About the Workshop
How does a cell recognize and resolve protein folding problems in the right place and at the right time? Protein quality control relies on molecular chaperones, surveillance factors and degradation machineries operating in cellular environments with distinct physical and biochemical properties. Understanding how these systems make local decisions, and coordinate their activities across compartments, is essential to explain how cells preserve a functional proteome.
This workshop will explore the molecular mechanisms and spatial organisation of protein quality control, from nascent chains emerging from the ribosome to proteins navigating organelle boundaries or entering biomolecular condensates. Topics include co-translational folding and complex assembly, the organisation and evolution of chaperone networks, nuclear and mitochondrial surveillance, and the coupling of membrane-protein biogenesis to quality control. We will examine how protein-lipid interactions, compartment boundaries and condensate properties influence protein fate and how substrate recognition directs aberrant proteins towards refolding, disaggregation or degradation.
Structural, single-molecule and live-cell approaches, together with proteome-wide and computational methods, will connect the actions of individual molecular machines to coordinated cellular responses. These mechanistic insights will inform discussions of disease-associated proteostasis failure and emerging strategies to modulate protein quality control, including AI-assisted discovery of pharmacological chaperones.
This workshop will provide an inclusive setting for exchanging unpublished findings, discussing unresolved mechanisms and developing collaborations across disciplines. Short talks selected from abstracts, three poster sessions and dedicated networking activities will give trainees and early-career investigators prominent opportunities to present their work and engage with the community.
This EMBO Workshop will take place at Torre Cintola on the Adriatic coast near Monopoli, Puglia, in a setting that combines coastal scenery with a rich cultural heritage.
Registration and payment will open on 15 December 2026. Registration fees will be announced shortly. For any questions, including enquiries about visa applications that may require advance planning, please contact embo2027pqc@gmail.com.
Image credits: Banner image created by the organizers with AI-assisted tools
About EMBO Courses and Workshops
EMBO Courses and Workshops are selected for their excellent scientific quality and timelines, provision of good networking activities for all participants and speaker gender diversity (at least 40% of speakers must be from the underrepresented gender).
Organisers are encouraged to implement measures to make the meeting environmentally more sustainable.