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The Leuven Protein Aggregation Meeting

21-23 September 2022, Leuven, Belgium
Image by Qiang Guo and Ruben Fernandez Busnadiego, reproduced with permission from Cell Press - Protein Aggregation Meeting - Campaign visual

The Leuven Protein Aggregation Meeting

The Leuven Protein Aggregation Meeting
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All tickets have been sold and we’re now at the maximum capacity of our venue. Looking forward to seeing everyone in September!

Frederic Rousseau, Joost Schymkowitz, and the Switch Lab are bringing together inspiring speakers from around the world to talk about some of the most exciting research in protein aggregation field during a small and focussed meeting in Leuven. With less than 150 participants in an informal setting, there will be ample opportunity for discussion and interaction among all participants. Poster sessions and blitzes are included in the program to allow contributions from as many attendees as possible.

The interests of the invited speakers encompass a wide range of topics:

  • the structure and function of amyloidogenic proteins and the mechanism of the formation of amyloid structures, both in the case of functional amyloids as well as in the context of disease, as well as the biophysical and biochemical aspects of protein folding and misfolding in general
  • the molecular basis of toxicity of amyloids in prion disease and neurodegenerative disorders associated with protein misfolding, the molecular architecture of neurons in health and how it changes in protein aggregation diseases, and ageing, as well as the protective role of polyphosphates against amyloid cytotoxicity
  • how the proteostasis network (including the extracellular proteostasis) keeps proteins functional, as well as how it can break down, leading to toxic protein aggregation in neurodegenerative disease, cancer, or ageing
  • the role of protein fibrils in microbiology, the repurposing anti-amyloid compounds as antimicrobial agents, and using metal-containing synthetic amyloids as catalysts
  • the interaction of the microbial and the human ‘amylomes’ in health and disease
  • using biophysical methods to investigate amyloid polymorphism, including differences between patient-derived and synthetic amyloid fibres using cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray micro-crystallography and the properties of misfolding proteins at the nanoscale.

Come join us for this exciting meeting in Leuven’s 'Groot Begijnhof', a UNESCO world heritage site that dates from the 13th century. Click here for some 360° views of the location. Besides the inspiring scientific program, participants will have also ample networking opportunities during the poster sessions and conference dinner.”

*Campaign Image by Qiang Guo and Ruben Fernandez Busnadiego, reproduced with permission from Cell Press*

Poster information
The format for your poster should be: A0 (841 x 1189 mm / 33.1 x 46.8 in), portrait orientation. The 2 best posters will win the poster prize! One of them is sponsored by the EMBO Journal!

Travel grants
We offer 4 travel grants to international PhD students, which will reimburse travel costs up to 400 Euros. The deadline to participate was 1 July 2022. The organizing committee notified the grant winners.

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Confirmed speakers

Meytal Landau
Meytal Landau - VIB Training & Conferences - Speaker picture
Meytal Landau

Meytal Landau

CSSB Centre for Structural Systems Biology, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), and Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), DE; Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, IL
Ellen Nollen
Nollen Ellen - profile picture  - VIB Conferences
Ellen Nollen

Ellen Nollen

European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology of Ageing, NL

Program

Day 1 - Wednesday, 21 September, 2022

13:00
14:00
Registration
14:00
17:45
Session 1
14:00
14:05
Welcome
14:05
14:35
Liquid-liquid phase separation and its role in protein aggregation in neurodegenerative diseases
Academic speaker
14:35
14:50
Network of hotspot interactions cluster tau amyloid folds
14:50
15:05
Extracellular chaperones counteracting protein aggregation in neurodegeneration
Selected from abstracts
15:05
15:35
Unravelling the structure of toxic protein aggregates in situ
15:35
16:00
Coffee break
16:00
16:15
Conversion of an aggregation-prone chaperonin-dependent substrate into chaperonin-independent folders.
Academic speaker
16:15
16:30
Aberrant condensation is a widespread killing mechanism of bioactive peptides
Selected from abstracts
16:30
16:45
Investigating the specificity of aggregation prone regions in amyloid assembly
Selected from abstracts
16:45
17:00
Identification of a HTT-specific binding motif in DNAJB1 essential for suppression and disaggregation of HTT
Selected from abstracts
17:00
17:15
The role of RNA in protein aggregation.
Academic speaker
17:15
17:30
Functional genetic characterization of tau seeds in biosensor cells predicts amyloid structures and neuropathology.
17:45
20:00
Poster session 1

With Belgian beers and tapas snacks!

