Chair : Yonghwan Kim, Ph.D. (Sookmyung Women's University, Korea)

Chair : Taesoo Kim, Ph.D. (Ewha Womans University, Korea)

Chair : Yoon Ki Kim (Korea University, Korea)

Organizer & Chair : Kyung-Hee Chun, Ph.D. (Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Korea)

Five outstanding speakers have been recommended by each biological society in New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and India. The speakers will discuss their recent findings on the diverse aspects of molecular and cellular biology, ranging from the biochemical bases underlying photosynthesis to the epigenetic regulation during development. Given living organisms have evolved with genetic diversity, this special session adds a unique atmosphere to the 2016 conference of the KSMCB to strengthen our understanding of Nature, and enrich our experience at the meeting.

Since the advent of next-generation sequencing (i.e., whole genome sequencing), transposable elements have been noticed because of their tremendous copies in various eukaryotic genomes. Transposable elements have shown a variety of impacts on their host genomes, especially genomic variations. Recently, many molecular biologists are interested in transposable element's field. Recent research of transposable elements in the eukaryotic genomes provides a glimpse into their diversity and strong influence on the overall differences in genomic architecture between different lineages. In addition, transposable elements are very useful as biomarkers.

Organizer & Chair : Heui-Soo Kim, Ph.D. (Pusan National University, Korea)

Insulin resistance is the most important phenomenon in various metabolic disorders including type 2 diabetes and obesity. Many inflammatory cytokines, fatty acids and stress conditions trigger changes of intracellular signaling proteins in metabolic cells and affect the sensitivity of the insulin action on the glucose uptake and modulation. In this symposium current trend of the research area including the roles of intercellular factors and intracellular proteins on the diseases will be covered from fundamental concept to clinical relation.

Co-Organizers : Sung Ho Ryu, Ph.D. (Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Korea)                 Chair : Sung Ho Ryu, Ph.D. (Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Korea)

Intra- and intercellular protein trafficking is recently revisited by many evidences that cannot be explained by classical principles of cell biology. Especially, various secretion pathways have been identified beyond the conventional ER-Golgi secretion pathway. The unconventional trafficking pathways, which deliver cytoplasmic and nuclear proteins as well as membrane proteins to the extracellular space, not only aim to drain unnecessary proteins off but also induce proliferation, differentiation, and death in neighboring cells. In this symposium, speakers introduce their latest studies on unconventional protein trafficking by exosomes and tunneling naotubes, in addition to cell penetrating proteins. The studies not only focus to molecular mechanisms but also highlight the physiological consequences of the protein trafficking. The audience would have an opportunity to revise their understanding to protein trafficking in multicellular organisms.

Co-Organizers & Chairs : Jin Woo Kim, Ph.D. (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea)

Understanding how cellular and synaptic mechanisms within neural circuits produce behavior is a fundamental goal of science. To achieve that goal, we need deep appreciation of behavior as well as a detailed knowledge of the underlying underpinnings. Pioneering scientists have established the related fields of behavioral genetics and neural plasticity toward genuine secrets of animal behaviors including learning and memory and emotion. These two approaches have recently been combined unprecedentedly, effectively fuelled by powerful new technical tools such as optogenetics. At this symposium, leading researchers studying neural circuit and plasticity will present exciting new results and prompt better understanding for how neural circuits may mediate behavior.

Organizer & Chair : Joung-Hun Kim, Ph.D. (Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Korea)

Cell division is often accompanied with cell differentiation. It is believed that cell division is necessary for proper gene expression during differentiation. In this session, we will discuss what have been known about the importance of cell division for diverse differentiation process.

Organizer & Chair : Kunsoo Rhee, Ph.D. (Seoul National University, Korea)

Primary cilia are near-ubiquitous sensory organelles, detecting chemical and mechanical stimuli from the environment. Moreover, primary cilia modulate the activity of several signaling pathways that play key roles in embryonic development and adult homeostasis. Accordingly, defects in the formation or function of primary cilia are associated with a wide range of genetic disorders collectively called the ciliopathies. This symposium will address the current status and future directions of cilia research.

