Gordon Research Conferences
PI_Conferences PI_Conferences_Past
Conference Program
 
 
 
QUICK SEARCH
GO
[ advanced search ]
 
 
 
Chronobiology
May 6-11, 2007
Centre Paul Langevin
Aussois, France
Chair:
Till Roenneberg

Vice Chair:
Joseph S. Takahashi

Chronobiology investigates biological rhythms - predominantly those that correspond to environmental cycles (tidal, daily, lunar or annual). The most intensively investigated biological timing system is the circadian clock. Behaviour, physiology, bio-chemistry, and gene expression are temporally structured over the course of a day, generating daily oscillations at all levels of life.

Cycles in attention and activity, in core body temperature and heart rate, in enzyme activity and hormone levels are not simply driven by external changes (e.g., light/dark or warm/cold). Rather, they are controlled by an endogenous, circadian clock which are found in all phyla - from cyanobacteria to humans. Daily rhythms continue in the absence of environmental signals with their own periods that can deviate slightly from 24 h - hence the term circadian (about one day). Although circadian rhythms are endogenous and self-sustained, the ‘internal day' is regulated by external cues: circadian rhythms are synchronised (entrained) by and to the periodic environment. This ‘entrainment’ uses environmental signals (predominantly light) as 'zeitgebers'.

Over the past decades, circadian research has unravelled many details about how the circa-24-hour rhythmicity is generated at the cellular level. Clock genes and their products form a complex network of feedback loops. Approximately 10% of the mammalian genome shows a circadian rhythm in its expression.

The programme of the Gordon Conference on Chronobiology in 2007 covers the most recent insights into the mechanisms of circadian rhythmicity, ranging from genetics, molecular biology and neurophysiology to higher functions such as sleep and performance in shift work. The contributions reflect the need for our field to show how these temporal programmes function in the real world under entrainment as well as the necessity to explore clock mechanisms beyond the known transcriptional-translational feedback loops.

Because of the enormous and predictable daily changes in the metabolism of each cell, insights into circadian clocks are essential for medicine as well as for coping with the consequences of life in an industrial society that has us living indoors (i.e., providing weak zeitgebers), performing shift work and incurring jetlag.

