Pacific Coast Protease Workshop inc.
This workshop is designed to provide a stimulating expert environment for the discussion of new information on proteolytic enzymes, their substrates, their inhibitors, and their function. It is organized by Matt Bogyo, Antoine Dufour, Olivier Julien, Anthony O'Donoghue, and Scott Snipas, and is made possible with funding from the NIH and our sponsors. The objective is to provide trainees (junior faculty, post-docs, and graduate students) with experience in presenting their work to an expert audience, chairing scientific sessions, and to foster collaborations. Expert external faculty will give guest presentations and stimulate discussions. The work presented here is state-of-the-art and much is yet to be published. Consequently, professional use of the data and ideas learned at the workshop is prohibited without the expressed consent of the respective presenters and their supervisors.
Protease biology
Proteases play a vital role in protein catabolism by irreversibly hydrolyzing peptide bonds in protein substrates. There are about 600 human proteases reported, categorized into five families based on their catalytic mechanism: metallo-, cysteine, serine, threonine, and aspartyl proteases. Proteases can be found in living and nonliving entities, from plants, animals, bacteria, and viruses, regulating and conducting a diverse number of biological processes and complex signaling cascades.
Training Experience
Each participating trainee is provided with the oppotunity to present their research in the format of a short oral presentation. External speakers are invited each year to expand expertise in protease biology. These experts will also be tasked to select one particular trainee to be awarded "The Halfmoon" trophy, for the best presentation.
