W.H.A.T.

December 2014

We received two messages with updates on the events planned for 2015.

Gert Lubec informed us that the website for the 14th International Congress on Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins can be found on the following link: http://www.meduniwien.ac.at/icaap/. More information will be available soon.

Enzo Agostinelli sent us the Second Announcement about the biannual 14th International Congress on Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins, to be be held in Vienna, Austria, on August 3rd-8th 2015.

Steven Holshouser sent us the 2015 Polyamins Gordon Research Conference announcement, together with link to the Conference, http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?id=11973 and to the Gordon Research Seminar "Role of Polyamines in Biology and Disease", http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?id=14153.

November 2014

Please find enclosed the Second Announcement for the Section Transglutaminases of the 14th International Congress of Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins. "Transglutaminases" - Vienna, August 3rd to 7th, 2015

Yours sincerely

S.Beninati and M.Piacentini

November 2014

Dear Polyaminers, Dear Young Scientists, Dearest Friends,
I wish to remind you all that the multidisciplinary biannual 14th International Congress on Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins, will be held in Vienna, Austria, on August 3rd-8th 2015.
The meeting includes a Session on POLYAMINES. For more information please read the announcement file.

GRC/GRS on June 2015

I'm looking to seeing you ALL first at the GRC and then in Wien.
Best Regards,
Enzo

Enzo Agostinelli Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli"
"SAPIENZA" University of Rome
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma
Phone: +39 0649910838
Fax: +39 064440062
mail to: enzo.agostinelli@uniroma1.it

October 2014

Dear colleagues,
please find enclosed the first announcement of the Transglutaminases Section of the 14th International Congress on Amino Acids, peptides and Proteins.
Yours Sincerely

Simone Beninati Ph.D.
Field Editor of "Amino Acids" by Springer Verlag
Click here for the announcement.

June 2014

Third International Conference on Polyamines: Biochemical, Physiological and Clinical Perspectives

May 2014

14th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON AMINO ACIDS, PEPTIDES AND PROTEINS

May 2014

March 2014

Dear Polyaminers, Dearest Friends,
Sandro and I remind that the Third International Conference on Polyamines: Biochemical, Physiological and Clinical Perspectives will be held in the Itamambuca Eco Resort (www. itamambuca.com.br), Ubatuba-SP-BRAZIL, from August 31st - September 5th, 2014.
The Conference will be organized by Sandro R. Valentini (Sao Paulo State University - UNESP, Brazil) and Enzo Agostinelli (SAPIENZA University of Rome, Italy).
We are submitting applications for raising funds for having an interesting conference.
The WEBPAGE to calculate your registration fee, avoiding mistakes, is ready.
Abstract can be submitted starting from March 1st until May 15th, 2014. Abstracts will be ONLY accepted upon the payment of the Registration Fee.
The WEBPAGE of the meeting is: www.fcfar.unesp.br/polyamines2014brazil with all the information available: deadline, registration fee, abstract submission, posters, Conference Center and accommodation, how to reach Itamanbuca Eco Resort and so on. In making your registration, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us:
e-mails: Enzo enzo.agostinelli@uniroma1.it
Sandro valentsr@fcfar.unesp.br


IMPORTANT NEWS:
We are pleased to inform you ALL that your article published on Amino Acids Special Issue is now available on SpringerLink.
Volume 46, Issue 3, March 2014
Polyamines and Transglutaminases: Biological, Clinical and Biotechnological Perspectives
ISSN: 0939-4451 (Print) 1438-2199 (Online)

We are looking to seeing you ALL in Brazil, next August.
Best Regards,

Sandro/Enzo

Enzo Agostinelli Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli"
"SAPIENZA" University of Rome
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma
Phone: +39 0649910838
Fax: +39 064440062
mail to: enzo.agostinelli@uniroma1.it
WEBSITE Brazil meeting : www.fcfar.unesp.br/polyamines2014brazil

November 2013

Third International Conference on Polyamines:
Biochemical, Physiological and Clinical Perspectives

August 31st - September 5th, 2014, Ubatuba-SP-BRAZIL

For more information please contact:

Enzo Agostinelli
Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli"
"SAPIENZA" University of Rome
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma, Italy
Phone: +39 0649910838
Fax: +39 064440062
mail to: enzo.agostinelli@uniroma1.it

October 2013

International Factor XIII Symposium

The announcement of IFXIIIS 2014 in Vienna

Dear Friends:

We are very glad that we can announce the annual International Factor XIII Symposium in Vienna, Austria, on February 12 Wednesday, 2014, through the courtesy of Prof. Kurt Huber, the president of the 58th GTH meeting (http://www.gth2014.org/index.php?id=2). As usual, we will stick to the "traditional" conditions offered by the president. That includes waiver of registration for the participants who only join IFXIIIS.
(Participants visiting the IFXIIIS 2014 only are permitted free access. Any participant who wants to stay longer for another GTH session needs to pay the congress registration fee.)

Looking forward to meeting you in Vienna, soon.

Chairmen of IFXIIIS
Prof. Aki Ichinose,
Prof. Hans Kohler

------------------------
The program of the the IFXIIIS 2014 in Vienna

Venue: Hofburg Congress Center, Heldenplatz 1010, Vienna, Austria
www.hofburg.com
Date: Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Time: 09:00–12:00
Room: Forum

Title: "Recent Advances in Molecular Pathogenesis of FXIII-related Diseases"
Chairs: A. Ichinose (Yamagata, JP), H.-P. Kohler (Bern, CH)

1) Need for Recommendations for Diagnosis of Congenital FXIII Deficiency in Countries with Limited Resources
by Verena Schroeder, Kohler HP (Bern Univ. Hospital, CH).

2) Alloantibody in a FXIII-A Deficient Patient with Fatal Outcome; Characterization of the Antibody
by Laszlo Muszbek, Pénzes K, Vezina C, Bereczky Z, Katona É, Rivard GE (Univ. Debrecen, Hungary; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Canada)

3) FXIII Overexpression in Partial Trisomies
by Alessandro Castiglione, Guaran V, Astolfi L, Orioli E, Zeri G, Gemmati D, Bovo R, Montaldi A, Alghisi A, Martini A (Padua University Hospital, Italy)

4) Sushi Domains: Not Only a Complement Protein Domain
by Arijit Biswas (Bonn Univ., Germany)

5) Molecular Studies on Acquired Hemorrhaphilia Due to Anti-FXIII Autoantibodies (AH13)
by Akitada Ichinose, Souri M, Osaki T, Sugiyama D, Magari Y (Yamagata Univ.; Q-may, Japan)

6) Tocilizumab Induced Acquired FXIII Deficiency in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
by Sho Mokuda, Murata Y, Sawada N, Matoba K, Yamada A, Onishi M, Okuda Y, Jouyama K, Sugiyama E, Takasugi K (Hiroshima University Hospital, Japan)

7) The Functions of FXIII in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (tentative title)
by Christoffer Søndergaard, Kvist PH, Seidelin JB, Nielsen OH (Herlev Hospital, Denmark)

8) FXIII and Urticaria: a Novel Mechanism in the Pathogenesis?
by Paulo Ricardo Criado (Sao Paulo University, Brazil)

9) Fibrin Matrices, FXIII and Tissue Factor Effects on in Early-term Trophoblast Proliferation and Spreading
by Benjamin Brenner, Snir A, Paz B, Ohel G, Lanir N (Bnai-Zion Medical Center; Israel Institute of Technology, Israel)

10) Multiple Ligands of von Willebrand Factor-binding Protein (vWbp) Promote Staphylococcus aureus Clot Formation in Human Plasma
by Dominique Missiakas, Thomer L, Schneewind O (Univ. Chicago, USA)

11) FXIII-A in Energy Metabolism
by Mari Kaartinen (MacGill Univ., Canada)

12) Oxidative Modification of Fibrinogen and Plasma Fibrin-stabilizing Factor
by Anna V Bychkova, Mark A. Rosenfeld, Shchegolikhin AN, Leonova VB, Biryukova MI, Kostanova EA (N.M. Emanuel Institute of Biochemical Physics, Russia)

13) Methodological Considerations of Working with FXIII and Fibrinogen
by Helen Philippou, Ariëns RA (Univ. Leeds, UK)

--------------------------
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us
(mailing address: aichinos@med.id.yamagata-u.ac.jp).

