Please visit the web site for more information: https://nankaienzyme.org
Dear Colleagues:
On behalf of the Organizing Committee, we are delighted to invite you to attend the Second International Symposium on Nucleic Acid Enzymes and Enzymes in Human Disease, to be held at Nankai University, Tianjin, China from June 19 to 24, 2011.
Enzymes are essential for living organisms. Their function and dysfunction directly impact on human health and disease. Nucleic acid enzymes marked all the major milestones in molecular biology and the key discoveries have led to several Nobel Prize laureates: restriction enzymes for recombinant DNA technology, DNA polymerases for DNA replication, RNA reverse transcriptase for oncogenesis, and telomerase for chromosome stability, among others. Our symposium, first time held in Dalian, China, 2008, will mainly focus on enzymes involved in DNA replication, transcription, recombination, repair, restriction and modification, mobility, and epigenetic regulation. Other critical enzymes for human disease, such as protein kinases and proteases, will also be covered. We wish to bring biologists, chemists, physicists, and structure biologists in the study of enzyme structure, function/mechanisms, and de novo design plus clinical scientists together to present and discuss the recent exciting progresses in studies of enzymes involved in human disease and diagnostic applications. By Drs. Han, Xu, Zhu, Hong
June 19 afternoon, Registration
June 19 evening
Opening remark by Dr. Jihong Han.
Welcome remark by Professor Boqin Qiang* (session chair)
Dr. Zixin Deng, Keynote speech (45 + 10 min)
“DNA modification by sulfur: new progress and perspectives”
Talks: 20 + 5 min
June 20: Enzyme involved in DNA replication, gene transcription, DNA recombination, repair, and mobility
Morning session (*session co-chair)
Dr. Binghui Shen*
“Post-translational modifications program nuclease activities”
Dr. Jianhua Liu
"C-terminus of RNase HII from Chlamydia pneumoniae: the regulator to cleave DNA-RNA-DNA/DNA chimeric substrate containing a ribonucleotide"
Dr. Gianluca Tell*
“New insights into the unusual DNA repair protein APE1 and implications for cancer”
(20 min tea break)
Dr. Makkuni Jayaram*
“Mechanism and stereochemistry of tyrosine family site-specific recombination”
Dr. Tapas K. Hazra
“Preferential repair of oxidative damage in the transcribing regions of mammalian genomes”.
Dr. Rabindra Roy
"Base Excision Repair of endogenous DNA damage in mammalian cells."
Afternoon session
Dr. Yun-Gui Yang*
“Functional diversity of human AlkB dioxygenease homologues”
Dr. Danxu Liu
“Transposition of the resurrected Human Hsmar1 element”
Dr. Xiaolong Wang
“Polymerase-endonuclease Amplification Reaction and its potential applications”
(20 min tea break)
Dr. Weiguo Cao*
“A Multi-Function Enzyme for the Repair of DNA Deamination”
Dr. Xitai Huang
“DNA spiral supercoiling and DNA topoisomerases”
Dr. Shaorong Chong
“PURExpress: reconstituted protein synthesis systems and unique platforms for in vitro protein evolution and engineering”
Evening session: Keynote presentation (7:45 to 8:30 pm)
David Berry, MD, PhD, Partner, Flagship Ventures
“Commercial application of synthetic biology and protein engineering”
Evening poster presentation: June 20, 8:30 to 9:30 pm
June 21. Restriction and modification enzymes
Morning session
Dr. Ichizo Kobayashi*
“Biology of restriction-modification systems”
Dr. Dapeng Sun
“Enzyme conformational flexibility determines substrate specificities” (?)
