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Regulatory RNA 

  • Call for Papers and Posters
  • Submission: July 27, 2015 August 10, 2015

  • Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing
  • January 4-8, 2016
  • Fairmont Orchid Resort, Kohala Coast
  • The Big Island of Hawaii, U.S.A.

Motivation

The human genome encodes nearly as many “non-coding” RNAs as it does protein-encoding mRNAs, yet the functions of most ncRNAs are unknown. Furthermore, it has been estimated that the human genome may encode nearly as many RNA binding proteins as it does DNA binding proteins, yet our understanding of the roles of RNA-binding proteins and the determinants of RNA-protein recognition lag behind our understanding of the mechanisms and regulatory roles of transcription factors.

The emerging roles of ncRNAs in human development and disease, new examples of RNA-based immunity, unanticipated roles of circular RNAs (e.g., as miRNA sponges), novel applications of RNA aptamers, and renewed interest in RNA-based therapeutics present extraordinary opportunities for the computational community. Relatively recent realizations of the importance of ncRNAs in both pre- (e.g., epigenetic) and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression provide strong motivation for such efforts.

Our goal is to bring together scientists investigating structures, functions and dynamics of RNA, RNA-protein complexes (RNPs), and RNA-protein interaction networks, with a focus on the regulatory roles of RNAs and RNPs.

Topics

This session focuses on understanding structures, functions and dynamics of regulatory of RNAs, RNPs and RNA-protein interaction networks. We encourage submissions of new computational algorithms, innovative experimental methods and integrative approaches that combine computational and experimental methods. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Structure determination or modeling of RNA and RNA-protein complexes
  • RNA/RNP function prediction
  • Inference and analysis of RNA-protein interaction networks
  • Modeling approaches that exploit constraints obtained from biochemical or biophysical approaches
  • Methods that take advantage of co-variation data extracted from alignments from large genomic or metagenomic studies
  • Machine learning or statistical tools for predicting RNA-protein interactions, including binding site prediction and interaction partner prediction
  • Methods that generate predictive codes for post-transcriptional regulation
  • Analyses of existing data that reveal new biological insights
  • Comparative approaches that exploit multi-organismal metagenomes, transcriptomes and small RNAomes
  • Methods or analyses that define new RNA-binding domains (including intrinsically disordered ones) or define recognition codes for existing ones

Key dates

Paper submissions due: July 27, 2015 August 10, 2015
Notification of paper acceptance: September 14, 2015
Camera-ready papers due: October 5, 2015
Deadline for poster abstracts: November 17, 2015
PSB 2016 Symposium: January 4-8, 2016

Organizers

Drena Dobbs, Iowa State University, ddobbs@iastate.edu
Steven Brenner, University of California, Berkeley, brenner@compbio.berkeley.edu
Robert Jernigan, Iowa State University, jernigan@iastate.edu
Alain Laederach, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill alain@unc.edu
Vasant G. Honavar, Pennsylvania State University, vhonavar@ist.psu.edu
Quaid Morris, University of Toronto, quaid.morris@utoronto.ca

Submission

The scientific core of the conference consists of rigorously peer-reviewed full-length papers reporting on original work. Accepted papers will be published in an archival proceedings volume (fully indexed in PubMed), and a number of the papers will be selected for presentation during the conference. Scientists who wish to present their research without official publication are encouraged to submit a one-page abstract, and present their work in a poster session.

Please note that the submitted papers are reviewed and accepted on a competitive basis. At least three reviewers will be assigned to each submitted manuscript.

Paper Format
Please follow PSB paper format template and submission instructions at
http://psb.stanford.edu/psb-online/psb-submit/
Submitted papers are limited to twelve (12) pages in the PSB publication format.

Session Contact