June 2013

Third International Conference on Polyamines – 2014 Ubatuba-Brazil

June 2013

Highlight Article

March 2013

Dear Friends,

we have received from Prof. Mauro Piacentini interesting news regarding the next GRC Conference entitled:

Transglutaminases in Human Disease Processes
Molecular Dissection of Human Diseases Pathogenesis
June 29 - July 4, 2014, Lucca (Barga), Italy
Chair: Mauro Piacentini
Vice Chair: Timothy Johnson

For further information please visit: http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?year=2014&program=transgluta

February 2013

We are glad to present here the message received by Prof. Laszlo Lorand.

Date:	11/02/2013

Dear Francesco and Angelo: I find that a movie file I sent as a keynote address to a thrombosis meeting last Sept is now on youtube with the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VllG9H_dO7c
Perhaps, it may be of interest to some of your readers. With kind regards and best wishes, Laszlo

Laszlo Lorand
Professor emeritus
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology
Distinguished Investigator
Feinberg Cardiovascular Research Institute
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

December 2012

---------------------------------------------
Dear Friends:

We are very glad that we can announce the annual International Factor XIII Symposium

in Munich, Germany, on February 20, 2013, through the courtesy of Prof.

Dr. Michael Spannagl, the president of the 57th GTH meeting (http://www.gth2013.org/).

As usual, we will stick to the "traditional" conditions offered by the president. That

includes waiver of registration for the participants who only join IFXIIIS.

Looking forward to meeting you in Munich soon.


Chairman of IFXIIIS
Prof. Aki Ichinose,
Prof. Hans Kohler

------------------------
The final program of our IFXIIISW
Venue: Munich/Germany
ICM-International Congress Center Munich
Messe München GmbH
Messegelände
81823 Munich/Germany

Wednesday, 20 February 2013
13:00–15:30
Room 04
WS03
International Workshop on FXIII: The Frontier Topics in the FXIII Science
Chairs:
A. Ichinose (Yamagata, JP)
H.-P. Kohler (Bern, CH)

Part I. Basic Science
WS03-1
Proteome level identification of coagulation factor XIII substrates
C.-K. Nikolajsen (Aarhus, DK)
WS03-2
The Activation Peptide Cleft of FXIII-A2* is a Major Substrate Recognition domain
K. Smith (Leeds, UK)
WS03-3
Phosphorylation of macrophage Factor XIII-A – a novel mechanism of intracellular transglutaminase activation?
P. Cordell (Leeds, UK)
WS03-4
What can we learn about FXIII through in vivo models?
R. Ariens (Leeds, UK)
H. Philippou (Leeds, UK)
WS03-5
A novel function of Factor XIII-A on nerve regeneration
K. Sugitani (Kanazawa, JP)

Part II. Clinical Science
WS03-6
34 Japanese cases with Autoimmune Hemorrhaphilia XIII/13 (AH13) in comparison with 28 non-Japanese cases
A. Ichinose (Yamagata, JP)
WS03-7
FXIIIa generation test
J. Dodt (Langen, DE)
WS03-8
Potential pathophysiological role of factor XIII in spontaneous chronic subdural haematoma
B. Bosche (Essen, DE)
WS03-9
FXIII levels and FXIII activation in patients with cerebral artery dissection
H.-P. Kohler (Bern, CH)
V. Schroder (Bern, CH)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us (mailing address: aichinos@med.id.yamagata-u.ac.jp).

November 2012

Galveston-Texas (USA), October 5th to 7th, 2013

Dear Polyaminers, Dearest friends:
Here please find the 1st annoucement of the 13th International Conference on Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins (ICAPP). The Conference will be held on October 5th to 7th, 2013 at Galveston, Texas, USA.
The meeting includes a Polyamine session that will be organized by Pat Woster and Enzo Agostinelli. Deadline for registration, abstract submission and other news are in the announcement.
Please don't hesitate to contact us if you need any help or more information.
We are looking forward to meeting you all in Texas on October 2013.
Sincerely yours,

Pat & Enzo

Enzo Agostinelli Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli"
SAPIENZA University of Rome
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma
ITALY
Phone: +39 0649910838
Fax: +39 064440062
mail to: enzo.agostinelli@uniroma1.it

September 2012

This is the message received by Myung Hee Park concerning the Memorial service for Dr. Soo Il Chung

From: mpark@dir.nidcr.nih.gov
Sent: 26/09/2012 12.16
Subject: FW: Memorial service for Dr. Soo Il Chung, an announcement from family


I am forwarding an announcement e-mail from Carolyn Chung (Dr. Chung's daughter).
I just like to add Mrs. Chung's e-mail, yoomie_chung@yahoo.com for those who wish to express condolence 
and that it is Chung family wish that no (more) flowers be sent.

Thank you very much and Best wishes,

Myung Hee Park

________________________________________
From: Carolyn Chung [kaegoo@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 5:24 PM
To: Park, Myung Hee (NIH/NIDCR) [E]
Subject: Memorial service for Dr. Soo Il Chung

Hi,
Could you please forward this to those who may be interested?
Thank you,
Carolyn


*************************************************************************************************************
To all our friends and family,

My father passed away this past Saturday due to unexpected
complications while he was recovering from an open heart surgery.  He
made it through an 11 hour surgery and was recovering well when he had
an acute and sudden decline most likely due to a blood clot.   We miss
him dearly and thank God for all 78 years he was with us.  We are so
appreciative for all of your love, thoughts, and prayers during this
difficult time.

His memorial service will be held on:

Monday, October 1st at 8pm at
The Korean United Methodist Church
1219 Swinks Mill Rd.
McLean, VA 22102
http://www.kumcgw.org/

Reception to follow.

Any correspondence with the family can be sent to:
6839 Old Stage Rd.
Rockville, MD 20852

A brief memory of his life is below:

Soo Il Chung

Soo Il Chung died from complications from a heart condition in
Bethesda, Maryland last Saturday.  He was born in 1934 in Seoul, South
Korea. He attended Seoul National University then emigrated to the
United States in 1955 where he obtained his Bachelor’s degree from
Hillsdale college in Michigan.  He later attended graduate school at
Vanderbilt University where he acquired a PhD in the field of
Biochemistry.  It was during graduate school that he met his wife,
Yoomie, whom he married June 30, 1968.

He had an extremely distinguished career in biomedical research.  He
worked for over 20 years at the National Institutes of Health in
Bethesda, Maryland and authored numerous impactful journal articles in
immunology, microbiology, and cancer research.  In 1995, he moved back
to South Korea to care for his ailing mother.  He continued his
research career in South Korea at the Mogam Research Institute and
Kangneung National University.  He later served as editor of several
biomedical journals and mentored numerous young scientists during the
course of his career.

While he had an undying passion for his research, his true love was
his family.  He worked extremely hard to provide opportunities for his
children and inspired all three of them to pursue graduate degrees in
the sciences.  He doted on his four grandsons -Carson, Bradley,
Nicholas, and Jay.  His devotion to his wife was endless, and he was
never far from her side.

