Presentations to be made at Experimental Biology 2012 Meeting
Newswise — BETHESDA, Md. (Feb. 21, 2012)—The American Physiological Society (APS) is one of six scientific societies sponsoring the meeting Experimental Biology 2012 (EB 2012) being held April 21-25 at the San Diego Convention Center. The meeting will also mark the Society’s 125th anniversary. The APS has programmed more than 2,600 scientific abstracts for this year’s meeting. A variety of symposia will also be offered, to include:
Brain Insulin: The Forgotten Metabolic Partner of Leptin?: Brain insulin is involved in the regulation of food intake and energy balance and has been shown to affect a broad spectrum of physiological functions. For instance, brain insulin influences glucose homeostasis, and there is compelling evidence to suggest that brain actions of insulin may contribute to cardiovascular and metabolic disorders associated with type 2 diabetes and obesity. This symposium offers presentations and discussion on the most recent progress in understanding the brain actions of insulin and its pathological implications. (Sunday, Apr. 22)
Air Pollution – Friend or Foe to the Cardiopulmonary Systems?: Epidemiological data have shown a strong link between air pollution, notably fine particles, and increased risk of cardiopulmonary mortality. There is increasing evidence that specific components of the particles and other co-pollutants may drive the adverse effects on the cardiopulmonary system. This symposium will discuss the effects of air pollution that are mediated through the lungs and the cardiovascular system with respect to the roles of physical and chemical characteristics of pollutants. (Sunday, Apr. 22)
Pendrin: Hearing, Blood Pressure, Thyroid Function and More: In 1896, English physician Vaughan Pendred described an Irish family in which two of ten children suffered from congenital deafness and goiter. The hearing loss of classic Pendred Syndrome is now recognized to account for up to 10% of congenital deafness, while the goiter phenotypes is more variable and can occur with or without hypothyrodisim. Thirteen years ago the causative gene was identified as SLC26A4. Since then, more than 47 pathogenic allele variants have been reported. An unexpected finding has been the demonstration of high levels of the SLC26A4 gene product, pendrin, in the kidney. In this symposium the role of pendrin in hearing, thyroid function, and blood pressure regulation will be explored. The cellular biology common and unique to each of these organ systems will also be examined. (Monday, Apr. 23)
Bioengineering and Regenerative Medicine: With a constantly aging population, regenerative medicine approaches to treating human disease are becoming increasingly more important. Currently, a number of interdisciplinary strategies involving a combination of biomaterial science, bioengineering, stem cell biology, and clinical sciences are being pursued with the common aim to apply living cells or functional tissues to repair, replace, or restore tissue or organ function loss caused by congenital defects, trauma, disease, or aging. This symposium will showcase several state-of-the-art bioengineering approaches that involve the manipulation of biochemical, biophysical and geometrical environmental signals to include cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation, and enable the creation of 3-dimensional tissue organoids for unique experimental studies and potential therapeutic applications. (Wednesday, Apr. 25)
EB 2012 is also co-sponsored by the American Association of Anatomists (AAA), American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP), American Society for Nutrition (ASN), and the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET).
Media RegistrationFree registration for the meeting is available to credentialed representatives of the press, who will also have access to an onsite newsroom. Detailed instructions for individuals who wish to request press passes are available on the website at http://bit.ly/xWob5G. Requests for additional information should be sent to [email protected]
The press room will be open Saturday, April 21, through Wednesday, April 25. Pre-registration for press passes is strongly encouraged and will be accepted through April 16. A press kit with highlights of scientific research will be available on an embargoed basis prior to the meeting.
###Physiology is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function to create health or disease. The American Physiological Society (APS; http://www.the-APS.org/press) has been an integral part of the discovery process since it was established in 1887. To keep up with the science, follow @Phyziochick on Twitter.
RSS