Presenters：Mitsunori Fukuda(Tohoku)、Kazuhisa Nakayama(Kyoto University)、Akihiro Harada(Osaka University)、Ken Sato(Gunma University)、Hiroshi Hanafusa(Nagoya University)、Hisataka Sabe(Hokkaido University)

Membrane traffic is a fundamental cellular process that is conserved in all eukaryotic cells, and it is important to maintain cellular homeostasis. In multicellular organisms, membrane traffic also plays a crucial role in high order functions in their highly specialized cells and tissues. Because these special types of membrane traffic are required for biological activities, their defects often cause human diseases, including ciliopathies, neurological disorders, and cancer. In this symposium, we will focus not only on the molecular basis of membrane traffic that underlies high order functions of multicellular organisms but also on diseases related to defects in membrane traffic.

Presenters：Marcos González-Gaitán(University of Geneva)、Lukas Sommer (ETH, Zurich)、Yoshiaki Kubota (Keio University)、Carmen Birchmeier (MDC, Berlin)、Hironobu Fujiwara (RIKEN)、Periklis Pantazis（D-BSSE, ETH）

The aim of this symposium is to address current issues and to bring the future perspective in tissue stem cell research, with main emphasis on development and regeneration and on mechanisms both at cellular and molecular levels. Tissue stem cells have their own cell lineages, distinctive mechanisms of fate choice in morphogenesis and homeostasis, different requirements of growth factors and niches in their regulation, and so on. By introducing several topics on tissue stem cells and their differentiation, we want to discuss general features of mechanisms for stem cell maintenance and differentiation.

Presenters：Yoshihiro Inoue (Kyoto Institute of Technology)、Leo Tsuda (National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology)、Mi-Ae Yoo (Pusan National University)、Yoshitaka Nagai (National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry)

It has been shown that about 75% of causative factors of human diseases are conserved in Drosophila melanogaster. Based on the accumulation of lots of knowledge in genetics and developmental biology, the Drosophila models have been playing important roles for the study of human disease formation. Currently, various trials to search for the candidate drugs against diverse diseases have been performed by oral administration of various chemical compounds to the Drosophila models. These approaches are expected to link to the therapeutic drug development. In this symposium, we try to highlight the recent studies with Drosophila models for diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases, and discuss on their application for drug development.

Presenters：Kazuhiro Aoki (Kyoto University)、Satoshi Sawai (The University of Tokyo)、Hiroshi Ochiai (Hirosima University)、Yoshihiro Ohta (The University of Tokyo)、Mary Teruel (Stanford University)

To elucidate the principles of biological systems, it is necessary to understand the ordered dynamics in complicated biological phenomena. With the advancement of live imaging and gene editing technologies, it has become possible to quantitatively visualize multi-dimensional data in the processes of biological phenomena, and further to build mathematical models to recapitulate the biological systems. In this symposium, we will invite young leading scientists from four “Platforms for Dynamic Approaches to Living System” and Dr. Mary Teruel from Stanford University, and ask to introduce the latest findings on dynamic living systems.

Presenters：Masayuki Miura (The University of Tokyo)、Tatsushi Igaki (Kyoto University)、Hirokazu Tsukaya (The University of Tokyo)、Ryo Miyazaki (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology)、Miki Ebisuya (RIKEN)、Hiroshi Sasaki (Osaka University)

Cell-cell communication plays a key role in developing the structure and function of multicellular systems. Cells establish a unique network by forming a group, which can generate new biological behaviors and functions through cell-cell cooperation and competition. In this symposium, we will focus on the roles and functions of cell-cell communications in multiple model systems and discuss their diversity and common principles in regulating dynamic and robust biological systems.