Dr. Chung is survived by his wife, Yoomie; daughter Carolyn, and sons
Edward and Daniel.  He was a dedicated scientist, devoted husband,
caring father, and loving grandfather. 

August 2012

Dear Friends,

you will find enclosed in a forthcoming special issue on transglutaminases "Transglutaminases: Future Perspectives" edited by S. Beninati, F. Facchiano and M. Piacentini published by Springer Verlag on Amino Acids an In Memoriam for a Master of Science Jack Folk (In memoriam: John E. Folk (1925-2010). Beninati S, Park MH, Wolff E, Fésüs L, Abbruzzese A, Chung SI, Carmassi F, Cocuzzi E, Trawick ML, Piacentini M.Amino Acids. 2012 Jul 31.PMID:22847781.

Since I believe Jack was for most of us an important part of our scientific life, this "in memoriam" is a simple way to say thank you to a man whom life was dedicated to science.

Simone Beninati

July 2012

We inform all the scientists that will attend the Conference in Istanbul (Turkey), that a volume on "Polyamines and TGase" will be published as Special Issue in Amino Acids, edited by Prof. Palavan-Unsal and I.

Therefore, we invite you all to submit an article, mini-review or an original manuscript. A tentative DEADLINE for manuscripts submission is: FEBRUARY the 28th, 2013

All details will be discussed during the Istanbul's meeting.

At present, please only submit a tentative title for planning the issue. We are looking forward to meeting you all at the Istanbul Polyamines meeting, on September 2012.
Sincerely yours,

Narcin and Enzo

Enzo Agostinelli Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli"
SAPIENZA University of Rome
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma
ITALY
Phone: +39 0649910838
Fax: +39 064440062
mail to: enzo.agostinelli@uniroma1.it

May 2012

Dear Colleagues,

the 7th Biennial Symposium on Polyamines in Parasites will be held at Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon on July 10th to 13th.
Please visit our website: http://commons.pacificu.edu/pip/

Registration deadline is May 22nd.
A limited number of stipends for students are available.
Please contact Sigrid Roberts at sroberts@pacificu.edu for more information.

Dear Polyaminers, Dearest friends:
The International Congress on Polyamines Biological and Clinical Perspectives will be held in Istanbul (TURKEY), September 2nd to 7th, 2012. The meeting will be organized by Narcin Palavan-Unsal, E. Damla Arisan and Enzo Agostinelli.
As requested,

The NEW DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION AND REGISTRATION FEE IS MAY 24th, 2012

We are looking forward to meeting you all at the Istanbul Polyamines meeting, on September 2012.

Sincerely yours,

Narcin, Damla and Enzo

Dear Polyaminers, Dearest friends:

The International Congress on Polyamines Biological and Clinical Perspectives will be held in Istanbul (TURKEY), September 2nd to 7th, 2012. The meeting will be organized by Narcin Palavan-Unsal, E. Damla Arisan and Enzo Agostinelli.

ABSTRACTS WILL BE ACCEPTED UPON THE PAYMENT OF THE REGISTRATION FEE

If you need any help or more information as concerns the abstract or the registration fee, please don't hesitate to contact us or visit our Website:

http://www.polyamineistanbul2012.org/
We are looking forward to meeting you all at the Istanbul Polyamines meeting, on September 2012.

Sincerely yours,

Narcin, Damla and Enzo

Enzo Agostinelli Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli"
SAPIENZA University of Rome
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma
ITALY
Phone: +39 0649910838
Fax: +39 064440062
mail to: enzo.agostinelli@uniroma1.it

Please see the Congress Poster !

April 2012

Transglutaminases in Human Disease Processes

Please note that:
* online application to apply for this conference will close in first week of June, 2012.
* All accepted applicants, including Invited Speakers and Discussion Leaders, must complete registration online.
Links: Web Site | Online Application | RSS Feed | Site Information
If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact Amanda Nowicki (anowicki@grc.org), the Conference Operations Associate for this meeting.

February 2012

Message from Prof. Enzo Agostinelli

Dear Polyaminers, Dearest friends:

First of all I wish to thank you all for your great support in our activities. Please read very careful important news reported below.

As promised in my last e-mail, I'm pleased to inform you that the special issue on Polyamines and Transglutaminases, edited by Prof. Igarashi and myself, was released for online publication on January 20th, 2012. Since we have more pages, issues 42_2 and 42_3 (February 2012) will be combined and published for Polyamines and Transglutaminases special issue. Please read the web page with all the articles (n. 62) of our Special Issue. Thank you very much again for your great contribution.

The International Congress on Polyamines Biological and Clinical Perspectives will be held in Istanbul (TURKEY), September 2nd to 7th, 2012. The meeting will be organized by Narcin Palavan-Unsal, E. Damla Arisan and Enzo Agostinelli

Please submit a tentative title not later than February 10th, 2012
At present, young scientists can submit only their abstracts not later than March 10, 2012
Abstracts will be necessary to the organizing committee to submit applications to get scholarships for young scientists.

Please see the poster file and don't hesitate to contact us if you need any help or more information.
Website is: http://www.polyamineistanbul2012.org/
We are looking forward to meeting you all at the Istanbul Polyamines meeting, on September 2012.

Sincerely yours,
Narcin, Damla and Enzo

Enzo Agostinelli Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli"
SAPIENZA University of Rome
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma
ITALY
Phone: +39 0649910838
Fax: +39 064440062
mail to: enzo.agostinelli@uniroma1.it

January 2012

Message from Prof. Kapil Mehta

Dear Francisco -
Wish you a very Happy and productive New Year.
We are gearing for the next GRC meeting in July. We are optimistic that the meeting will be very exciting and interactive and will bring forward various new avenues in the filed. We need to start recruiting people to attend the meeting by announcing it. Can you include the attached to WHAT site and send out mass email to let them know about it. Thanks and looking forward to see in July.

Kapil

Click here for the attached message.

December 2011

Message from Prof. Enzo Agostinelli

Dear Polyaminers, Dearest friends:

First of all I wish to thank you for your great support in our activities, wishing you all, and your families, all the best for the festive season and a Happy and Flourishing New Year, 2012

The second issue of 2012 will be a special issue on Polyamines and Transglutaminases. Since we have more pages, issues 42_2 and 42_3 (February 2012) will be combined and published for Polyamines and Transglutaminases special issue. The issue will be released for online publication by the mid of January 2012. Please find in attachment the Editorial of the issue: thank you very much for your great contribution.

The International Congress on Polyamines Biological and Clinical Perspectives will be held in Istanbul (TURKEY), September 2nd to 7th, 2012. The meeting will be organized by Narcin Palavan-Unsal, E. Damla Arisan and Enzo Agostinelli

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you need any help or more information. Website is: http://www.polyamineistanbul2012.org/

We are looking forward to meeting you all at the Istanbul Polyamines meeting, on September 2012.

