PHASAGE
PhasAGE – Excellence Hub on Phase Transitions in Aging and Age-Related Disorders
phasage-VIB international conference
Biomolecular condensates in biology and disease
DESCRIPTION
The PhasAGE consortium invites you to participate in the II PhasAGE-VIB International Conference “Biomolecular condensates in biology and disease” which will be held in Brussels from 11 to 13 December 2022.
The PhasAGE consortium has a strong focus on the implications of liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) / biomolecular condensation in physiology, aging and disease. VIB (https://vib.be) and PhasAGE have brought together some of the world leaders on these subjects, to present their research in Brussels. With close to a hundred participants, the meeting will present an excellent opportunity to discuss current trends in this remarkable scientific discipline. World-class plenary and keynote lectures will set the stage for uncompromising scientific quality and excitement. We plan to cover:
- general understanding of the role of LLPS in physiology and pathology
- details of the fundamental process of stress granules formation
- kinetics and modulation of phase separation
- biomolecular condensates in microorganisms
- possible role of LLPS in protein aggregation and its mechanistic role in neuropathies
- targeting “condensatopathies”, as pioneered at emerging LLPS enterprises
- discussing in a “career development session”, career options in life sciences, and distinct paths of bio-business through the lens of experts from big pharma, start-ups and investors
Come join us for this exciting meeting in Brussels, to learn and discuss the science of biomolecular condensates in specific sessions with invited speakers, selected short talks, posters and career development discussions. The symposium will take place at the Etterbeek campus of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB; http://vub.be), a metro ride away from the historic center of the de facto capital of the European Union.
FINAL PROGRAM
Local Hours: CET – UTC+1
DAY 1 – Sunday | 11 December 2022
Place: VUB U-residence
17:00-18:00
Registration
PLENARY LECTURE
18:00-19:00
Biomolecular condensates in stress and disease
Simon Alberti | Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), Germany
19:00-21:00
Welcome Reception
DAY 2 – Monday | 12 December
Place: VUB U-residence
SESSION I | STRESS GRANULES
9:00-9:30
Liquid-liquid phase separation and stress granule dynamics in neurodegeneration
Ludo Van Den Bosch | VIB-KU Leuven, Belgium | ESR invitation
9:30-10:00
FlickerPRINT for Harnessing Shape Fluctuations to Probe the Mechanics of Stress Granules
Sushma Nagaraja Grellscheid | University of Bergen, Norway
CAREER DEVELOPMENT SESSION I
10:00-10:45
Leveraging biomolecular condensates in drug discovery
Scott Peterson | Senior vice president | Dewpoint Therapeutics, USA
SHORT TALKS
10:45-10:55
PKA activity influences stress granule maturation during chronic stress conditions in S. cerevisiae
Sonja Kroschwald | ETH Zurich, Switzerland
10:55-11:05
Uncovering the Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation Behavior of Ataxin-3
Sára Varga | IBMC/i3S, University of Porto, Portugal
11:05-11:30
Coffee Break
SESSION II | Kinetics and modulation of phase transitions
11:30-12:00
Kinetic mechanism of alpha-synuclein aggregation within liquid condensates
Michele Vendruscolo | University of Cambridge, UK | ESR invitation
12:00-12:30
Ataxin-3 self-assembly inhibitors: opportunities and challenges for Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3 therapies
Sandra Macedo-Ribeiro | IBMC/i3S, University of Porto, Portugal
12:30-13:00
A stickers and spacers model for phase separation of low complexity domains
Alex Holehouse | Washington University in St. Louis, USA
13:00-14:30
Lunch
SESSION III | LLPS in microorganisms
14:30-15:00
Aberrant phase separation as a wide-spread killing strategy of bioactive peptides in biology and disease
Steven Boeynaems | Baylor College of Medicine, USA
15:00-15:30
Rules for hardening influenza A virus liquid condensates
Maria João Amorim | Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Portugal
SHORT TALKS
15:30-15:40
The ALS/FTD associated protein FUS is toxic via nuclear phase separation in Drosophila models
Thomas Moens | VIB/KU Leuven, Belgium
15:40-15:50
Physicochemical homeostasis in aging
Sara N Mouton | University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands
15:50-16:00
