Metal Metabolism and Disease

The Cell Biology of Metals Gordon Conference provides a forum for which bioinorganic chemists, metallo-biologists and clinicians for metal related disorders all meet and discuss the latest advances in understanding cellular metal homeostasis. The complexity of how metal ions are taken up from the extracellular milieu and appropriately trafficked in a cell without causing toxicity is a field of growing importance. An increasing number of disorders are being attributed to disruptions in metal homeostasis at the cellular level. As such, the 2009 Cell Biology of Metals Gordon conference is dedicated to presenting the latest breakthroughs in the cell biology of metal transport, trafficking and detoxification. Talks from leaders in the field will cross multiple disciplines, from the very basic bioinorganic to applied studies of metals in diseases. Sample sessions include: imaging and biomonitoring of metals within organelles, metals and oxidative stress, and metals in microbial pathogenesis, neurodegeneration and hematopoietic disorders. In addition, new discoveries in understanding mechanisms of metal ion selectivity and metal co-factor assembly will be presented. Talks will be not only be from invited leaders in the field, but also from selected poster presentations and will expand from microbes to humans, cutting across multiple elements of biological importance.