Sincerely yours,

Narcin, Damla and Enzo

Enzo Agostinelli Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli"
SAPIENZA University of Rome
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma
ITALY
Phone: +39 0649910838
Fax: +39 064440062
mail to: enzo.agostinelli@uniroma1.it

December 2011

Message from Prof. Aki Ichinose to the WHAT network

Dear Friends:

We are very glad that we can announce the annual International Factor XIII Symposium in St. Gallen, Switzerland, on February 1, 2012, through the courtesy of Prof. Dr. med. Wolfgang Korte, the president of the 56th GTH meeting (http://www.gth2012.org/).
As usual, we will stick to the "traditional" conditions offered by the president. That includes waiver of registration for the participants who only join IFXIIIS.
Looking forward to meeting you in St. Gallen soon.
<
Best regards,

Chairs of International Factor XIII Symposium

Prof. Akitada Ichinose

Prof. Hans Kohler

The Annual International Factor XIII Symposium/Workshop in 2012 (chaired by Profs. A. Ichinose and H. Kohler)
"The Factor XIII  (FXIII) World: Where the Transglutaminase with a Fabulous Variety of Functions Dominates"
09:45 to 12:45, February 1, 2012,  Halle 9.1.2 (Plenarsaal), Olma Messen, St. Gallen, Switzerland  

I. Introduction to the FXIII World: The Evolution and Functional Differentiation of Transglutaminases
by Akitada Ichinose (Univ. Yamagata, Japan) 

II. Gene Expression and Differentiation: From Bone to Blood
Role of FXIII-A in maintenance of adult bone mass 
by Mari Kaartinen (McGill Univ., Canada)

Factor XIII and bone marrow matrix environment in megakaryocyte 
development 
by Alessandra Balduini (University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy & Tufts 
University, Boston, USA)

Platelet factor XIII gene expression in patients with atrial 
fibrillation. Correlation with arrhythmia and thromboembolic propensity 
(15 min)
by Waldemar E. Wysokinski (Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, MN)

What does FXIII do to platelets? 
by Khalid Naseem (Hull York Medical School, UK)

Possible role of cellular FXIII of the bone marrow-derived cells during 
pregnancy 
by Akitada Ichinose, Masayoshi Souri (Univ. Yamagata, Japan)

III. The Intersection of Coagulation, Fibrinolysis, and Immune Systems
The role of FXIII in pregnancy – only of clinical relevance in severe 
FXIII deficiency? 
by Verena Schroeder, Hans P Kohler (Univ. Bern, Switzerland)

Capturing pathogens by factor XIII - a novel defense mechanism? 
by Heiko Herwald (Lund Univ., Sweden)

Factor XIII B subunit, a Staphylococcus protein A binding protein 
by Adrienne Kerényi, Krisztina Pénzes, Gizella Haramura, László Muszbek 
(Univ. Debrecen, Hungary)

The relationship between factor XIII and fibrinolysis 
by Nicola J Mutch (
Univ. Aberdeen, 
UK)

Simultaneous monitoring of FXIII activity and fibrin formation in vivo: 
Role of FXIII on the kinetics of thrombus formation 
by Robert Ariens and Helen Philippou (Univ.  Leeds, UK)

Identification of a Cryptic Binding site on Factor XIII A subunit for 
Fibrinogen ? chain and its functional role in clot stabilisation
by Kerrie Smith, Peter Grant (Univ. Leeds, UK)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date:
 Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Time: 09:45 - 12:45
Session No: WS03 International Workshop Factor XIII
Session title: The Factor XIII  (FXIII) World: Where the 
Transglutaminase with a Fabulous Variety of Functions Dominates
Room: PLENARYSAAL 9.1.2
Venue: St. Gallen / Schweiz Olma Messen St. Gallen, Spügenstrasse 12, 
9008 St. Gallen / Switzerland
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
If
 you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us (mailing 
address: aichinos@med.id.yamagata-u.ac.jp).

November 2011

Message from Prof. Raffaele Porta to the WHAT network

Dear WHATers,
the following is the site where it is possible to read our recent Editorial entitled "Promising perspectives for transglutaminase in "bioplastics" production" we published in the Journal of Biotechnology and Biomaterials and we dedicated to the memory of Jack Folk.
http://www.omicsonline.org/2155-952X/2155-952X-1-102e.digital/2155-952X-1-102e.html

Hoping to meet you soon, I send you my best regards

prof. Raffaele Porta
Dept of Food Science
University of Napoli "Federico II", Italy

May 2011

Biogenic Amines 2011 Congress

Click here to read the Second Announcement.

March 2011

ICAAP2011 - Second Announcement

A message to the WHAT community by prof. Agostinelli

Dear Polyaminers, Dearest friends:

Kazuei and I would like to thank you all for the contribution to the Special Issue, that will be published on Amino Acid. 72 manuscripts were submitted: Thank you very much. The reviewing process already started.

It is an opportunity to remind you all the upcoming Polyamines Gordon Research Conference in USA and the Polyamines and TGasi meeting in Beijing (CHINA), next August.

1) GRC (Chairs: Lisa Shantz & Enzo Agostinelli) & GRS ( Chairs: Christina Destefano Shields & Valentina Battaglia) - Waterville Valley, NH (USA) June 18th to 24th, 2011. Lisa and I invite you all to make your registrations soon, for attending both GRC and GRS.

The program for the meeting is already on the GRC website and can be accessed through the following link: http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?year=2011&program=polyamines

2) The 12th International Congress on Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins will be held in Beijing (CHINA), August 1st to 5th, 2011. The meeting includes a Polyamine and TGasi session that will be organized by Enzo Agostinelli. Please find in attachment the information, as requested. However, for further information please visit the website of the meeting: http://conf2011.bplaced.net/
After submitting on-line the registration form and abstract (not more than 250 words) to Wien, please also send directly to my e-mail address a copy for preparing the scientific program. Deadline is March the 31st.

I believe we have an exciting scientific program for the conference, and your participation is a major factor in the success of the meeting as in Wien in August 2009.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need any help or more information.
I am looking forward to welcoming you all at the GRC-GRS in USA, in June and in China in August.

Sincerely,

Enzo

Enzo Agostinelli Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli"
SAPIENZA University of Rome
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma
ITALY
Phone: +39 0649910838
Fax: +39 064440062
mail to: enzo.agostinelli@uniroma1.it

Transglutaminases: future perspectives

Call for papers 2011

2nd Special edition of Amino Acids by S. Beninati, M. Piacentini and F. Facchiano (editors)

Amino Acids is pleased to announce the publication of the 2nd special issue addressed to the scientific community working on transglutaminase with the title:

“Transglutaminases: future perspectives”

Click to download the 2nd issue invitation and the Instruction for authors form.

February 2011

Announcement

Gordon Conference – July 15-20, 2012

Transglutaminases In Human Disease Processes

Dear Friends:
We are pleased to announce the 2nd Gordon Research Conference on “Transglutaminases in Human Disease Processes” to be held from July 15-20, 2012 at Davidson College, North Carolina. Approval by the prestigious GRC Review Board to hold 2nd meeting is a strong testimony of ‘a very successful’ first meeting chaired by Dr. Richard Eckert. We wish to thank Dr. Eckert and Ms Kathleen Reinecke for organizing such a GREAT meeting and look forward to their continued support.
Our meeting is still on probation, which means that in order to hold the next and 3rd meeting (during July 2014 that will be chaired By Dr. Mauro Piacentini), we must bring at least 150 Investigators to attend 2012 meeting. In order to include this meeting on regular list of the GRC meetings, we need your help. Please forward this announcement to other interested/new investigators and encourage them to register and attend the 2012 meeting. Also, please mark your calendar and plan to bring as many trainees/students from your laboratory as possible. We are trying to raise funds to waive in part the registration fee of as many young investigators as possible.
Major goal of this meeting is to bring together an international group of academic and corporate scientists working on various aspects of transglutaminases in health and disease. The meeting is designed to exchange new information, promote new collaborations, and to enhance interaction among new, just entering and established investigators.

Thanks for your assistance. We look forward to seeing you again in July, 2012.

20th January, 2011

Here please find the message received by Prof. Simone Beninati to announce the 2nd special
issue of Amino Acids addressed to the scientific community working on transglutaminases.

