World Congress of the International Society for Enzymology

Clinica Chimica Acta 303 (2001) S1–S7 www.elsevier.com / locate / clinchim

ISE Newsletter

World Congress of the International Society for Enzymology Naples, Italy, May 21–24, 2000 This meeting, under the umbrella title Basic and Clinical Enzymology 2000, represented a joint meeting between our Society and Clinbio 2000, composite term covering the Tenth International Conference on Laboratory Medicine and the Seventh European Conference of Clinical and Molecular Biology. It was held in the Royal-Continental Hotels of Via Partenope flanking the glorious esplanade of Santa Lucia, in close proximity to Castel Uovo, and a relatively short distance from the Royal Palace adjoining the majestic Piazza Plebiscito. It was organized by the current President of ISE, Dr. Francesco Salvatore, with Drs. F. Cimino and M. Plebani providing invaluable help as co-Chairmen. The Opening Ceremony was a remarkable occasion. A series of Welcome Addresses by officers of the Society, local dignitaries, and the Italian Minister for Universities and Scientific Research were followed by Plenary Lectures given by two distinguished Nobel Prize Winners. Christian De Duve of Brussels, who won the prize in 1974, spoke on Strategies of Biomedical Research. He was followed by Arthur Kornberg, who received the award in 1959 and whose topic was Ten Commandments for the Enzymology of DNA Replication. The Society had never previously attracted a speaker who had already won the Nobel Prize, although Kary Mullis who spoke at the 1990 meeting in Toronto received the award two years later. Having two Laureates was in itself a significant coup. The quality of the lectures raised the occasion into the highest realm of science and beyond the mere satisfaction of seeing two legendary investigators on the podium. A concert of Baroque Music followed and the evening terminated

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with a Buffet offering superb examples of Neapolitan cuisine. From that point onwards the scientific sessions over the next three days comprised two concurrent Symposia in the morning and the same again in the afternoon. This meant that the hundred or so registrants had to divide their attention between two competing auditoria. To an extent, this diluted the interaction between speakers and audience, and it generated a need to scramble from one hall to the other when selecting from both the presentations of maximal interest. Nevertheless, neither the speakers or the audience articulated much in the way of complaints, and everyone seemed to adapt well to the situation. The Scientific Program got off to a good start with two Symposia on Monday, 22 nd May. The first of these, Molecular Aspects in Clinical Molecular Biology included lectures by J.-J. Cassiman (Leuven, Belgium) on the Functions of Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) Protein; by C.H.C.M. Buys (Groningen, The Netherlands) on DNA-based Diagnosis of Glycogen Storage Disease Type 1a; by A. Gal (Hamburg, Germany) on Molecular Genetics of X-Linked Nonspecific Mental Retardation. The second Symposium of the morning on Enzymes of Oxidative Phosphorylation started with The Structure and Mechanism of Action of ATP Synthase given by Y. Hatefi (La Jolla, CA, USA), and was followed by Cytochrome Complex III of the Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain – Bifurcation of Electron Flow by a Conformational Switch; this was presented by U. Brandt (Frankfurt, Germany). A Workshop: Evaluation of Enzyme Activities in

