IUBMB Focused Meeting on Emerging Concepts of the Neuronal Cytoskeleton

Session 1 “Microtubule/actin regulation in neurons”

Chair: Peter Baas

– Carsten Janke, Institut Curie, Orsay, France.   Tubulin polyglutamylation – a novel player in neurodegeneration.

– Michel Steinmetz, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland. A novel sequence motif targets diverse proteins to growing microtubule ends.

– Annie Andrieux, Grenoble Institute of Neuroscience, Grenoble, France. MAP6 proteins: from microtubule stabilization to the regulation of actin dynamic and brain morphogenesis.

Keynote Lecture: James R. Bamburg

Chair: Christian Gonzalez-Billault

– James Bamburg. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA. Understanding actin dynamics in health and disease. A journey with many players.

Session 2 “Neuronal polarity and differentiation”

Chair: Carsten Janke

– Christian Gonzalez-Billault, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile. Novel mechanisms involving redox biology are essential to support axonal growth.

– Christophe Leterrier, University of Marseille, Marseille, France. The axonal cytoskeleton at the nanoscale: how to step in the same river twice.

–  Helge Ewers, Free University, Berlin, Germany. Nanoscopic compartmentalisation of the neuronal plasma membrane.

– Don Arnold, University of Southern California, USA. Structure and function of an actin-based filter in the proximal axon.

Session 3 “Cytoskeleton and neuronal trafficking and transport”

Chair: Ilona Concha

– Lukas Kapitein, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Navigating the cytoskeleton.

– Bettina Winckler, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA. Rab7 is required to mobilize dendritic degradative cargos for degradation in somatic lysosomes.

– Matthew Kennedy, University of Colorado, Denver, USA. Investigating non-canonical secretory trafficking in neurons.

– Giampietro Schiavo, University College London, UK. Trk receptor signalling and sensory neuron fate is impaired in severe human neuropathy.

Technical Lecture

Daniel Koch, Zeiss

Airyscan for Fast Imaging of Neuronal Tissue with enhanced SNR and Super-Resolution.

Session 4 “Cytoskeleton in disease and injury”

Chair: Stephanie Gupton

– Peter Penzes, Northwestern University, Chicago, USA. New functions of ankyrin-G/ANK3 in dendrites and spines.

– Shernaz Bamji, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. The X-Linked Intellectual Disability Gene DHHC9 and the Formation of Neural Circuits.

– Claudio Hetz, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile. Role of the unfolded protein response (UPR) stress sensor IRE1α in cytoskeleton remodeling and cell migration.

– Peter Baas, Drexel College of Medicine, Philadelphia, USA. Microtubule-based Therapies for Nervous System Disease and Injury.

Session 5 “Cytoskeleton in growth cone navigation and neural network formation”

Chair: Nicolas Unsain

– Stephanie Gupton, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA. TRIM9 and TRIM67, the Yin and Yang of Growth Cone Filopodia Regulation During Axon Guidance and Branching.

– Andreas Prokop, Manchester University, UK. How to make or break an axon – dissecting the essential roles and regulation of actin and microtubules.

– Martin Balastik, Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic. Isoform specific regulation of CRMP2 and its role in neural development.

– Timothy Gomez, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA. Molecular mechanisms of growth cone invasion.

Session 6 “Cytoskeleton in Neurotransmission”

Chair: Jill Wildonger

– Adrian Moore, Riken Institute, Tokyo, Japan. Important things have small beginnings: Major branches in the dendrite arbor arise by MyoVI-mediated stabilization of single actin bundles at the dendrite tip.

– Alejandra Alvarez, Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. c-Abl is a key player in the Alzheimer disease synaptic pathology.

– Tom Blanpied, University of Maryland, Washington, USA. Nanostructure and alignment in single synapses.

Session 7 “Neuronal cytoskeleton: the next generation of speakers”

Chair: Don Arnold

– Patricia Garcez, University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. New insights about Primary Microcephaly from in vitro and in vivo studies.

– Aurnab Ghose, IISER, Pune, India. Fmn2, a new regulator of actin, microtubule and adhesion dynamics in neuronal growth cones.

– Fernanda Ledda, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. The role of the neurotrophic factor GDNF in hippocampal synapse formation.

– Nicolas Unsain, Instituto Mercedes y Martin Ferreyra, Córdoba, Argentina. Changes in the Actin-Spectrin Periodic Cortical Skeleton, Growth Cones and Actin Dynamics During Axonal Degeneration.

– Karen Litwa, East Carolina University, Greenville, USA. Cytoskeletal Regulation of Neurodevelopment in an hIPSC-derived Autism Model.

– Jill Wildonger, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA. Autoinhibition of kinesin-1 is essential for polarized dendritic transport.

Session 8 “Neuronal transport. Physiological and pathological aspects”

Chair: Patricia Garcez

– Frederic Saudou, Grenoble Institute of Neuroscience, Grenoble, France. Huntingtin: Linking Fast Axonal Transport, Energy Supply and Neurotrophin Signaling to Neurodegeneration.

– Subhojit Roy, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA. Actin in the Axon Shaft: Architecture, Axonal Transport, and Function.

– Anthony Brown, Ohio State University, Columbus, USA. The mobility of axonal neurofilaments in mature adult myelinated axons.