Amino Acids is pleased to announce the publication of the 2nd special issue addressed to the scientific community working on transglutaminase with the title: "Transglutaminase: future perspectives"

The first special edition on transglutaminases in 2009 marked the 50th anniversary of the discovery of Transglutaminase 2. Following the success of this initiative the editor of the section "Polyamines and Transglutaminases" S. Beninati, together with two leader scientists of this field, M. Piacentini and F. Facchiano, are sponsoring this 2nd special edition of the journal Amino Acids. The issue will be dedicated to John E. Folk who passed away on Dec 27th. We have lost a loved and highly esteemed member of our scientific field, a brilliant scientist, and a man of honor and integrity. The issue will be focused to specific reviews and full papers on Transglutaminase.

Message received on 05/01/2011

Dr. John Edward Folk

Members of the Transglutaminase community extend the most sincere and heartfelt sorrow on the recent death of Dr. John Edward Folk. We have lost a loved and highly esteemed member of our scientific field, a brilliant scientist, and a man of honor and integrity. Who had the fortune knowing him, hereby expresses the recognition and appreciation of his cordial and genial character, kindness of heart, long and faithful adherence to the high ideals of his profession, and his earnest support of these ideals.
We will miss you Jack.

Simone Beninati
University of Rome “Tor Vergata” Dept. Biology, Rome Italy

Anyone wishes to express own grief can add to the name and the organization sending an e-mail to what@transglutaminase-what.org

I would like to adhere,

Raffaele Porta
portaraf@unina.it

Expressing my deep sorrow on the recent death of Jack Folk I share
the thoughts expressed by Simone on the transglutaminase WHAT site.

László Fésüs
University of Debrecen, HUNGARY
fesus@indi.biochem.dote.hu

I had the pleasure to know Jack about 20 years ago, in his lab at the NIH: a very nice person.
All the transglutaminase's community will miss his professional experience and humanity.

Francesco Facchiano
Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma
Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Roma, Italy
francesco.facchiano@iss.it

I was very sorry to hear that Jack passed away. He has made an enormous contribution which will not be forgotten.
Much of his work is still current decades after inception which obviously speaks for itself. Please give my sincerest condolences to his relatives.

Daniel Aeschlimann, PhD
Professor of Biological Sciences
Matrix Biology & Tissue Repair Research Unit
School of Dentistry, College of Medicine
Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XY, Wales, UK

I had not the fortune knowing personally dr J.E. Folk but we are very grateful to him for his fundamental work which made possible all our researches in plants. Please express my condolence to his relatives and to Myung Hee.

Donatella Serafini Fracassini and coworkers.
Full Professor Botany
University of Bologna
Biology Department (Botany)
Via Irnerio 42
40126 Bologna (Italy)

We are saddened to report that John E. (Jack) Folk, NIDCR Scientist Emeritus, died on December 27th 2010 of complications following a hip fracture/replacement. He was 85 yrs old and spent his entire scientific career at NIH. Dr. Folk received his PhD from Georgetown University in 1952 and joined the National Institute of Dental Research where he devoted his research efforts for nearly 50 years. He continued to work actively as a Special Volunteer/Chemist in the laboratory of Dr. Kenner Rice (NIDDK and NIDA) from 2000 until his death. He made groundbreaking advances in three areas. In his early years at NIH, he characterized proteolytic enzymes of the digestive system, including carboxypeptidases A and B, aminopeptidase A and chymotrypsin C and investigated how specific enzymes contributed to the biological activities of organs and tissues affected by degenerative diseases. In 1965, he started to investigate a new family of enzymes, transglutaminases which catalyze formation of protein protein cross-links important in blood clotting and skin barrier formation and established the basic mechanism of the reaction. In 1980, he and his colleagues discovered a new enzymatic pathway that incorporates a portion of the polyamine spermidine into eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF5A), which is essential for eukaryotic cell proliferation. In his lifetime, several new enzymes, including carboxypeptidase B, g-glutamylamine cyclotransferase, deoxyhypusine synthase and deoxyhypusine hydroxylase were discovered and characterized in his laboratory, laying the foundation for extensive further investigations. In these three areas, Dr. Folk was a pioneer and a leading scientist who established the basic mechanisms of these enzymes as well as the vital importance of these physiological reactions.

While with Dr. Rice, Dr. Folk contributed on projects that included crystal studies of a compound with high affinity and selectivity for the dopamine transporter, as well as with a large scale synthesis of an important intermediate in the synthesis of delta-and opioid receptor ligands. Dr. Folk also worked on developing a nonselective ligand that would block the effects of methamphetamine-like stimulants at dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine transporters. Most recently Dr. Folk synthesized several oxide-bridged phenylmorphans, pharmacological tools that could help scientists discern the recognition pattern needed by opioid receptors to produce analgesia or to block an overdose of heroin. 

He mentored numerous U.S. and foreign scientists who were greatly influenced by his scientific insights and wisdom. Dr. Folk was highly respected in the international scientific community for his original and rigorous approach and was recognized with many awards for his superior service and contribution.
A memorial service was held at 11:30 am Jan 6th 2011 at the Norbeck Memorial Park 16225 Batchellors Forest Rd, Olney, MD 20832.

Bethesda 01/10/2011

Myung Hee Park
NIDCR-NIH

Message received on 01/01/2011

Dear WHATers,
below please find a message sent by Myung Hee Park with sad news about Jack Folk.

Here, a couple of photos with Jack sent by Simone Beninati:
photo 1, and photo 2.

-------------------------------------------

Dear Simone, Mauro and Alberto,

It was nice to see Simone and Mauro at the Tivoli meeting and to learn about your exciting research. Thank you so much for writing letters to Jack, which I brought to him at the hospital the day after my return to DC. He was very pleased/cheered up to see the notes and appreciated them very much.
I am sorry to send you sad news on Jack on the New Years day. Unfortunately he did not recover from his broken femur surgery and the following pneumonia. He passed away on Dec 27th. I know that you would not be able to make it but just wanted to let you know.
The Funeral service will be held in Norbeck Memorial Park at 11:30am on next Thursday (01/06/2011).

Norbeck Memorial Park
16225 Batchellors Forest Rd
Olney, MD 20906

I am preparing a memo honoring his scientific career. You had a paper from the TGase meeting on Jacks contribution. I had it but cannot find it now and would really appreciate if you could send it to me by e-mail attachment. You may share the news with Lazlo Fesus, Franco Carmassi or other previous colleagues of Jack.

Thank you and Wishing you a Blessed New Year!

Myung Hee Park

Announcement received on 20/12/2010

International Factor XIII Symposium

Dear Friends:

We are very glad that we can announce the annual International Factor XIII Symposium in Wiesbaden, Germany, on February 16, 2011, through the courtesy of Prof. Dr. med. Johannes Oldenburg, the president of the 55th GTH meeting (http://www.gth2011.de/).

Looking forward to meeting you in Wiesbaden soon.