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the High Throughput Clinical Chemistry Analyzer, sponsored by Abbott, was chaired by Robert Strom (Rome, Italy) and straddled a lunch break. In the afternoon, the first Symposium: Tyrosine Kinases and Downstream Signalling included presentations by G.T. Plowman (San Francisco, CA, USA) on Origin and Diversification of Eukaryotic Protein Kinases, and Combinatorial Signal Transduction by Oncogenic Growth Factor Receptors, presented by Y. Yarden (Rehovot, Israel). The second Symposium of the afternoon was devoted to: Cardiac Enzymes and Markers. The relevance of this Symposium for clinical and diagnostic practice was not lost on an enthusiastic audience. The various papers dealt with release and intracellular localizations as markers of reversible and irreversible cardiac damage; diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome; biochemical markers – what is current, what is redundant?; integration between the clinical laboratory and emergency department; cardiac markers as early expression of angiogenesis, and a new enzyme in the field of chronic inflammation – acid nucleoside triphosphatase. A large contingent of foreign speakers participated: R. Rej (Albany, USA), J. Ravkilde (Aalborg, Denmark), P.L. Wolf (San Diego, CA, USA) and N. Dahlmann (Hamburg, Germany). The other two lecturers, M. Panteghini (Brescia, Italy) and M. Zaninotto (Padova, Italy) enjoy a distinguished reputation outside their native Italy, both making excellent contributions. On Tuesday, the first morning session was devoted to Clinical Enzymology: Genetic, Molecular and Pharmacological Aspects. Seven speakers addressed a range of themes including crucial aspects of standardization, the interaction of alcohol and enzymes, a low enzyme activity that is predictive of spontaneous abortion in humans, drug metabolizing enzymes, CEA-related cell adhesion molecule and its effect upon vascular endothelial growth, iron metabolism complexity, and the role of dopamine peroxidase in neuromelanin biosynthesis. The second Symposium embraced Structural Biology of Enzymes. It included two excellent presentations, one from R.W. Carrell (Cambridge, UK) on the conformational activation of antithrombin and heparin. A later presentation by D.R. Davies (Bethesda, USA) on the molecular basis for substrate channeling in multienzyme complexes introduced some exciting

new concepts concerning the topographical regulation of activity in these complex enzyme systems. Two Workshops ran concurrently with the luncheon break. The first, by Roche Diagnostics, dealt with Osteoporosis and Bone Markers, while the second sponsored by Beckman Coulter encompassed Bone and Prostate Enzymes. Two Symposia were held during the afternoon of Tuesday, 23 rd May. The first: Proteases and Nucleases in Pathology and Therapy included a lecture by J.F. Riordan (Boston, USA) describing the nuclease activity of angiogenin, while a later paper by K. Dano (Copenhagen, Denmark) described cancer invasion and tissue remodeling as related to proteolytic matrix degradation. The second Symposium that afternoon was devoted to Enzymes in Neoplasia. The initial lecture, by M. Plebani (Padova, Italy), dealt with the role of enzymes in the metastatic process. This was followed by S.M. Kelsey (London, UK) who spoke on caspases and apoptosis in malignancy. M.K. Schwartz (New York, USA) who has towered like a giant over this area of enzymology over three decades spoke about enzyme inhibition in the control of neoplasia, followed by H.A. Fritsche (Houston, USA) who presented interesting information on computerized diagnosis of prostate cancer. As so often happens on the last day of a 3-day Conference, the attendance started to wilt. Departures occasioned by tight travel schedules accounted for many of the empty seats. Others testified to a mad headlong rush by scientists incarcerated over the last two days and whose final opportunity had come to see some of the glories of this fascinating city blessed as much by its history as its geography. Nonetheless, many good things continued to happen in the air-conditioned but rarefied atmosphere of the conference center. A Symposium: Basic Enzymology and Pharmacology of Peptides discussed definitions, mechanism-based drug design, X-ray crystallography applications, the impact of genes upon enzyme structure, folate-dependent enzymes, enzymatic transition states and design of inhibitors, and the diagnostic role of troponin T in predicting heart transplant rejection. Three of the speakers were from USA: D.L. Purich (Gainesville), R.G. Matthews (Ann Arbor), V.L. Schramm (Bronx, NY). If it was hard to discern a common link between the in-