20:00
Feel free to enjoy one of the many restaurants in the historic city of Leuven

(not included in the registration fee)

Day 2 - Thursday, 22 September, 2022

Session 2
09:00
09:30
Microbial and Antimicrobial Amyloids in the Fight Against Infections

Meytal Landau

CSSB Centre for Structural Systems Biology, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), and Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), DE; Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, IL
Academic speaker
09:30
09:45
Amyloïd filaments, so different and so similar, finding rationale for druggability
Selected from abstracts
09:45
10:00
A Chaperone-like peptide strategy for general inhibition of protein aggregation in disease
Selected from abstracts
10:00
10:30
Unraveling Protein Self-Assembly One Molecule at a Time
10:30
11:00
Coffee break
11:00
11:15
Cryo-EM Structure of a Mammalian-specific Alternative Amyloid Exon
Academic speaker
11:15
11:30
Mechanisms and conditions for formation of metastable Aβ oligomers vs. Aβ amyloid fibrils
Selected from abstracts
11:30
12:00
Towards healthy ageing: Investigating the regulation of protein aggregation
12:00
14:30
Lunch & Poster session 2
14:30
19:00
Session 3
14:30
15:00
The polymorphic landscape of amyloid assembly revealed by atomic force microscopy imaging and individual particle structural reconstruction
15:00
15:15
Medin, the most common human amyloid, promotes Aβ aggregation
Academic speaker
15:15
15:30
Food protein amyloid: structure, fibrillation mechanisms and cross-seeding

Christofer Lendel

KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE
Selected from abstracts
15:30
16:00
Chaperoning protein aggregation diseases
16:00
16:30
Coffee break
16:30
17:00
Biological modifiers of age-related protein aggregation and toxicity

Ellen Nollen

European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology of Ageing, NL
Academic speaker
17:00
17:15
Fluorescence-guided optical photothermal infrared (O-PTIR) spectroscopy for imaging of amyloid structures in complex samples
Academic speaker
17:15
17:30
Direct Observation of Prion Protein Fibril Elongation Kinetics Reveals Competing Fibril Populations with Distinct Structural and Dynamic Properties
Selected from abstracts
17:30
18:00
Structure of amyloid fibrils from systemic amyloidosis.
18:00
19:00
Revisit the posters, networking or free time
19:00
Conference dinner

Additional fee

Day 3 - Friday, 23 September, 2022

09:00
12:30
Session 4
09:00
09:30
Catalytic Amyloids Promote Reactions With Enzymatic Efficiencies.
09:30
09:45
Disaggregation of α-synuclein amyloid fibres by the human HSP70 chaperone
Selected from abstracts
09:45
10:00
Endogenous retroviruses promote prion-like spreading of proteopathic seeds
Selected from abstracts
10:00
10:30
How does an IDP aggregate into amyloid? Insights from IAPP and alpha-synuclein
10:30
11:00
Coffee break
11:00
11:30
Secondary nucleation in amyloid formation

Sara Linse

Lund University, Dept of Biochemistry & Structural Biology, SE
Academic speaker
11:30
11:45
Exploiting amyloidogenic interactions as a new therapeutic avenue at Aelin Therapeutics.
11:45
12:00
Neuronal identity defines α-synuclein and tau toxicity
Selected from abstracts
12:00
12:30
Role of polyphosphate in amyloidogenic processes
12:30
14:00
Poster prizes, Closing remarks & Lunch
14:00
End of the conference

Organizing committee

Béla Z Schmidt

Switch Laboratory, VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research, BE

Abstracts

The full list of abstracts will be available on 11-09-2022 until 14-10-2022
This list will only be available for registered attendees of the event.

Attendees

The full list of attendees will be available on 11-09-2022 until 14-10-2022
This list will only be available for registered attendees of the event.