Best regards,

Chairs of International Factor XIII Symposium

Akitada Ichinose Hans Kohler

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Final Program of the Annual International Factor XIII (FXIII) Symposium/Workshop at
the 55th GTH: Recent advances in the FXIII research
Chaired by Profs. Akitada Ichinose (Yamagaga Univ., Japan) and Hans Kohler (Bern Univ.,
Switzerland)

I. Getting Back to the Basics: Structure and function of FXIII chaired by Prof. Ichinose
1) Coagulation factor XIII variants with altered thrombin activation rates
  Stennicke H, Olsen E, Andersen M (Denmark)
2) Structural characterization of both the non-proteolytic and proteolytic activation pathways
 of coagulation factor XIII
  Faber J, Andersen M (Denmark)
3) Role of the barrel domains in FXIII A subunit (FXIII-A)
  Philippou H (UK)
4) Role of cross-linking by FXIII in fibrin structure and function
  Ariens R(UK)
5) FXIII expression in alternatively activated macrophages, and the role of FXIII in gene expression
alterations in connection with activation
  Adany R, Torocsik D (Hungary)

II. Challenging Clinical Issues: Diagnosis of FXIII deficiency and thrombosis chaired by Prof.
Kohler
6)Genetic and clinical data of 181 patients with hereditary coagulation FXIII deficiency
  Ivaskevicius V, Biswas A, Thomas A, Seitz R, Seifried E, Oldenburg J.
(Germany)
7) Relationship between FXIII (13) activity and cross-linked alpha2-plasmin inhibitor in patients with
Acquired Hemophilia XIII (13)
  Ichinose A(Japan)
8) Point-of-care assay of FXIII (13) activity by utilizing clot retraction reaction in clinical settings
  Kaneko M, Yatomi Y, Ichinose A(Japan)
9) Clinical implications of the FXIII activation peptide
  Schroeder V, Arnold M, Kohler HP (Switzerland)
10) The involvement of factor XIII in the impaired fibrinolysis of patients with factor V Leiden mutation
  Koncz Z, Bagoly Z, Muszbek L (Hungary)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 
Time: 09:30 - 12:00
Session No: WS01 International Workshop Factor XIII
Session title: Recent advances in the FXIII research
Room: SAAL 6.2
Venue: die Rhein-Main-Hallen Wiesbaden, Rheinstraße 20, D-65185 Wiesbaden 
http://www.rhein-main-hallen.de/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

September 21th, 2010

POLYAMINES MEETING ROME-TIVOLI, ITALY, DECEMBER 1st - 6th, 2010

Dear Polyamine attendees, Dearest TGasi's friends,

As requested, I would like to inform you that we extended the submission deadline for the "2a International Conference on the Role of Polyamines and their Analogs in Cancer and other Diseases, that will be held in Tivoli (Rome), Italy, from December 1st to 6th, 2010 (http://w3.uniroma1.it/polyamines/ )

The extended submission DEADLINE IS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th, 2010.

A session on "Polyamines and Transglutaminases" has been included in the scientific program. We are looking forward to meeting you all in Tivoli-Rome, next December.

Sincerely yours,

Enzo

Enzo Agostinelli Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli"
SAPIENZA University of Rome
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma
ITALY
Phone: +39 0649910838
Fax: +39 064440062
mail to: enzo.agostinelli@uniroma1.it

September 7th, 2010

POLYAMINES MEETING ROME-TIVOLI, ITALY, DECEMBER 1st - 6th , 2010

Dear Polyamine attendees, Dearest friends,

I remind to all of you that Kazuei and I are organizing the "2a International Conference on the Role of Polyamines and their Analogs in Cancer and other Diseases", that will be held in Italy, SAPIENZA University of Rome and Tivoli (Rome), from December 1st to 6th, 2010.

Please visit the website of the Conference: http://w3.uniroma1.it/polyamines/ , as registration is now open, and for all the relevant information regarding the meeting.

Please complete the registration form as soon as conveniently possible and submit your abstract: DEADLINE IS SEPTEMBER 15th, 2010. After completing the online registration process you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing the information due, as concerns your attending to the meeting.

1) A session on "Polyamines and Transglutaminases" has been included in the scientific program

2) Registration fee for young scientists is reduced. Therefore, we invite young scientists to suggest, in the "form", the name of an other young scientist for sharing a double room

3) A Special Issue edited by Kazuei and I will be published on Amino Acid J. A tentative deadline is February 2011. Details will be discussed during the Tivoli's meeting

Other news:

Travel arrangements: Please visit the website "travel information", Mrs Daniela Panari d.panari@agriscambi.com of the Travel Agency "AgriScambi" is available to help you.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need any help or more information.

We are looking forward to meeting you all in Tivoli-Rome, next December.

Sincerely yours,

Enzo and Kazuei

Enzo Agostinelli Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli"
SAPIENZA University of Rome
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma
ITALY
Phone: +39 0649910838
Fax: +39 064440062
mail to: enzo.agostinelli@uniroma1.it

March 2010

POLYAMINES MEETING ROME-TIVOLI, ITALY, DECEMBER 1st - 6th , 2010

Dear Polyamine attendees, Dearest friends,

I remind to all of you that Kazuei and I are organizing the "2a International Conference on the Role of Polyamines and their Analogs in Cancer and other Diseases", that will be held in Italy, SAPIENZA University of Rome and Tivoli (Rome), from December 1st to 6th , 2010.

Please visit the website of the Conference (the site is in progress): http://w3.uniroma1.it/polyamines/

Please fill in the PRE-REGISTRATION FORM, at your earliest convenience, (DEADLINE is March 31th, 2010). The "form" is on the website.
We would be really pleased to receive, a.s.a.p., a positive reply to this e-mail message, as concerns your attending to the meeting, for planning purposes.

Moreover, it is also my pleasure to inform all of you that the Volume on "Polyamines in Biological Systems" Volume 38, Number 2 / February, 2010 was just published on Amino Acids (Ed. Springer-Verlag).

We are looking forward to meeting you all in Rome, next December.

Sincerely yours,

Enzo and Kazuei

Enzo Agostinelli Ph.D.
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Department of Biochemical Sciences "A. Rossi Fanelli"
SAPIENZA University of Rome
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma
ITALY
Phone: +39 0649910838
Fax: +39 064440062
mail to: enzo.agostinelli@uniroma1.it

February 2010

Transglutaminases in Human Disease Processes

scheduled on July 18-23, 2010 at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, USA.

FROM: Dr. Richard Eckert and his Assistant Kathleen S. Reinecke, regarding the upcoming Gordon Research Conference entitled, Transglutaminases in Human Disease Processes.

The direct link to the website to register for this Conference is:

http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?year=2010&program=transgluta

This link will take you directly to the site to register.
The Organizer Committee kindly encourages all to register early as there are only 150 slots available!
If you have any questions, please contact Kathleen S. Reinecke at the following addresses:

Kathleen S. Reinecke, AA
Assistant to the Chair
Dr. Richard Eckert
John F.B. Weaver Endowed Professor
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
University of Maryland, Baltimore
108 N. Greene Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 410-706-3220; Fax: 410-706-8297
kreineck@umaryland.edu
http://medschool.umaryland.edu/biochemistry/

February 2010

We are glad to inform all the WHATers about the following message received by Prof. Akitada Ichinose.

Dear Friends:

We are very glad that we can announce the annual International Factor XIII Symposium in Nurenberg, Germany, on February 24, 2010, through the courtesy of Profs. Ulrich Walter and Frits Rosendaal, the presidents of the 54th GTH & NVTH joint meeting. We wish to dedicate this symposium to the late Prof. Rudolf Egbring, a world-famous great FXIII scientist of the Marburg University, who passed away on October 30, 2009.

Looking forward to meeting you in Nurenberg soon.

