Bridging Redox Chemistry to Biology, Aging and Disease

Reversible modification of amino acid sidechains containing oxygen, sulfur and selenium are fundamental to redox biochemistry and signal transduction. There are many different chemical modifications of cysteine and methionine sidechains. These sit alongside phosphorylation, glycosylation and ubiquitinylation etc as post-translational modifications that can affect protein activity and implement signal transduction. Importantly, these thiol modifications provide a means to regulate metabolism, gene expression, proteostasis and complex cell behaviors in response to reactive oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur species. However, thiol groups, like DNA and polyunsaturated fatty acids, are also susceptible to irreversible oxidation that is associated with cell death, aging, toxicity and disease. Understanding and manipulating this balance between signalling and damage/cell death is critical to prevent and treat disease and understand interactions between hosts and microbes. Discussions will highlight new advances towards answering key questions. For example, how, when and where specific reversible and irreversible chemical modifications occur, how they affect the structure, physical properties and biochemical activities of proteins, and, ultimately, how these changes execute diverse cellular responses that prevent or contribute to disease. This meeting will bring together scientists using and developing cutting edge new tools and artificial intelligence to answer these questions at the molecular, cellular and organism level across all Kingdoms of life and in therapeutic settings. As with previous meetings in this series, we anticipate this meeting will facilitate the exchange of ideas and sharing of new chemical, genetic and mathematic tools that can be used to address these questions.

This interdisciplinary, international conference provides an important venue for the free exchange of ideas among chemists, biochemists, molecular and cell biologists, physiologists, and clinicians working on various aspects of redox biology and medicine. Greater than 25% of the presentation slots will be reserved for trainees, junior investigators, and those newer to the field that have had more limited opportunities to interact at in-person meetings. Any attendee with an accepted abstract will have the opportunity (but is not required) to present a poster speed talk. We invite and welcome trainees, early and established career investigators, and those from underrepresented groups with an interest in redox signaling to attend this meeting to share their expertise and perspectives, to stimulated collaborations, and foster their interest and engagement in redox-signaling research.