Contributors
SUNDAY
4:00 pm - 9:00 pmArrival and Check-in
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 7:40 pmWelcome / Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff
7:40 pm - 7:50 pm Opening remarks
7:50 pm - 9:10 pm CLOCK WATCHERS
Session Chair: Anna Wirz-Justice (University of Basel, CH)
7:50 pm - 8:00 pm Chair’s Introduction
8:00 pm - 8:25 pm Kurt Kräuchi (University of Basel, CH)
"Core and shell temperatures, sleep-wake cycle, and circadian phase: Lab- vs. real life- conditions"
8:25 pm - 8:35 pmDiscussion
8:35 pm - 9:00 pm Frank Wilhelm (University of Basel, CH)
"Physiology on the move: circadian ambulatory monitoring in the real world"
9:00 pm - 9:10 pmDiscussion
MONDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:00 pm PACEMAKER AND INPUT
Session Chair: Rae Silver (Columbia University, US)
9:00 am - 9:10 amChair’s Introduction
9:10 am - 9:35 amMartha Gilette (University of Illinois, US)
"Signaling from light to the clockwork via the cytoskeleton"
9:35 am - 9:45 am Discussion
9:45 am - 10:10 amJoke Meijer (University of Leiden, NL)
"Processing of photic information by the SCN"
10:10 am - 10:20 am Discussion
10:20 amCoffee Break / Group Photo
10:50 am - 11:15 amMick Hastings (MRC, Cambridge, UK)
"Peptidergic signalling and circadian synchrony"
11:15 am - 11:25 am Discussion
11:25 am - 11:50 amRussell Foster (University of Oxford, UK)
"Non-Image forming Photoreceptors: Behavioral and Molecular Up-Dates"
11:50 am - 12:00 pm Discussion
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm HOT TOPICS I
Session chair: Hiroki R. Ueda (RIKEN, JAP)
12:00 pm - 12:10 pmSheeba Vasu (University of California, US)
"Blowing Hot and Cold onto the Drosophila Behavioral Clock"
12:10 pm - 12:15 pm Discussion
12:15 pm - 12:25 pmMichele Shirasu-Hiza (Stanford University, US)
"Circadian rhythm and innate immunity in Drosophila melanogaster"
12:25 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session I a
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm CLOCK GENETICS
Session Chair: Martha Merrow (University of Groningen, NL)
7:30 pm - 7:40 pmChair’s Introduction
7:40 pm - 8:05 pmRalph Greenspan (Neurosciences Institute, San Diego, US)
"How wide-ranging is the gene network affecting the clock in Drosophila?"
8:05 pm - 8:15 pm Discussion
8:15 pm - 8:40 pmJoseph Takahashi (Northwestern University, US)
"Genetics of circadian clocks in mice"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pm Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:15 pmCarla Green (University of Virginia, US)
"Nocturnin is a post-transcriptional effector of the mammalian circadian clock"
9:15 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
9:30 pm - 10:30 pm Poster Session I b
TUESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:00 pm CLOCKS IN REAL LIFE
Session Chair: Debra Skene (University of Surrey, UK)
9:00 am - 9:10 am Chair’s Introduction
9:10 am - 9:35 amCharmane Eastman (Rush University, US)
"Phase-shifting human circadian rhythms with light and melatonin"
9:35 am - 9:45 am Discussion
9:45 am - 10:10 amRodolfo Costa (University of Padua, I)
"The Drosophila clock in the wild"
10:10 am - 10:20 am Discussion
10:20 am Coffee Break
10:50 am - 11:15 amSerge Daan (University of Groningen, NL)
"Natural entrainment of mice: proximate and ultimate factors"
11:15 am - 11:25 am Discussion
11:25 am - 11:50 amChiara Cirelli (University of Wisconsin, US)
"Potassium channels and sleep"
11:50 am - 12:00 pm Discussion
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm HOT TOPICS II
Session chair: Hiroki R. Ueda (RIKEN, JAP)
12:00 pm - 12:10 pmDavid Welsh (Scripps Research Institute, US)
"Per1 or Cry1 deficient cells sustain cells sustain circadian Per2, luc rhythms only when coupled in SCN"
12:10 pm - 12:15 pm Discussion
12:15 pm - 12:25 pmHugh Nimmo (University of Glasgow, UK)
"Organ specificity and communication in the Arabidopsis circadian clock"
12:25 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session II a
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm MOLECULAR CLOCKS - BEYOND TRANSCRIPTION
Session Chair: Vijay Sharma (JNCASR, Bangalore, IND)
7:30 pm - 7:40 pmChair’s Introduction
7:40 pm - 8:05 pmTakao Kondo (Nagoya University, JAP)
"KaiC as the Circadian Time Base of Cyanobacterial Clock"
8:05 pm - 8:15 pm Discussion
8:15 pm - 8:40 pmFerenc Nagy (Biological Research Center, Szeged, HUN)
"UV light induces expression of clock genes and phase-shifts the Arabidopsis clock."
8:40 pm - 8:50 pm Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:15 pmMichael Young (Rockefeller University, US)
"Cytoplasmic activities of the drosophila PER and TIM proteins"
9:15 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
9:30 pm - 10:30 pm Poster Session II b
WEDNESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:00 pm MULTI-OSCILLATOR CLOCKS
