About the Workshop

This workshop will be a unique chance to regroup and share results from scientists interested in semaphorins and their receptors.

*** Latest News:
10 fellowships of 600 euros each will be provided by the "Ecole des Neurosciences de Paris"
to students presenting posters at the meeting to cover the registration cost.
Students will be selected among the registered participants by the organizers.

The Semaphorins are one of the largest family of axon guidance molecules, with more than 25 distinct genes characterized in vertebrates and invertebrates. Semaphorins have been identified in many diverse animal species and also in mammalian viruses. Semaphorins participate in a variety of developmental and pathological processes. In vitro most semaphorins have potent repulsive effects on specific classes of embryonic axons, although some exert attractive effects. In addition to their role in axon guidance, many results suggest that semaphorins are involved in other developmental or pathological processes, such as apoptosis, tumorigenesis, angiogenesis, neurodegenerative diseases and axonal regeneration.
Research on semaphorin function keeps expanding with more than 120 publications annually. Researchers worldwide are studying these proteins, their receptors and their signaling pathways, in many fields, from developmental neurobiology to immunology. This workshop will be a unique chance to regroup and share results from scientists interested in semaphorins and their receptors. One main objective of this workshop is to foster discussion, cross-disciplinary exchange of ideas, and the establishment of new collaborations among scientists working on different experimental systems involving semaphorins. Though multifaceted, the disparate interests of scientists working on how semaphorins influence cellular development and function are united by conserved molecular and cellular principles that define how semaphorins impart their important functions. We therefore anticipate that this meeting will provide a unique venue for greatly enhancing the efforts of research in fields which have much to teach each other, but which often do not have a suitable forum for productive interactions. Five sessions are planned which deal with the several cellular contexts in which semaphorins are involved: neuronal development, signaling, immunology, angiogenesis, and cancer/diseases. Within each session speakers who have made major contributions in the field will tackle these issues from different points of view.

The Semaphorins are one of the largest family of axon guidance molecules, with more than 25 distinct genes characterized in vertebrates and invertebrates. Semaphorins have been identified in many diverse animal species and also in mammalian viruses.

Semaphorins participate in a variety of developmental and pathological processes. In vitro most semaphorins have potent repulsive effects on specific classes of embryonic axons, although some exert attractive effects. In addition to their role in axon guidance, many results suggest that semaphorins are involved in other developmental or pathological processes, such as apoptosis, tumorigenesis, angiogenesis, neurodegenerative diseases and axonal regeneration.

Research on semaphorin function keeps expanding with more than 120 publications annually. Researchers worldwide are studying these proteins, their receptors and their signaling pathways, in many fields, from developmental neurobiology to immunology.
This workshop will be a unique chance to regroup and share results from scientists interested in semaphorins and their receptors.

One main objective of this workshop is to foster discussion, cross-disciplinary exchange of ideas, and the establishment of new collaborations among scientists working on different experimental systems involving semaphorins. Though multifaceted, the disparate interests of scientists working on how semaphorins influence cellular development and function are united by conserved molecular and cellular principles that define how semaphorins impart their important functions. We therefore anticipate that this meeting will provide a unique venue for greatly enhancing the efforts of research in fields which have much to teach each other, but which often do not have a suitable forum for productive interactions.

Five sessions are planned which deal with the several cellular contexts in which semaphorins are involved: neuronal development, signaling, immunology, angiogenesis, and cancer/diseases. Within each session speakers who have made major contributions in the field will tackle these issues from different points of view.

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About the Workshop