Organizer & Chair : Joon Kim, Ph.D. (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea)

The regulation of cell cycle is a key mechanism in monitoring the ordered set of events, culminating in cell growth and division into two daughter cells, and places where errors can lead to cancer. In order to design better therapies that effectively treat cancer, it is essential to decipher the molecular and biological details of pathways that control the cell cycle in normal cells and thereafter understand how they become aberrant in cancer. However, the explosion of our understanding of cell cycle control during the last two decades has not uncovered models for many different types of disease. In this session, we will assemble latest studies focusing on the molecular insights into cell cycle-related pathogenesis and therapeutics, and aim to understand the molecular grounds for how the cell cycle control has advantage in preventing the development of diseases. These efforts would lead us to explore defective cellular physiology in pathogenesis, and thereby to facilitate developing therapeutic interventions targeting cell cycle.

Organizer & Chair : Chang-Woo Lee, Ph.D. (Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Korea)

Epigenetics/Epigenomics is defined as a research area to study the dynamic regulation of post-translational modifications of histone and DNA on chromatin and their global network with all the chromatin machineries involved in transcription, splicing, DNA damage, and replication. In this session, five distinguished speakers will discuss the advanced epigenetic researches which applied for elucidating the cellular processes in development and human diseases.

Organizer & Chair : Hong-Duk Youn, Ph.D. (Seoul National University, Korea)

Where and how is memory stored in the brain? With the advent of modern technology such as molecular and cellular biology, electrophysiology, imaging and optogenetics, neuroscience researches have now focused on memory traces or engrams in rodent models. The term engram, first coined by Richard Semon is defined as a group of neurons and their connections that are engaged in encoding a specific memory. Engram cells that encode engrams are thought to undergo enduring physicochemical changes during learning and their reactivation leads to memory recollection. All the speakers invited in this symposium are leading neuroscientists in the field of learning and memory. Dr. Silva will cover how the engrams encoding different episodes are associated temporally. Dr. Josselyn will describe diverse engram cells and their local circuits in the amygdala. Dr. Han will discuss how engram cells are recruited by fear conditioning and reactivated by cues. Dr. Kaang will talk about the connectivity of engram cells.

Organizer & Chair : Bong-Kiun Kaang, Ph.D. (Seoul National University, Korea)

Unpresented amount of personal genomics data derived from both healthy and disease populations become a promising resource for discovery in human disease research. For example, GWAS has identified more than 10,000 disease-associated genomic loci in human, and advanced NGS technology has already revealed numerous patient-specific genetic variants. However, genotype-based prediction of disease states is still challenging, due to the high heterogeneity in phenotypic effect of the variants. Cellular pathways can provide conceptual interface in which heterogeneous genomics data can be integrated, filling the gap between genome and phenome. This symposium will highlight latest efforts in pathway and network analysis of disease genomics data to understand how personal genetic variation impact on diseases and treatments, which is critical for precision medicine.

Organizer & Chair :　Insuk Lee, Ph.D. (Yonsei University, Korea)

In multicellular organisms, stem cell exhibits the pluripotency to develop into many cell types in different tissues during early life and growth, and possesses the ability to maintain its identity as a stem cell. In contrast to animals, plants go through post-embryonic development to form new organs, replenish the loss of cells, or survive from environmental stresses, for which meristematic cells (plant stem cells) in apical meristems and vascular cambium are absolutely required throughout the plant life cycle. In these meristems, robust regulatory networks keep the balance between differentiation toward descendant cells and proliferation/maintenance of stem cells, but the most of molecular genetic controls of cell fate are still remained to be explored. Various aspect of signaling initiated from diverse ligand-membrane receptors which orchestrate cell fate decision and its comparative aspect in multicellular organisms will be presented.

Organizer & Chair : Ildoo Hwang, Ph.D. (Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Korea)

Phosphoinositides are acidic phospholipids of cell membranes with myo-inositol in the head group. The parent compound phosphatidylinositol (PI) can become phosphorylated on the 3, 4, and 5 positions of the inositol ring in every combination, giving rise to the seven low-abundance polyphosphoinositides. These lipids, found primarily in the cytoplasmic leaflet, mark the identity of specific subcellular membrane compartments, serve as membrane recognition sites for specific cytoplasmic proteins, and act as membrane-delimited second messengers modulating the activities of some membrane proteins. Here we consider the recent developments in different areas related to the regulation of phosphoinositide metabolism and their role in health and disease.

