Biology of Aging Laboratory
Department of Geriatrics

October 1-2, 2004, Geneva, Switzerland

Organizer : Irmgard Irminger-Finger

irmgard.irminger@medecine.unige.ch

Invited speakers

Program

Abstracts

Pictures

Friday October 1, 2004

Workshop opening and Welcome (9 15 am)

Prof. Jacques Philippe, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine University of Geneva

M. Jean-Charles Guinchard, Directeur Général de la Santé, Département de l’Action Sociale et de la Santé

Session 1: Age the risk factor for cancer (9 45 am)

Chair: Irmgard Irminger-Finger (University Hospitals Geneva)

Vladimir Anisimov (Petrov Research Institute of Oncology, St.Petersburg, Russia): Insulin in aging and cancer: antidiabetic drugs as geroprotectors and anticarcinogens.

Alfredo Morabia (University Hospitals Geneva): Incidence of breast cancer: risk for the individual and risk for the population.

Tom Kirkwood (Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle General Hospital, UK): Stress, Mutations and Aging.

Coffee break (11 15-11 30 am)

Session 2: Crosstalk between cancer and environment (11 30 am)

Chair : Gertraud Orend (University Basel)

Gertraud Orend (University Basel): Oncogenic signaling by tenacin-c.

Josep Argiles (University Barcelona): Wasting in Cancer: implication of signaling in aging sarcopenia.
Ana Kctolica, Campisi lab (Buck Institute, CA): Faustian bargain: field effect of cellular senescence.

Lunch and poster viewing and exhibitors (12 50 am-2 pm)

Session 3: DNA repair pays aging (2 pm)

Chair: Karl Riabowol (University of Calgary, CAN)

Karl Riabowol (University of Calgary, Can): Linking stress signaling to chromatin remodeling through the ING family of tumor suppressors.

Josef Jiricny (University Z|rich): Mismatch repair, microsatellite instability and cancer.

Jan Hoeijmakers (Erasmus MC Rotterdam): DNA damage, repair and the connection with ageing and cancer.

Coffee break, posters and exhibitors (3 30-3 45 pm)

Session 4: Apoptosis mechanisms and pathways (3 45 pm)

Chair: Karl-Heinz Krause (University Hospitals Geneva

Gianni del Sal (University Trieste, Italy): The prolyl-isomerase Pin1 acts as a fine tuner of the p53 family network.

Sudhir Gupta (Irvine, CA): Molecular mechanisms of TNF-a-induced apoptosis in aging human T cells subsets.

Urs Albrecht (University of Fribourg): The circadian clock gene Per2 modulates cell death in response to oxidative stress.

Coffee break, posters and exhibitors (5 15-5 25 pm)

Session 5: Genetics and epigenetics (5 25 pm)

Chair: Monica Hegi (University Hospital Lausanne)

Monica Hegi (University Hospital Lausanne): Epigenetic silencing of the O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase gene in glioblastoma is required for responsiveness to the alkylating agent Temozolomide; translational research effort to a randomized, prospective clinical trial.

Richard Pestell (Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington DC): Cell cycle control of epigenetic signals regulating aging and cancer.

Sarantis Gagos (Foundation of Biomedical Research of the Academy of Athens, Greece): Different patterns of chromosomal evolution between telomerase positive and ALT cell lines.

Conference dinner (7 30 pm)  

Saturday, October 2, 2002

Session 6: Telomere structure and function (9 00 am) 

Chair: Susan Gasser (University Geneva)

Susan Gasser (University Geneva): The RecQ helicase Sgs1 and events at the replication fork.

Joahim Lingner (Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC)Lausanne): Telomerase and the mechanism of telomere length homeostasis.

Ittai Ben-Porat Weinberg lab (The Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, USA): Telomere structure and the induction of senescence.

Coffee break, posters and exhibitors (10 30-10 45 am)

Session 7: Telomere disfunction in aging and cancer syndromes (10 45 am)

Chair: Sandy Chang (MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston)

Ignacio Flores Blasco lab (Spanish National Cancer Center, Madrid): Mouse models to study the interaction between myc and telomerase.

Shuji Kishi (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston): ATM-Dependent DNA-Damage Response and Telomere Metabolism Link Induction of Premature Senescence in Zebrafish.

Wen-Hsing Cheng Vilhelm Bohr lab (National Institute on Aging, Baltimore): Altered DNA double strand break response in the Werner human premature aging syndrome.

Sandy Chang (MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston): Telomere dysfunction cooperates with Werner deficiency to promote genomic instability and premature aging in mice.

Lunch, poster viewing and exhibitors(12 45 am-2 pm)

Session 8: DNA repair and tumor suppressor pathways (2 pm)

Chair: Maria-Adelaide Caligo (University of Pisa)

Ashok Venkitaraman (Hutchison/MRC Research Centre, University Cambridge, UK): Tumour suppression by BRCA2: A connection with DNA replication.

Thomas Ludwig (Columbia University, New York): Mouse Models of Breast Cancer.

Irmgard Irminger-Finger (University Hospitals Geneva): Multiple functions of tumor suppressor BARD1 in control of cell proliferation in development and malignant transformation.

Alexander Bürkle (University Konstanz, Gerrmany): Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation and ageing.

Coffee break, posters and exhibitors (3 50-4 10 pm)

Session 9: From molecular pathways of carcinogenesis to therapy (4 10 pm)

Chair: Christopher Benz (Buck Institute of Aging, CA)

Christopher Benz (Buck Institute of Aging, CA): NFkB at the crossroads of life and death in human breast cancers.

Alfred Zippelius Knuth lab (University Zurich): Immune responses against melanocyte differentiation antigens in patients with malignant melanoma.

Ludovico Balducci (Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa FL): Priorities in gerontology and oncology.

David Waters (Purdue University, IN): A Dog Model to Study the Mechanisms of Cancer Resistance in the Oldest-Old (Selected poster).

Aubrey de Grey (University of Cambridge, UK): Total deletion of in vivo telomere elongation capacity: an ambitious but possibly ultimate cure for all age-related human cancers (Selected poster).

Elsevier Travel Award (6 15 pm)

Concluding Remarks by Professor Tom Kirkwood (6 20 pm)

End of the meeting