Best regards,

Chairs of International Factor XIII Symposium
Akitada Ichinose
Rainer Seitz

---------------------------------------------

Final program of International Factor XIII Symposium/Workshop by Profs. A. Ichinose (Yamagata, Japan) and R. Seitz (Langen, Germany)

I. Novel functions and roles of Factor XIII in biological reactions (chaired by Prof. A. Ichinose):
1) A novel function of the A subunit of Factor XIII (FXIII-A) in platelet-fibrin clot retraction by Akitada Ichinose
2) New insights into the functional significance of cellular Factor XIII by Gonzalez-Manchon C
3) Factor XIII binding to TRAP-activated platelets by Janos Kappelmayer
4) Cellular Factor XIII as a novel leukemia associated immunophenotype by Janos Kappelmayer
5) Interaction between Factor XIII and the complement system by Verena Schroeder

II. New aspects of Factor XIII in various disease states (chaired by Prof. R. Seitz):
6) Factor XIII in tears and cornea: its possible function in health and disease by Muszbek L.
7) Activation of Factor XIII in individuals with Factor V Leiden mutation; a novel down-stream mechanism that might contribute to the increased risk of thrombosis by Bagoly Z
8) Molecular MRI of early thrombus formation using a bimodal alpha2-antiplasmin-based contrast agent by M. Eline Kooi
9) A novel C to A mutation in intron 1 of the Factor XIII-A gene leads to a decreased enhancer activity and the subsequent Factor XIII deficiency in a Chinese family by Wangwei Cai

Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Time: 09:30 12:00
Session No: Faktor XIII Workshop
Session title: Novel functions of factor XIII and its new roles in various biological reactions and disease states
Room: Istanbul

Venue: CCN Ost
NurnbergMesse GmbH
Messezentrum
90471 Nurnberg
Germany
www.congressing.de

February 2010

POLYAMINES MEETING ROME-TIVOLI, ITALY, DECEMBER 2010

Dearest Friends,

As Kazuei and I already informed you in USA, at the GRC, we are organizing the " 2nd International Conference on the Role of Polyamines and their Analogs in Cancer and other Diseases, that will be held in Italy, SAPIENZA University of Rome, Tivoli (Rome), from December 1st to 6th, 2010.
Website of the Conference is in progress.

Best regards.

Enzo and Kazuei

mail to: enzo.agostinelli@uniroma1.it

September 2009

Gordon Conference Report

Dear WHATers,
we have received a wonderful and accurate Scientific and Photographic Report, prepared for us by Prof. Donatella Serafini Fracassini, describing the recent Gordon Research Conference Polyamine 2009 (Waterville Valley, NH, USA).
Now, who was not able to attend such Conference, may easily discover what was discussed about.
Click here to download the report.
Many thanks, Donatella, from all the Transglutaminates's People.

June 2009

Gordon Conference "Transglutaminase in Human Disease Processes"

Richard L. Eckert, Conference Chair of the Gordon Conference entitled "Transglutaminase in Human Disease Processes" sent us a letter for announcing the Conference, which will be held on July 18-23, 2010 at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina.

Please click here to read his letter.

February 2009

Annual Meeting on Biogenic Amines

The Meetings will be held in Bertinoro, Italy, on 11-14 May, 2009.

The First Circular about the Meeting is available here.

February 2007

Dear colleague,

I trust you are informed about the 9th International Conference 
on Transglutaminases and Protein Crosslinking (PCL9) which will 
take place at Marrakech (Morocco) from September 1st to 5th, 2007.

Now, we are pleased to announce that the registration for PCL9 is 
open through the web site: www.pcl9.com  
where you will find all the preliminary information about the conference.
 
We of course remain at your disposal for any further questions.
 
We are looking forward to welcoming you in Marrakech,
 
Sincerely,
 
Said El Alaoui, Ph.D.
PCL9 Conference Chairman
Important Note:  the web site will continue to be updated as new 
information becomes available. 

January 2007

Dear Attendees,

Following on the tradition of successful Congresses held in several European countries, Simone and I are pleased to invite you to attend and to contribute to the session on POLYAMINES & TGase, within the "10^ International Amino Acids and Proteins Congress - ICAAP-", organized by Prof. Maria Liakopoulou-Kyriakides. The meeting will be held in Kallithea, Chalkidiki, Greece from August 21 to 26, 2007.

Information regarding the Conference Centre are available online at the website:

http://icaap.web.auth.gr

We would be really pleased to receive a positive reply to this e-mail message, as concerns your participation to the meeting.

Please submit a.s.a.p. a tentative title(s) of your talk or poster presentation and a pre-registration form.

We are looking forward to meeting you in Greece, next August.

Sincerely yours,

Enzo Agostinelli - University La Sapienza, Rome
Simone Beninati - University Tor Vergata, Rome

December 2006

Dear colleague,

Covalab and the organizers would like to bring to your attention the upcoming 9th International Conference on Protein Crosslinking and Transglutaminases (PCL9) which is going to take place at Marrakech (Morocco) from September 1st to 5th, 2007

This international conference is continuing the tradition of PCL meetings being held every 2 to 3 years. The following preliminary scientific sessions are planned for the conference:

1. Structure and function of transglutaminases
2. Cellular signalling
3. Transglutaminase substrates
4. Factor XIII
5. Transglutaminases in health and disease
6. Neurogenerative diseases
7. Wound healing and scarring / fibrosis
8. Non-mammalian transglutaminases and biotechnology
9. Coeliac disease (special clinical workshop on December 5th)

The PCL9 conference is a unique opportunity for you to present your work and update your knowledge in this field.
A conference website will be available soon at www.covalab.com. You will be notified once this will be up and running.

Conference venue:

The conference and all the accommodations will be at 4-5 stars hotel in the middle of a three-hectare private park with pleasant colours and green space with a modern infrastructure where all the conveniences are available. The hotel is near (10 min walk) the prestigious Koutoubia and the very famous Djemaa El Fna Square.
Meeting: a plenary room of a maximum capacity of 300 people in theatre style is available. Also there is a 256 square-meter exhibition hall.
Rooms: Luxuriously appointed rooms (soundproof), including some suites are roomy. They are equipped with air-conditioning, direct telephone line, satellite TV, a mini refrigerator and individual safe. Some rooms are equipped for the people with reduced mobility.
Hobbies: a large swimming pool (300 m2) heated in winter, a tennis court, a general sports ground (foot-ball; volley ball, ?), a bowling pitch, gym, table-tennis, a playground equipped for child, a cyber space, spa, hammam, oriental massage.
IT: Internet connection, wifi.

We are sure you will not want to miss out on exciting science in the beautiful city and country. To this end we would like you to confirm your participation no later than December 20th.

For more information Please contact:
Mrs Christine Dufour
Dr El Alaoui Said
aa@covalab.com
Phone : 33 (0) 437.654.230
Fax 33(0) 437.289.416

October 2006

Dear W.H.A.T.E.R.s,
following the numerous requests about, finally we have some Good News: we received information from Dr. Said El Aloui about the next Protein Crosslinking Meeting. PCL9 will be organized by CovalAb in Marrakech (Morocco) in September 2007 between 1st and 10th (4-5 days). As soon as we have further information, we will inform you.

For additional information:
Covalab, 11 avenue Albert Einstein
69100 Villeurbanne - France
Phone : 33 (0) 437.654.230
Fax 33(0) 437.289.416
Web : www.covalab.com

Angelo Facchiano

Would you kindly let me know when and where there is a scheduled
transglutaminase meeting in 2007?  Thank you for your help.

Best,
Bijan Ahvazi
***********************************************
Bijan Ahvazi Ph.D.
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases  (NIAMS)
X-ray Crystallography Facility/Office of Science and Technology
MSC 8023
50 South Dr.
Bldg. 50, Room 1345
Bethesda, MD 20892-8023 

Dear W.H.A.T.,
We would much appreciate if you considered the publication on your site of the attached obituary, or a shorten version of it, following the death of a young member of the transglutaminase research group at Nottingham Trent University, who many of us had the pleasure to meet at conferences.

Kind Regards

Obituary

I am very sorry to announce the recent loss of Dr Richard Jones, a promising member of the transglutaminase scientific community.

