The second "Signaling by Adhesion Receptors" Gordon Research Conference will be held July 14-19, 2002 at Connecticut College, New London, CT. This meeting was founded because signaling by adhesion receptors had not received sufficient attention within the necessarily broader formats of meetings on cell adhesion or signaling. Additionally, most cells in vivo use multiple adhesion receptors simultaneously, yet the existing meetings on adhesion systems typically focus on one receptor in isolation. A rapidly growing theme in this field is that signaling by both integrins and cadherin/catenin systems are intimately linked to each other and to the Rho family GTPases. Thus, the 2002 Signaling by Adhesion Receptors Gordon Research Conference will focus the interplay between these three areas. The speakers will represent an unusually distinguished faculty of internationally recognized leaders in the integrin, cadherin/catenin, and Rho GTPase fields. The approaches discussed will range from structural biology, to biochemical studies of cultured cells, to genetic analyses in mice, drosophila, Xenopus and C. Elegans. There is a strong cancer relevance to the program, but important new findings relevant to vascular biology, neurobiology, development, and aging will also be presented. Poster sessions and short talks (selected from the submitted abstracts) will complement the principal lectures and are intended to highlight the work of young investigators.