Organizer & Chair : Byung-Chang Suh, Ph.D. (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST), Korea)

Autophagy is an intracellular lysosomal pathway that degrades and recycles protein aggregates and damaged organelles to maintain /sustain energy homeostasis during various stress situations. Recent studies have identified new functions and molecular mechanisms through which autophagy regulates intracellular homeostasis and pathogenesis in diseased conditions. Autophagy is required not only for standard functions of degrading intracellular organelles and aggregated proteins, but also for prevention and therapeutics against neurodegenerative, inflammatory, and infectious diseases. In this session, we will discuss the novel roles and molecular mechanisms of autophagy in regulating physiology and its contribution to disease prevention/inhibition. Our increased understanding of the roles of autophagy in pathophysiology of diseases will bring into light new possibilities for the treatment of diseases.

Organizer & Chair : Eun-Kyeong Jo, M.D., Ph.D. (Chungnam National University School of Medicine, Korea)

Cancer is an aggressive and severe disease with a poor clinical outcome. The tumor microenvironment is created by the tumor and dominated by various tumor-induced interactions, such as inhibition of immune cell functions, apoptosis of anti-tumor effector cells, alterations in tumor cell metabolism and expansion of cancer stem cells, which are accomplished through the activation of one or several molecular mechanisms. Cancer cell metabolism is characterized by an enhanced uptake and utilization of glucose, a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect. The persistent activation of aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells can be linked to activation of oncogenes or loss of tumor suppressors, thereby fundamentally advancing tumor progression. In this session, we will talk about recent advances in understanding cellular and molecular pathways operating in the tumor microenvironment and emerging therapeutic strategies to block tumor progression.

Organizer & Chair : Yun-Han Lee, Ph.D. (Keimyung University College of Medicine, Korea)

Fibrogenesis is highly dynamic processes at molecular, cellular, and tissue levels, characterized by excessive deposition of extracellular matrix, resulting from prolonged stress-induced inflammation and sustained cytokine activation of myofibroblasts. Since fibrosis can lead to further serious diseases like cancer, the mechanistic regulation of organ fibrosis would be clinically beneficial.

Organizer & Chair : Jung Weon Lee, Ph.D. (Seoul National University, Korea)

Metabolic syndrome and its affiliated diseases are a severe health problem in human and it will get more attention in the future since the incidence of obesity is growing. The metabolic syndrome includes abdominal obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia and is linked to insulin resistance and the development of diabetes mellitus as well as to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. In this symposium, the members of KSMCB and MNUMS will present and discuss about their research interest (especially focus on the metabolic syndrome and cancer) and provide the opportunity for sharing the idea and developing the collaborative projects in both institution.

Organizer & Chair : Jongsun Park, Ph.D. (Chungnam National University, Korea)

In this session, we focus on a few recent findings in elucidating the aging process. Lifespan extension is now linked to enhancement of processes including detoxification, proteostasis, autophagy, and stem cell function, as well as extracellular matrices. Knowledge of ageing will help intervention of a variety of age-related diseases such as metabolic disease, immune and cognitive declines.

Organizer & Chair : Ki-sun Kwon, Ph.D. (Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Korea)

Big Data analytic tools are invaluable for extracting meaningful information from microbiome data to provide new solution to global health problems. This session will highlight how the gut microbiota shapes intestinal immune responses during health and disease. Several example should provide detail on the symbiotic relationship between a mammalian host and its microbiota.

Organizer & Chair : Regis Grailhe, Ph.D. (Institut Pasteur Korea, Korea)

The growth and metastatic potential of cancer cells are influenced by various neighbouring cells that comprise the so-called "tumor microenvironment". Therefore, the precise understanding of interactions between cancer cells and surrounding environment is very essential for the discovery of novel anticancer targets and development of efficient therapeutic and preventive strategies. The concept that the microenvironment of developing tumor is a crucial regulator of carcinogenesis was originally proposed by Paget in his famous 'seed-and-soil' hypothesis. Recently much attention has focused on tumor microenvironment as an integral and essential part of cancer treatment and prevention. This symposium will highlight the cellular heterogeneity in the tumor microenvironment niches as a potential cancer therapeutic and preventive target.

Organizer : Young-Joon Surh, Ph.D. (Seoul National University, Korea)
Co-Chairs : Young-Joon Surh, Ph.D. (Seoul National University, Korea)
Hasan Mukhtar, Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin–Madison ,USA)

The Hippo pathway is an evolutionarily conserved signaling pathway involved in many aspects of development. New roles of the Hippo pathway and new players are being added by recent research progress.

Organizer & Chair : Junho Lee, Ph.D. (Seoul National University, Korea)

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