More
than 70 scientists from 17 institutions, including those in Colorado,
Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma, traveled to Lawrence
on October 30, 2003, to attend the "Stress Proteins and Chaperones in
Medicine and Biology" workshop. The NIH COBRE Center in Protein Structure
and Function sponsored the event at the Higuchi Biosciences Center on the
University of Kansas campus.
Researchers began focusing on
heat shock proteins (HSPs) about 20 years ago. Heat shock proteins, also called
stress
proteins, are a group of proteins that are present in all cells in
all life forms. They are induced when a cell undergoes various types of
environmental stresses like heat, cold, treatment with drugs or chemicals, or
oxygen deprivation. Heat shock proteins are also present in cells under
perfectly normal conditions. They act as ‘chaperones,’ making sure that the
cell's proteins are in the correct 3-D shape for biological activity. Heat
shock proteins also appear to play various roles in cancer and immune
responses.
"The workshop succeeded
because we had national speakers and a large number of attendees who are
experts in the field," said co-organizer Brian Blagg, KU assistant
professor in medicinal chemistry. - Cynthia Beall