Session Chair: Charalambos Kyriacou (University of Leicester, UK)
9:00 am - 9:10 amChair’s Introduction
9:10 am - 9:35 am Francois Rouyer (CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette, F)
"Morning and evening oscillators in the Drosophila brain: inputs and outputs"
9:35 am - 9:45 amDiscussion
9:45 am - 10:10 am Charlotte Förster (University of Regensburg, D)
"Multiple Oscillators Control of the Locomotor Activity in Drosophila melanogaster"
10:10 am - 10:20 amDiscussion
10:20 amCoffee Break
10:50 am - 11:15 am Urs Albrecht (University of Fribourg, CH)
"Clocks and genes in mice"
11:15 am - 11:25 amDiscussion
11:25 am - 11:50 am Andrew Millar (University of Edinburgh, UK)
"Flexible structure of the plant circadian clock"
11:50 am - 12:00 pmDiscussion
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm HOT TOPICS III
Session chair: Jörg Stehle (University of Frankfurt, D)
12:00 pm - 12:10 pmKwoon Wong (Brown University, US)
"A bit of fly in the mammalian eye"
12:10 pm - 12:15 pm Discussion
12:15 pm - 12:25 pmRobert Lucas (University of Manchester, UK)
"Circadian rhythmicity in the retinal pathways subserving non image forming visual functions"
12:25 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session III a
6:00 pmDinner
7:00 pm - 7:30 pmBusiness Meeting
(Nominations for the next Vice Chair; Fill out Conference Evaluation Forms; Discuss future Site & Scheduling preferences; Election of the next Vice Chair)
7:30 pm - 8:50 pm MOLECULAR CLOCKS - INCREASING COMPLEXITY
Session Chair: Jay Dunlap (Dartmouth College, US)
7:30 pm - 7:40 pmChair’s Introduction
7:40 pm - 8:05 pmCarl Johnson (Vanderbilt University, US)
"Visualizing the Ticking of the Cyanobacterial Clock"
8:05 pm - 8:15 pm Discussion
8:15 pm - 8:40 pm Michael Brunner (University of Heidelberg, D)
"The Neurospora circadian clock: molecular mechanism of light adaptation"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pmDiscussion
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm SessionTitle
8:50 pm - 9:30 pm HOT TOPICS IV
Session chair: Jay Dunlap (Dartmouth College, US)
8:50 pm - 9:00 pmKarla Allebrandt (University of Munich, D)
"NPAS2 gene polymorphisms associated with chronotype distribution in humans"
9:00 pm - 9:05 pm Discussion
9:05 pm - 9:15 pmEleanor Scott (Leeds University, UK)
"Polymorphisms in the Clock gene and associations with the metabolic syndrome in man"
9:15 pm - 9:20 pm Discussion
9:20 pm - 10:30 pm Poster Session III b
THURSDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:00 pm TISSUE CLOCKS - SLAVES OR PARTNERS?
Session Chair: Michael Menaker (University of Virginia, US)
9:00 am - 9:10 amChair’s Introduction
9:10 am - 9:35 am Beth Klerman (Harvard Medical School, US)
"The role of Melatonin in circadian regulation"
9:35 am - 9:45 amDiscussion
9:45 am - 10:10 am Menno Gerkema (University of Groningen, NL)
"Voles"
10:10 am - 10:20 amDiscussion
10:20 amCoffee Break
10:50 am - 11:15 am Sato Honma (Hokkaido University, JAP)
"Clocks regulating behavior rhythms of mammals"
11:15 am - 11:25 amDiscussion
11:25 am - 11:50 am Achim Kramer (Charité, Berlin, D)
"Role of phosphorylation in the mammalian circadian oscillator"
11:50 am - 12:00 pmDiscussion
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm HOT TOPICS V
Session chair: Jörg Stehle (University of Frankfurt, D)
12:00 pm - 12:10 pmHugh Piggins (University of Manchester, UK)
"Scheduled wheel-running potently stablizes and sculpts behavioural rhythms in mice deficient in neuropeptide signalling"
12:10 pm - 12:15 pm Discussion
12:15 pm - 12:25 pmHorazio de la Iglesia (University of Washinghton, US)
"Dissociation of circadian regulation and light inhibition of pineal melatonin release in the forced desynchronized rat"
12:25 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 6:00 pmFree Time
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm BLIND SPOTS AND VISIONS
Session Chair: Marty Zatz (Editor of the Journal of Biological Rhythms)
7:30 pm - 7:40 pmChair’s Introduction
7:40 pm - 8:05 pmAnna Wirz-Justice (University of Basel, CH)
"The Time of our Lives"
8:05 pm - 8:15 pm Discussion
8:15 pm - 8:40 pmMartin Ralph (University of Toronto, CAN)
"On temporal disorganization in living systems"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pm Discussion
8:50 pm - 9:15 pmUeli Schibler (University of Geneva, CH)
"Speculations on the Purpose of Circadian Transcription"
9:15 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
FRIDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 amDeparture
Funding for this conference was made possible (in part) by NS059218 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention by trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
 
© 2010 Gordon Research Conferences. All Rights Reserved.
Search | Contact | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use