DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia meeting entitled The Hippo Pathway: Signaling, Development and Disease, organized by Fernando D. Camargo, Kun-Liang Guan and Helen McNeill. The meeting will be held in Taos, New Mexico from May 17-21, 2015. The study of developmental signaling pathways has transformed our understanding and treatment of disease, particularly cancer. The Hippo signaling pathway is a relatively novel signaling network that controls organ size, stem cell activity, and multiple aspects of tumorigenesis. Therefore, the Hippo cascade and its components are novel and attractive targets for the development of regenerative medicine and cancer drugs. The emerging paradigm in the field indicates that the Hippo pathway is a central sensor of multiple biological inputs, including cell adhesion, polarity, mechanical forces, and secreted ligands. Understanding the molecular details of the Hippo network will be of paramount importance in designing effective strategies to control the oncogenic function of their two main effectors. This meeting will present progress on the design of the first small-molecules specific to the pathway, and will be unique in bringing together Drosophila geneticists, basic and clinical cancer researchers, and the stem cell research community. As such, we anticipate that it will consolidate the emerging field and have an impact on development of new cancer therapies. The overall theme of the meeting is highly relevant to the mission of the National Cancer Institute. " |