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dividual lectures in this Symposium, this was certainly not true of Basic and Clinical Aspects of Human Kallikreins. In fact, this session suffered from a certain amount of overlap and redundancy, but was notable for a large number of high-quality presentations, all of the participants being distinguished foreign guests. The roster of speakers included J. Clements (Brisbane, Australia), E.P. Diamandis (Toronto, Canada), H. Lilja (Malmo, Sweden), H. Rittenhouse (San Diego, USA), and S.P. Little (Indianapolis, USA). This was the only Symposium with commercial sponsorship: Beckman Coulter Corporation and Eli Lilly Company. For the final afternoon, Symposia devoted to Enzymology of Nucleic Acids and Enzymology of Apoptosis and its Physiopathological Implications brought the scientific program to a conclusion. The first Symposium featured P. Schar (Zurich, Switzerland), together with T. von Zglinicki (Newcastle, UK), and the second was notable for lectures by H. Walczak (Heidelberg, Germany) and B.A. Hemmings (Basel, Switzerland). All in all, this was a tough uncompromising program that took no prisoners. It required intense concentration, a genuine interest in the very specialized topics forming the presentations, and some familiarity with nomenclature and jargon, problems that are making communication between scientists in different topic areas difficult to comprehend and to sustain. There was an over-emphasis on presenting recent personal research data at the expense of providing general overviews that could crystallize the topic for scientists outside the field who will not benefit from gory practical details. Perhaps the extension of the program from 36 to 72 papers created the space for this amount of specialization. Some of the registrants felt that they would have benefited from a series of plenary lectures in the course of which whole sections of enzymology could have been broadly summarized. Doubtless, these are issues that future organizers will have to consider. A final word about the organization is necessary. This was superb. The facilities within the two auditoria were state of the art. Apart from the Opening Ceremony, all other scientific sessions started on time or no more than a few minutes late. The registration desk, staffed by Emmezeta Congressi was a source of smiles and useful information,

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with much help being given to those who had to change their travel arrangements or who wished to book tours. Special mention must be made of Ms. Eliana Stendardo who directed this operation with charm and efficiency. The Final Program ran to more than 157 glossy pages, being packed with information that included Abstracts of the Symposium presentations, as well as Abstracts of the 52 Posters that were displayed in the special viewing area. Of this number, all but one (from Argentina) was from Italy. This comes as a great disappointment: not that the Italian Posters were not of high standard, but their exclusively Italian origin points to our failure to convey awareness about this Congress on a wide international basis, combined with the fact that the timing of announcements made it extremely difficult for nonItalians to comply with the deadline for Poster submissions. On a more up-beat note, it should be recorded that the hospitality met the awesome standards of quality and generosity that characterize scientific meetings in Italy. Although no specific times were set aside for coffee breaks, coffee there was in plenty, usually in the form of that black concentrated tasty nectar dispensed in the usual doll’s house cups that elevate imbibing to a liqueur-like experience. A fine assortment of juices was always available demonstrating the creative artistry in this form of confectionery for which Italy is famous. Sit-down lunches with delicious local wines were served at a delightful restaurant, La Bersagliera, situated at the water’s edge opposite the hotels and adjoining one of Italy’s premier Yacht Clubs. It was here that the real Naples came alive and, for an hour or so, swept the dusty cobwebs of science from the jaded minds of the registrants. In closing, it is appropriate to extend our warm thanks and congratulations to Franco Salvatore and his colleagues for a memorable four days. Thanks must also be expressed to those commercial companies providing essential financial support: Principal sponsor – Roche Diagnostics Major sponsors – Bayer Dade Behring; Eurogenetics Italia; PE Biosystems Sponsors – A. Menarini; Abbott; Beckman Coulter; Bouty; Dasit; Instrumentation Laboratory; Momo Line; Ortho Clinical Diagnostics.

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Minutes of the General Business Meeting Held at Continental Hotel Naples, Italy Tuesday, 23rd May 2000 commencing at 12.30 p.m.

Present: Dr. F. Salvatore (Chair and President), together with 13 other members. Regrets: Dr. G. Ailhaud, Dr. C.P. Price.

