DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Red Cell Gordon Conference has provided an informal atmosphere for in-depth discussions on topics related to red cell biology, regulation of erythroid gene expression, hematopoiesis, and clinically related issues. The meeting, which is consistently oversubscribed, draws leading scientists and clinicians from around the world. The 2007 meeting should be especially noteworthy, given the major recent advances in several of the prominent areas. Nine individual sessions are planned. All will feature a short introductory lecture, followed by a topical keynote and four or five full lectures, and one or two shorter talks provided by trainees or junior investigators or late-breaking discoveries of major significance. A new component of this Gordon Conference will be an entire session devoted to a conferee-wide discussion of how the gene-regulatory events guiding erythroid stem-cell maturation are translated into the phenotypic transitions characteristic of this process. We anticipate that this will be a particularly timely and lively discussion that will draw on the broad expertise of all in attendance, from those studying gene regulation to those studying membrane structure and biogenesis. Other major topics include several clinical disorders, from malaria to rare but poorly understood and important diseases affecting the red cell, such as PNH, Diamond Blackfan anemia, and Fanconi's anemia. The session topics are: Session 1. Developmental aspects of hematopoiesis; Session 2. Membrane-cytoskeletal protein interactions; Session 3. Global regulation of gene expression; Session 4. Transcription factors; Session 5. Control of protein diversity during erythropoiesis; Session 6. Signaling in mature and developing red cells; Session 7. Phenotypic transition during erythroid differentiation Session 8. Red cell membrane structure and dynamics; Session 9. Red cell disorders. Afternoon poster sessions will feature a mix of presentations from all disciplines. The diversity of scientific approaches/interests combined with the richness of discussions of previous Red Cell Gordon Conferences has led to numerous productive collaborations and fostered new developments in basic and clinical research. It is also noteworthy that many of our most fundamental understandings of proteins, membranes, cell biology, and many diseases began with studies in the red cell. The Red Cell Gordon Conference has played a major role in fostering these advances. The 2007 conference will continue this tradition.