European Intermediate Filament Meeting
Intermediate Filaments (IFs) are essential components of the cytoskeleton.
Belonging to a family of > 70 genes, IFs sustain the structure of the cell, provide mechanoresistance to tissues and play specific organ-dependant functions. Thus, IFs are key players in various biological functions, including regulation of the dynamics of organelles and microtubules, gene expression, cell migration, tissue repair, metastatic progression, synaptic transmission, cell differentiation, signal transduction and inflammatory response. The importance of IFs is further revealed by the large number of human diseases (>80 pathologies) caused by direct mutations in the IF encoding genes and which target all tissues in the body.