Dr. Siu-hong Chan
Natural and engineered nicking endonucleases – cleavage mechanism and applications
(20 min tea break)
Dr. Geoff Wilson*
“How Proteins Recognize DNA: Re-assessing the Role of Hydrogen Bonds”
Dr. Sergey Degterev*
“5-methylcytosine-directed site-specific DNA endonucleases and their application
in DNA diagnostics”
Dr. Shuang-yong Xu
“A modification-dependent Type IV restriction enzyme from S. aureus”
Afternoon session
Prof. Boqin Qiang*
“Historical perspective in the discovery of rare cutting restriction enzymes”
Dr. V. Nagaraja*
“Molecular basis for promiscuous vs high fidelity cleavage by R.KpnI”
Dr. Rick Morgan
“Engineering new DNA binding specificity in Type II restriction endonucleases”
(20 min tea break)
Dr. Saulius KLIMASAUSKAS*
(Title to be announced)
Dr. D. N. Rao*
“Changeable Environments put a premium on versatility rather than
perfection in Helicobacter pylori: A curious case of DNA Methyltransferases”
Dr. Elmar Weinhold*
“Synthetic cofactor analogs for labeling methyltransferases and their
substrates”
Evening poster presentation: 8:30 to 9:30 pm
June 22, Epigenetic gene regulation, protein splicing and ligation (inteins), human disease (cancer)
Morning session
Dr. Guoliang Xu*
“Regulation of mammalian DNA methyltransferases”
Dr. Sriharsa Prodhan*
Methyl-phospho switch in epigenetic inheritance
Dr. Woojin An
“Chromatin reprogramming by histone modifications and histone variants”
(20 min tea break)
Dr. Paul (Xiang-Qin) Liu*
"Site-specific labeling and modification of enzyme through protein-peptide ligation."
Dr. Zhong Sheng Guo
“HDAC Inhibitors for Gene Regulation and Cancer Treatment”
Dr. Larry Xi
“A new enzyme system that eliminates primer-dimers formation in PCR”
Afternoon session- session on enzyme structures
Dr. Betty Shen*
“Rare-cutting restriction endonucleases”
Dr. Matthias Bochtler*
“New restriction enzyme structures”
Dr. Yanxiang Zhao
“Structure of the Myb domain of T. Brucei Telomere Repeat Binding Factor and
its function in VSG regulation”
(20 min tea break)
Dr. Pang-Chui Shaw*
“Structure of maize ribosome-inactivating protein, an RNA N-glycosidase and
the engineering of this protein for anti-human immunodeficiency virus”
Dr. Jacky C.K. Ngo
“Structural and functional studies of SR protein kinase 2 - A key factor in the
regulation of pre-mRNA splicing”
Dr. Kam-bo Wong
Structures of H. pylori urease activation factors, and their roles in urease maturation".
Evening session: Enzymes in biotechnology applications, life in hot springs
Dr. Ming-qun Xu*
“Live cell analysis of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) by site-specific labeling of a SNAP tag with a fluorescent probe”
Dr. Kuo-Long Lou
“More possibilities of membrane permeation for antimicrobial peptides investigated with biophysical methods”
Dr. Jian-He Xu*
“Finding Robust Enzymes for Production of Industrial Chemicals
Dr. Lianbing Lin
“Thermus bacteriophages from Tengchong hot springs in Yunnan Province and their genomic characterization”
June 23. Enzyme in disease; enzyme mechanism, enzyme in biotechnology applications
Morning session
Dr. Yan Zhu*
“cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) in cardiovascular health and disease”
Dr. Carmay Lim*
“Factors controlling the reactivity of Zinc finger cores”
Dr. Yongming Bao
“Mannanase from basophilia bacteria”(?)
Dr. Ping Xu
"The useful source of enzymes related in biodegadation of S/N/O environmental toxicants".
(20 min tea break)
Dr. Jihong Han*
Title to be announced
Dr. Nigel Richards*
Asparagine Biosynthesis and Asparaginase-Resistant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Structure-Based Methods for Inhibitor Discovery
Dr. Vahe Bandarian
"Biosynthesis of 7-deazapurines one step at a time"
Conclusion remarks by the organizing committee members
Selection of a conference site for next enzyme conference?
June 23 afternoon, city tour
June 23 evening, party
June 24, departure