1. Minutes of Meeting of Board, Venice, Friday, 4 th May, 1999 Because of the poor turnout for the General Business Meeting in Venice on Saturday, 5 th May, 1999, it had been agreed not to proceed with that meeting but instead to circulate the Minutes of the Board Meeting that had taken place the previous day (Friday, 4 th May, 1999). This would serve as an official record of ISE business transacted in Venice, and it had been circulated to the entire membership as part of the Newsletter. These Minutes had been approved by the Board at its meeting in Naples on Monday, May 22, 2000.

2. Business Arising (a) Status of Incorporation: This matter had been intensively investigated by Dr. M.K. Schwartz. The legal firm providing advice had prepared a drastically revised constitution which had been circulated to all members for consideration at the Business Meeting with the due notice required by the present Constitution. Dr. Goldberg had studied this document meticulously and was very concerned about a number of proposals that he deemed to be unworkable: for example, the requirement for a Business Meeting of the Society every year. Annual elections of Office bearers also seemed to be mandatory. Bearing in mind the low expectation of income in the foreseeable future, there was doubt about the wisdom of proceeding. It was agreed that Drs. Goldberg and Schwartz would compile a list of those changes proposed by the lawyers to ascer-

tain whether they were absolutely necessary, and to determine the minimum constitutional changes that would be legally required to qualify for incorporation. (b) Final Report on Venice Meeting: Dr. Plebani circulated a final financial report which forms an Appendix to these Minutes and may be obtained by direct application to the Secretary. In brief, 149 million lira was received from 29 commercial sponsors; registration fees amounted to 22,600,000 lira, and the total expenses were 1,740,000.00 lira (approx.). This represented a small deficit that Dr. Plebani agreed to cover from profits of earlier congresses that he had organized. The total amount borne by ISE was 13,170,000 lira. This report was unanimously adopted, and the membership felt that Dr. Plebani had done a remarkable job in putting on a top quality scientific meeting under very difficult financial circumstances. The cost to the Society was considered worthwhile given the impact of this meeting and its status as an IFCC satellite program. It was gratifying to report that a complete volume of Clinica Chimica Acta had been published under the Editorship of Dr. Plebani incorporating many of the papers presented, while those dealing with diagnostic cardiology were independently published in Clin Chem Lab Med, Vol. 37, Parts 11 and 12, 1999. A copy of this report is available from the Secretary upon request.

3. Alterations to Constitution In light of the earlier decision not to proceed with incorporation pending clarification of the need for certain changes that would be very difficult to implement, the New Constitution was tabled. It can be re-considered at any time on a simple majority

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vote of the Board. However, three new clauses of this Constitution were considered desirable at this time. 1. Item 10, Meeting by Telephone. The Board or a Committee of the Board may participate in a meeting of the Board or a Committee, by means of a telephone conference call or any other means of communication by which all persons participating in the meeting are able to hear each other. 2. Item 12, Committees of the Board. The Board may appoint one or more committees (other than the Nominating Committee and Constitution Committee, already designated) to examine specific issues related to the administration of the Society. Membership of such committees may include non-Board as well as Board members, but the Chair (to be appointed by the Board) will be a full Board member. Such committees will comprise up to 6 full members who may be nominated by the Board or proposed by the Chair with Board approval. The Board will also determine the terms of reference, tenure and duration of the Committee and its individual members, as well as its reporting responsibilities. 3. Item 13, Compensation. No member of the Board shall receive any fee, salary or remuneration for their services, but they may be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred on Board business and upon presentation of receipts. These changes were unanimously adopted.

