Diapause Conference, 2-6 June 2019, Monte Verita, Switzerland

Embryonic diapause is a temporary delay or arrest of development of the mammalian embryo. Diapause was first reported in the scientific literature more than 150 years ago in roe deer. While neither the signals regulating entry into diapause nor the factors responsible for embryonic reactivation have been identified in roe deer yet, studies from a number of model species of the zoological orders Marsupialia, Carnivora and Rodentia have conferred basic information about the embryology and maternal regulation of diapause. More recently, novel tools of molecular biology have allowed the elucidation of the underlying mechanisms. While there is a growing list of growth factors and cytokines shown to induce reactivation, there are no known reliable molecular markers of a blastocyst in diapause, beyond the canonical cell cycle arrest and reduced metabolism. Taken together, our evidence is currently fragmentary and diapause still poses a large number of unsolved and intriguing questions.

The overall goal of the conference is to provide a 21st century perspective on the phenomenon of diapause. It is of specific interest to assemble an insight into both the regulation of developmental arrest of the embryo and its reactivation. Given that diapause is an inducible arrest in cell proliferation and differentiation, research interest has recently arisen in the field of cancer research, as cancerous tissues of have lost the capacity to regulate proliferation. Understanding embryonic developmental rate may elucidate early discontinuous development as a trait common to all mammals. This is of particular interest for artificial reproductive techniques in species including livestock and humans. The conference will further confer a better understanding of the evolutionary and physiological significance of diapause to embryonic growth and development.

More information: https://www.diapause2019.ethz.ch/