbourg Airport (about 25 min.; about 200 FF)
Depart : free-of-charge bus to Strasbourg-Airport and to Strasbourg train station
Time table 09:00-10:30 11:00-12:30 15:00-16:30 17:00-18:30
31.08 Arrival & Registration Mixer
01.09 High resolution High resolution High resolution Large complexes
02.09 Large complexes Cryst.& NMR Posters Posters Dinner
03.09 Struct.Genomics Cryst.& EM Large complexes Leave
Macromolecular crystallography, forty years after the first protein structure determination from single crystals, remains a powerful tool for obtaining the 3D image of a functioning macromolecule, and therefore for understanding its biological function. During most of these 40 years, solving a protein structure was a long and hazardous task, in which every step from purification and crystallisation to data collection, structure solving and refinement required the work of specialists and could take months of intensive labour. However, the last decade has seen a formidable acceleration in the rate of structure solution due to the addition of a number of methodological improvements in crystallisation, data collection (notably in synchrotron sources) and phasing (notably by the introduction of seleno-methionine).
This increase in the number of structures solved has also had an impact in the type of structures that can be observed by X-ray crystallography. Notably, the limits of structure detail, given by the resolution, and of structure size are being pushed. There are also another techniques, like Electron Microscopy and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, which are increasing their power and are now capable of giving structural information. Last but not least, the increase of the rate in structure solution has made possible the structure determination of a significant fraction of a genome or of a group of functionally related structures, giving birth to the new discipline "Structural Genomics".
These subjects are now mature for a constructive evaluation and discussion, as planned for the Bischenberg meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to assemble experts in the subjects of High Resolution structure determination, Large complexes structure determination, and Structural Genomics. We plan discuss also the connections between Electron Microscopy and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and X-ray Crystallography. The meeting will provide a forum of discussion between these experts and a public of young scientists and students which plan to work in these subjects.
The subjects of this meeting have known spectacular results recently, which will be presented in this meeting. For example, in the case of high resolution structures, the enzyme Aldose Reductase has been observed at a resolution of 0.66 Angstroms. At this resolution, very fine details, like the electron density in covalent bonds and the polarisation of charged atoms can be observed, with important implications for the determination of the enzymatic mechanism. In the case of Large Structural Complexes, the current studies of the structure of the ribosome will be presented. These studies are now approaching atomic resolution, and therefore the possibility of analysing the detailed machinery of this organelle essential for protein biosynthesis. In the case of Structural Genomics, the results of the first european "Protein Factory" will be exposed. This opens the possibility of large scale structure determination, and eventually a full functional and structural analysis of the genome. The connections of crystallography with Electron Microscopy and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance will be discussed. These techniques are highly complementary, as Electron Microscopy can provide a view of the large macromolecular complexes without crystals, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance experiments provide a dynamic view of the structure.