Dr Jones undertook his PhD studies at Nottingham Trent University under the supervision of Prof M Griffin and subsequently continued to focus on the study of matrix tissue transglutaminase, defining its role in tumor inhibition. His latest work is in press (Jones RA et al Cell Death and Differentiation, 2006).

We have lost a talented scientist in our group and above all a dear friend, always ready to help, listen, and share his knowledge without conditions. A mentor for PhD students, a reliable colleague for Research Fellows and a valid collaborator of the Academic Lecturing Team at Nottingham Trent University.

Many of us will remember him at the Transglutaminase Conference in Lyon and then in Ferrara, where he was awarded the best Poster Prize.

He left this world on Sat 1st July, aged 38, after a long personal battle against cancer.

Richard will be greatly missed by all who had the opportunity of working with him.

Elisabetta Verderio
School of Biomedical Science
Nottingham Trent University
Clifton Lane
Nottingham NG11 8NS
elisabetta.verderio-edwards AT ntu.ac.uk

Yours sincerely

Dr. Maria Teresa Bardella
Dr. Luca Elli
Dept. of Medicine Sciences
University of Milano
Tel. 0039 02 55033384
Fax 0039 02 50320403
E-mail:
tissue_tg_human_pathol@yahoo.it
luca.elli@unimi.it
mariateresa.bardella@unimi.it

Dear PCL8 participants,

only one week left until we will all meet at Luebeck for the 8th International
Conference on Protein Crosslinking and Transglutaminases (PCL8)! The level of 
excitement is certainly increasing at this end...

Today I am writing to introduce you to the social program of the conference. 
Participation in most of the activities is included in the registration fee 
and you will see that we offer good value for your money, not only by 
arranging an interesting scientific program, but also in terms of leisure 
activities.

Please help us organize these events by selecting from the list below and 
letting us know (through e-mail to pcl8@biochem.uni-luebeck.de) what you'd 
like to participate in. Places for the events with limitation of the number 
of participants will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. 

See you next week at PCL8!


- Rolf Hilgenfeld -


SOCIAL PROGRAM 
  
  
Thursday, September 01, 2005 
  
13:00 hrs.: Guided City Tour (walk) 
Meeting point outside the Radisson SAS Senator Hotel (Willy-Brandt-Allee) 
Duration: ~ 2 hrs. 
Included in the conference registration fee. Please register for this tour 
before August 31 through pcl8@biochem.uni-luebeck.de. Note that a second 
tour of this kind will be offered on Sunday, September 04. 
  
18:00 hrs.: Get-Together 
Meet the participants of the conference at an informal event with snacks, 
drinks and live music. Even gluten-free beer will be available! The 
get-together will take place in the Balkensaal  a historic room under the 
roof of the Media Docks. 
Included in the conference registration fee. 
  
  
Friday, September 02, 2005 
  
21:30 hrs.: Guided City Tour at Night (walk) 
Do not miss Luebeck by night! Guides in historic costumes will take you 
through the ancient town. You will discover charming places within the 
center of Luebeck. 
The hanseatic town offers many small cosy bars and cafes, where you can 
stop for a drink and relax after the walk. 
Meeting point at the historic town hall of Luebeck. 
Duration: ~ 1.5  2 hrs. 
Costs: 8 ? per person including a small surprise (but drinks not included).
Please register through pcl8@biochem.uni-luebeck.de or on Thursday, 
September 01, at the registration desk. 
  
Saturday, September 03, 2005 
  
20:00 hrs.: Conference Dinner 
Dinner will take place in the traditional restaurant Ratskeller in the 
historic town hall of Luebeck. Address: 
Ratskeller zu Luebeck 
Markt 13 
23552 Luebeck 
Tel.: 0049-(0)451-72044 
Included in the conference registration fee. Please register on Thursday, 
September 01, at the registration desk. 
Dress code: casual.
  
  
Sunday, September 04, 2005 
  
14:30 hrs.: Boat Trip around Luebeck 
Discover Luebeck from a small boat going around the historic center! 
Duration: ~ 1 hr. 
Meeting point at the Media Docks. 
Included in the conference registration fee. On the boat, coffee and snacks 
will be available. Please register through pcl8@biochem.uni-luebeck.de at 
your earliest convenience, but before Friday, August 26. 
Minimum number of participants: 30. 
  
15:30 hrs.: Guided City Tour (walk) 
Meeting point at the waterfront where the boat will stop (see above). 
Tour will depart after return of the boat. 
Duration: ~ 2 hrs. 
Included in the conference registration fee. Please register through 
pcl8@biochem.uni-luebeck.de or on Thursday, September 01, at the registration desk. 
  
  
Further suggestions: 
  
Learn more about the family of Nobel Prize-winning author Thomas Mann in the 
Buddenbrook-House: a reception will take place in the foyer of the building, 
including champagne, wine and more. There will be a guided tour, where small, 
amusing and interesting stories about the family of writers will be told 
(in English). Duration: approximately 1.5 hrs. Costs: 11 ? per person 
(12  25 people per tour). Booking through the PCL8 conference registration desk. 
  
  
On Saturday night, September 03, the theaters of Luebeck will organize the 
Night of Theater (in German): beginning at 16:00 hrs., all theaters in Luebeck 
present different performances until midnight. Musicals, improvisation plays, 
rehearsals of the newest stagings and more can be seen during this event. 
Tickets can be purchased at all participating theaters. Please find more 
information at www.theaternacht-luebeck.de. 
  
  
Until September 04, the sand-sculpture park Sandworld can be visited at 
Luebeck Travemuende. Please find more information at www.sandworld.de. 
  
  
For further information do not hesitate to contact the PCL8 Organizing Team 
(pcl8@biochem.uni-luebeck.de). During registration starting Thursday, 
September 01, 2005, from 10:00 hrs. in the Media Docks, we will be happy 
to answer all your questions. 
  

-- 
Prof. Rolf Hilgenfeld

We received a message by Laszlo Lorand, concerning the figure reported on the cover of Progress in Experimental Tumor Research, vol. 38, entitled "Transglutaminases - Family of Enzymes with Diverse Functions". This is the specific comment:

       I regret that the drawing on the cover of the Mehta/Eckert book 
       perpetuates the mistaken notion that the N-terminal first seven 
       amino acids of TG2 would be the site of binding to fibronectin. 
       That property is built into a larger domain in the N-terminal third 
       segment of TG2 and, if anything, the stretch of the first seven 
       amino acids bracketed in the cover photo, might only play an 
       indirect role in securing the proper folding of the downstream 
       segment. 

       Laszlo 

We thank Laszlo for his kind message and we welcome any further comment to be posted in our web page: Laszlo will respond on specific questions.

We received by Kapil Mehta the cover (as pdf file) of the Progress in Experimental Tumor Research vol. 38 entitled "Transglutaminases - Family of Enzymes with Diverse Functions" edited by K. Mehta and R. Eckert. Click here to see the cover!

April 2004

We received by e-mail a request of information about the next transglutaminase conference. We have no information about it, at the present, and we will be happy to put here any news the WHATers wish to spread around.

February 2004

We received this message for the WHAT community

Hi! I'm Patricia a PhD. student. I'm studing the activity of a plant
TGase and I would like to ask you for methods of activity measurement. 
I've been using the method described by Del Duca et.al. (1994) that 
makes the determination of the pelleted putrescine-tritiated proteins of 
a protein extract; but I would like to find an alternative method that 
permits a more rapid measurement of the TGase activity.
I would appreciate your help a lot. Thanks,

Patricia Carvajal V.
Lab. Biotecnología
IQS-URL
Barcelona 08017
Via Augusta 390
Tel. (34)932672000

Click here for the news of the past years.