Cell News 01/2018
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illustrating convincingly the title of the workshop “Cellular Mo-
tility and Cytoskeleton” by showing amoeba chasing yeast cells.
Laura Machesky aims to understand the regulation of polarised
cell migration and invasion especially in cancer metastasis by
small GTPases and the actin cytoskeleton. She demonstrated that
Rac1 plays a central role in this process and thus focused her talk
on the importance of the Rac1 - Scar/Wave and Arp2/3 axis and
its multiple binding proteins for protrusion formation by discuss-
ing yet unpublished data. The structural biologist Thomas Müller
(Würzburg) escorted the audience into the world of high resolu-
tion structure details for the design of novel cytokine antagonists,
such as neutralizing antibodies. By using mutational approaches,
binding studies and cell-based assays, Prof. Müller’s group devel-
oped new antibodies with enhanced neutralizing activity.
The interplay between signaling and metabolism was than ad-
dressed in two workshops entitled “Metabolism and Immune Cell
Signaling” and “Metabolism and Posttranslational Modifications”.
The latter topic was introduced by Gerald W. Hart (Baltimore),
who emphasized that the O-glycosidic linkage between N-acetyl-
glucosamine (O-GlcNAc) and serine or threonine residues of
nucleocytoplasmic proteins acts as a sensor that regulates gene
transcription depending on the cell’s nutrient supply. Moreover,
O-GlcNAc can be found on 50% of all human kinases and many
cancers show elevated O-GlcNAc cycling. This modification
might represent an interesting drug target. As posttranslational
modifications are crucial for many aspects in health and disease,
different modifications and their impact were discussed in five
additional short talks. Michael R. Gold (Vancouver) introduced
B cell receptor (BCR) signaling processes at the nanoscale and
demonstrated how actin dynamics affect BCR signaling and the
immune synapse. Using super-resolution microscopy and proximi-
ty ligation assays (PLA), signaling events at the plasma membrane
at nanometer distances were investigated.
Within the topic “Translational Cancer Research” Manfred Jücker
(Hamburg) and Almut Schulze (Würzburg) gave inspiring overview
talks. Prof. Jücker highlighted the importance of the PI3K-Akt-
mTOR axis in cancer therapy in a comprehensive overview and
addressed why monotherapies targeting mTOR have largely failed.
In her keynote talk, Almut Schulze showed that cancer cells repro-
gram their metabolism pathways according to their high prolifer-
ation rate. Thus, metabolic profiling of cancer cells can allow the
identification of particularly interesting metabolic hotspots that
might have the potential to serve as therapeutic targets.
All keynote lectures were followed by a number of selected short
talks chosen from the submitted abstracts, which represents an
outstanding feature of the STS meeting. The stimulating mixture
of presentations given by group leaders, post-doctoral fellows and
PhD students provides the basis for lively discussions during the
sessions and breaks.
Since 2010, the STS honours an exceptional scientist in the field
of signal transduction research. This year, the molecular im-
munologist Prof. Dr. Michael Reth of the Excellence Centre for
Biological Signaling Studies (BIOSS) of the University Freiburg and
group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and
Epigenetics received the STS Honorary Medal 2017. Prof. Reth,
a long-time STS member, was honoured for his lifetime contri-
butions on intracellular signaling pathways in lymphocytes and
his pioneering work on the structure and function of the B cell
receptor. Not only did Prof. Reth identify the ITAMs as decisive
signaling modules within immune receptors, he also developed
new techniques for analysing the nanoscale organization of cell
surface proteins. Applying innovative approaches of synthetic biol-
ogy, he defined mechanistic aspects of key signaling processes and
developed a new model of B cell activation. His ideas and work
profoundly influenced and shaped our current understanding of
immunity and lymphoma development. Jürgen Wienands (Göttin-
gen), who had been a group leader in Michael Reth’s laboratory,
and Michael Gold (Vancouver), a long-term competitor, collabora-
tor and close friend of Prof. Reth, gave a very personal laudation.
In his Honorary Medal Lecture, Prof. Reth developed a historical
journey on B cell receptor complex and B cell signaling knowledge
and introduced the use of super-resolution imaging techniques to
explore the nanoworld of B cell receptor signaling. His vivid and
passionate lecture inspired the audiences and was followed by a
lively discussion.
Besides being selected for one of the numerous oral presentation,
all participants had the opportunity to present their poster work
during the well-known ‘one minute – one transparency’ session to
attract the audience to the following extensive poster discussion
in a casual atmosphere. Five poster award winners were selected
from about 50 poster presentations and were rewarded with a
total of 750 € of prize money. Moreover, 10 travel grants were
donated to selected Bachelor/Master or MD/PhD students, who
had applied for this support. The support of young scientists has
always been a key aspect of the STS Joint Meetings. The 2017 STS
Science Award of 1500 € was again co-sponsored by BIOMOL
GmbH. Since 2005 this prize honours outstanding research of a
post-doctoral researcher or a junior principal investigator affiliat-
ed with the Signal Transduction Society. Julia Jellusova (Freiburg)
and Manoj Balakrishna Menon (Hannover) were jointly awarded
the STS Science Award for their individual scientific work and the
presentation of their data at the meeting.
After the meeting is before the meeting, and preparation for the
22nd STS Joint Meeting, scheduled for November 5th to 7th, 2018
at the Leonardo Hotel in Weimar, has already started. The 2018
meeting will simultaneously celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the
STS as a scientific society, and therefore the past and the future
of signal transduction will be especially highlighted by present-
ing central findings of the last two decades as well as giving an
outlook on new concepts. Young scientists are particularly invited
to celebrate this STS event.
Details and updated meeting information can be found at http://
and on the STS Facebook account.
Prof. Dr. Klaudia Giehl
(STS Council), Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen,
Signaltransduktion zellulärer Motilität,
Medizinisches Forschungszentrum Seltersberg,
Aulweg 128 – ForMed, 35392 Gießen,
Email:
MEETING REPORT
