Breaking Technical Limits: Electrophysiology and Cell Biology of Organellar Channels and Transporters

The new Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on "Organellar Channels and Transporters" will create a new forum for this exciting and fast-developing field for scientists working on mammalian as well as plant intracellular channels and transporters. Over 80% of the transport processes occur inside the cells, yet, in many cases (ER, Golgi, efflux from chloroplast and mitochondria, partially also vacuole) they are very difficult to investigate. For this reason, more progress has been made for plasma membrane transport processes, and consequently, research on them is predominantly presented and discussed at meetings. During the last decade however, the molecular identification of many of these ion channels/transporters allowed the discovery of their crucial role for both plant and mammalian physiology by genetic and pharmacological means. Just to give a few examples, organellar ion channels have been recently shown to regulate important processes such as photosynthesis or programmed cell death. In fact, mitochondrial transporters are emerging as promising oncological targets. Vacuolar transporters and channels of guard cells are of major importance for stomata movement and hence plant reaction to environmental changes and stress. Electrophysiology of organellar membranes is still challenging, and we believe that recent technical advancement (e.g. in vitro expression of ion channels and organelle proteomics) will lead to the discovery of many new channels/transporters in the years to come. Furthermore, many questions remain open about e.g. subcellular targeting, regulation, structure-function relationship, and (patho)physiological roles. The new discoveries in the field of intracellular channels/transporters are sporadically presented at different meetings but to our knowledge, an unifying meeting dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of these proteins does not exist. We believe that the possibility to discuss novel findings and ideas in this area during Gordon conferences will significantly stimulate cutting edge research in the field.

In particular, the conferences will be dedicated to channels/transporters of mitochondria, chloroplasts, lysosomes, vacuoles, the endoplasmatic reticulum, nucleus and peroxisomes both in animals and plants. Different aspects like electrophysiology, molecular identification, regulation, interactions, physiological roles, targeting, pharmacology and structure will be the topic of the conference which will bring together a broad number of scientists with different technological skills and scientific background. The program of the first meeting will focus especially on electrophysiological and physiological aspects. In the next editions structural aspects and technical advance helping this field will also be addressed.

In summary, the purpose of this new GRC is to provide a multidisciplinary platform in order to stimulate new interest and excellent science in this fast-developing but technically still challenging research area. Animal and plant scientists working in these fields meet only sporadically and giving a platform for a common meeting and intensive exchanges will be extremely fruitful for the whole community.