PROJECT SUMMARY
This proposal requests support for the 9th meeting of the biennial Gordon Research Conference (GRC) and
associated Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on Thiol-Based Redox Regulation and Signaling to be held at the
Rey Don Jaime Grand Hotel, Castelldefels, Spain on July 13-14 (GRS) / 14-19 (GRC) 2024. Regulation of protein
function through the post-translational modification of specific cysteine residues (thiol oxidation) plays an
important role in the response and adaptation to local and global changes in the cellular levels of reactive
oxidants. A key challenge for the redox-signaling field is understanding how thiol-based signaling mechanisms
facilitate communication between molecules, organelles, cells, and organisms to initiate and coordinate different
biological responses to endogenous and environmental stimuli. The 2024 meeting will focus on the various
sources and targets of thiol modification. Specific attention will be placed on the consequences of dampening
(or upregulating) thiol-based redox signaling across species and disease pathologies. By providing a unique
opportunity for extensive interaction between chemists and biologists with expertise in biophysical methods,
bioinformatics, and animal and cellular model systems, with clinical researchers and physicians focused on
disease processes, this meeting is expected to significantly catalyze scientific progress. While the thematic area
of the conference is broad-based, its relevance to specialized NIH institutes is highly significant. Not only is redox
toxicity proposed as one of primary mechanisms of chemical-induced pathology in humans, but the broad
impacts of redox signaling on aging and age-associated disease are unmistakable. In keeping with the GRC
tradition, the 2024 meeting will select and encourage presentations that emphasize unpublished, novel findings,
creating a distinctive intellectual experience that adds significantly to the excitement of the meeting. Participants
will interact with one another during the invited presentations, the afternoon and evening poster sessions, and
at three daily meals. Investigators new to the meeting, junior investigators, trainees, and individuals historically
underrepresented in scientific research will be prevalent and welcomed. The associated GRS will provide a
small, relaxed forum in which graduate and postdoctoral students present their research and receive constructive
advice and encouragement from a few senior investigators who serve as mentors. We intend that together, the
GRS/GRC meetings will attract and increase retention of junior scientists in the field of redox biology. We
anticipate that the GRC will enhance the education of researchers at all career levels, generate new ideas and
collaborations aimed at understanding thiol-based redox regulation and dysfunction, and enable future progress
in the prevention, detection, and treatment of a wide-range of human diseases associated with a loss of redox
homeostasis.