4. President’s Report This was presented by Dr. Goldberg as out-going President to cover events since the last Board and General Meetings in Venice last May. (a) Election of New Board: This had proceeded smoothly. The Nominations Committee recommended a slate of candidates that was circulated to the membership with biographical details and a request for additional nominations. Since none were forthcoming by the deadline, the Board elected to take Office from 1 st January 2000

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comprised the following: President: Dr. Franco Salvatore (Naples); Vice-President: Dr. Mario Plebani (Padua); Secretary: Dr. E.P. Diamandis (Toronto); Treasurer: Dr. M.K. Schwartz (New York); Ex-President: Dr. D.M. Goldberg (Toronto); Councillors: Dr. C.P. Price (London), Dr. G. Ailhaud (Nice). This last position will fall vacant on 1 st January 2002 and Dr. Ailhaud is not eligible for re-election. Some correspondence had suggested an element of confusion about whether the new Board had in fact been elected but a Newsletter had been sent out making this announcement. (b) Newsletter: This was an essential instrument for maintaining contact with the membership. Its preparation was the responsibility of the exPresident, but during the past four years Dr. Schwartz had taken on the role of Treasurer and Dr. Goldberg had agreed to assume responsibility for the Newsletter. Over the past four years, 7 Newsletters have been sent out, four of which were published in Clinica Chimica Acta. Such publication helped to maintain a unique and permanent record of the activities of the Society as well as drawing its existence to the attention of a wide community of scientists. A difficulty concerns information where action is required before a given deadline. The speed of publication by Elsevier does not lend itself to the rapid dissemination of time-sensitive material to the membership. On the other hand, the Editor of the Journal (Dr. D.W. Moss) declined to publish Newsletters where such deadlines had expired prior to the date of publication. In such instances, Newsletters were prepared as photocopies and mailed to members rather than the CCA off-prints which, as it happens, involves a significant expense since only 50 copies are provided free to the Society. The issue of electronic mailing was briefly discussed, and was subsequently taken up once again (vide infra). Dr. Goldberg drew attention to another major problem: The negative response to requests to Board and other members of the Society for news items to be included. (c) Future Meetings: Dr. Goldberg reported that Dr. G. Ailhaud had reluctantly withdrawn his offer to organize a meeting of the Society in France in

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2002 as no suitable organization could be identified as a joint sponsor, and the risks of proceeding with a stand-alone meeting were too great. The following proposals were considered: (i) Satellite Meeting Before or After Annual Meeting of AACC: This was not received with enthusiasm. (ii) Satellite Meeting with IFCC in Japan, 2002: Dr. Diamandis will try and identify a suitable Japanese contact. (iii) Satellite Meeting with European Congress of Clinical Chemistry, Prague, May 2001: A number of individuals had serious reservations about the wisdom of becoming involved in this meeting at short notice. Dr. Plebani agreed to look into this matter and to report back to the Board, but a deadline of September 1 was set for a final decision. It became apparent that there was a need to develop a long-term strategy in the planning of future ISE meetings. For this purpose it was agreed to establish a Meetings Committee, chaired by Dr. Plebani, with membership restricted to individuals who are not members of the Board. The notion of having a member for each major country was considered cumbersome; it was recommended instead that the Committee should comprise the Chair and up to 6 other persons. A group of this size would be manageable, and input could be solicited by correspondence or other means from many more. Dr. Plebani will attempt to establish such a committee and will inform the Board of its composition. The report was adopted nem con.

5. Secretary’s Report Dr. Diamandis reported that the current membership of the Society stood at 450, of whom around 65% were Italians. He had taken great pains to develop an electronic database for as many members as possible and this work was still on-going. The application form had also been transcribed to electronic format. Dr. Diamandis referred to a Memorandum that he had sent by e-mail to all Board Members incorporating the following proposals for re-organizing the Society:

(a) A Website should be established. The address www.enzymology.com was approved. (b) All future communications with members would take place electronically, apart from those who lacked e-mail facilities and who did have valid postal addresses. This will greatly cut down the cost of preparing and mailing documents such as Newsletters. (c) Appointment of Director of Communications: Dr. Diamandis proposed that such a position be created outwith the Board, and he put forward the name of Dr. I.L. Bromberg for the position. This idea was accepted in principle, but the terms of reference will have to be defined, and any communication sent out by such an individual would require the approval of the President. (d) Expansion of Membership: Dr. Diamandis proposed that invitations should be widely disseminated, through membership lists of other Societies, soliciting membership in ISE without cost, and that the Society should become subscription-free. This idea did not receive any support, but a compromise proposal was put forward by Dr. Goldberg with the support of Dr. Salvatore to the effect that for a 3-year trial period we should send out invitations along the lines envisaged by Dr. Diamandis for Corresponding Membership. This would be without cost. Such persons will have no voting rights, can not hold office, and would not be eligible for reduced registration at meetings of the Society. On the other hand they would be kept fully informed of the activities of the Society, having access to our website. They would receive Newsletters and they could attend Business Meetings as observers only. This idea was approved for a trial period terminating 31 st December 2003. The arrangement would be somewhat informal, and would not involve at this juncture a change to the Constitution because of the trial nature of the arrangement, but if it proved to be successful, the Constitution could be altered accordingly. (e) Commercial Sponsors: It was felt that once the website was up and running, and if the drive for corresponding membership was successful, attempts should be made to reinstitute corporate

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membership with privileges that would include website linkage. This report was adopted nem con.

6. Treasurer’s Report Dr. M.K. Schwartz presented the financial summary covering the last 12 months. Over this period total assets had declined from USD149,380.00 to USD143,836.00 a decrease of USD5,543.00. USD36,099.00 was in a chequing account and USD107,736.00 in a 7-day account with Citibank, NY. Interest received over this period totalled USD4,755.00. Total ISE expenses incurred, as a consequence of the Venice meeting, were USD12,481.00. Other expenses included payment of lawyer’s fees (USD1,220.00, and Income Tax USD 1,027.00). The full financial summary forms an Appendix to these Minutes that can be obtained on ]]] application to the Secretary. Considerable discussion ensued. Dr. M. Werner challenged the high hotel bills incurred during the Venice Meeting, but was informed that although the individuals who benefited had requested much cheaper accommodation, this was not available at the time of the Congress. Dr. P. Wolf suggested that the current account could still qualify for interest as well as chequing privileges simultaneously. Dr. Schwartz agreed to look into this possibility. This Report was approved nem con.

7. Other Business (a) Free Membership for Invited Speakers: Dr. Diamandis indicated that he has invited speakers at the previous three meetings of the Society to become members. All had agreed. Considerable skepticism was expressed about this initiative, since no one could recall any previous speakers who had on their own initiative registered for a subsequent meeting. However, it was agreed to offer membership without subscription for a 2-

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year trial period to these previous speakers, with the policy being reviewed at the end of that period in light of the extent to which such members took an active part in the Society. (b) History of Society: Dr. R. Rej suggested that it would be essential to develop such a document, particularly in the light of establishing a website. The idea was warmly accepted. Dr. Rej was asked whether he would be willing to take the first steps in establishing such a document. (c) Weakesses of Society: Dr. M. Werner felt that the Society was highly effective in discharging two of its basic mandates: the organization of meetings, and the publications of the ensuing Proceedings. Weaknesses included the deplorable lack of young investigators, together with the lack of commitment on the part of many senior members, even those who had agreed to take office on the Board. There was general agreement that these were problems for which no solution had ever been identified. Dr. Salvatore undertook to send a presidential letter to all members in the near future exhorting them to play a more active part in the affairs of the Society at all levels.

8. Vote of Thanks Dr. Schwartz moved, and it was unanimously agreed, that we record our thanks to Dr. Salvatore for his organization of the current Congress. Thanks were also expressed to the outgoing President, Dr. D.M. Goldberg and it was hoped that Dr. Salvatore’s term of office would bring great success to the Society as well as personal joy to the President. The meeting terminated at 3:10 p.m. David M. Goldberg Professor Emeritus Dept. of Laboratory Medicine University of Toronto, Banting Institute 100 College St., Toronto ON M5 G 1 L5, Canada