In-Silico analysis of pH-dependent liquid-liquid phase separation in intrinsically disordered proteins
Carlos Pintado-Grima | IBB, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
16:00-16:10
Establishing a structure-function relationship between biomolecular condensates and protein degradation
Janet R. Kumita | University of Cambridge, UK
16:10-16:40
Coffee break
CAREER DEVELOPMENT SESSION II
16:40-17:30
Raising venture capital funding as a start-up company
Anique ter Braake | Associate | M Ventures, The Netherlands
17:30-18:05
VIB and the Life Sciences Ecosystem in Flanders
Jiska van der Reest | Business development manager | VIB, Belgium
SHORT TALKS
18:05-18:15
Charge patterning affects the liquid-liquid phase separation of the N-terminal disordered domain of human topoisomerase I
Greta Bianchi | University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
18:15-18:25
Phospho-dependent 14-3-3 interactions negatively regulate condensate formation by human SMAUG1
Kellie Dean | University College Cork, Ireland
POSTER SESSION
18:25-20:00
Poster presentations
20:30-22:30
Conference Dinner
DAY 3 – Tuesday | 13 December
Place: VUB Promotion hall, D 2.01
PLENARY LECTURE
9:00-10:00
Aberrant phase transitions of neurodegeneration-linked RNA-binding proteins – control mechanisms and functional consequences
Dorothee Dormann | Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany
Session IV| Alpha-synuclein aggregation
10:00-10:30
Architecture of a toxic alpha-synuclein oligomer
Salvador Ventura | IBB, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
10:30-11:00
Kinetics and thermodynamics of protein phase transitions
Tuomas Knowles | University of Cambridge, UK
11:00-11:30
Coffee Break
SESSION V | Phase transition in neuropathologies
11:30-12:00
Phase transition, aggregation and spreading: from models to disease mechanisms in ALS/FTD
Sandrine da Cruz | KU Leuven, Belgium
12:00-12:30
Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation and the Formation of Pathogenic Tau Conformations
Nicholas Kanaan | Michigan State University, USA
SHORT TALKS
12:30-12:40
CHIP ubiquitin ligase is involved in the nucleolar stress management
Malgorzata Piechota | International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, Poland
12:40-12:50
In vivo characterisation confirms a critical role for RNA-binding and posttranslational modifications for condensate formation and aggregation of human TDP-43
Marco Morsch | Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
12:50-13:00
The contribution of LLPS to understand the genetic variants in Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Maria Cristina Aspromonte | University of Padova, Italy
13:00
Closing session & Lunch
REGISTRATION FEES
Registration for this conference gives access to all scientific sessions, workshops and conference resources. A confirmation email will be sent after registration is completed.
| REGISTRATION TYPE | REGISTRATION FEE | registration dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
EARLY BIRD |
PhasAGE MEMBERS
EXTERNAL |
65€
135€ |
UNTIL 11 NOVEMBER |
|
LATE REGISTRATION |
PhasAGE MEMBERS
EXTERNAL |
85€
165€ |
NOVEMBER 12-28 |
Please note that the registration fee is non-refundable.
ABSTRACT INFORMATION
Abstract submission is now CLOSED.
The participants can submit one first-authored abstract as a short talk or poster to present their work. A scientific committee will review the abstracts and select 11 for short talks and 20 for poster presentations. Abstracts should be sent until 4 November 2022. The selected participants will be notified until 10 November 2022.
– Please download the available abstract template.
– Submit the abstract in the original .docx format, without figures and using Times New Roman font size 12 pts, as in the template.
PRESENTATION INFORMATION
Poster sizes should be: A0 (841 x 1189 mm / 33.1 x 46.8 in), portrait orientation
Short talks should not exceed 10 minutes, including time for discussion.
SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Peter Tompa | VIB-VUB, Belgium
Ludo Van Den Bosch | VIB-VUB, Belgium
Sandra Ribeiro | IBMC/i3S, University of Porto, Portugal
Rita Vilaça | IBMC/i3S, University of Porto, Portugal
LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Members of VIB and VUB, Belgium
Peter Tompa
Mark Edward Lackey
Joris Van Lindt
Fernando Armenta
Tamas Lazar
Junaid Ahmed
Attila Meszaros
Kevin Muwonge
Giorgio Russo
Anna Bratek-Skicki
Nazanin Farahi
ORGANIZING PARTNERS AND SPONSORS
