About the ASMB
Welcome to ASMB!
The mission of the ASMB is to promote research and education on the extracellular matrix (ECM), its role in human disease, and its application to therapy.
The composition of the ECM is diverse, encompassing much more than the classical structural components. Thus, ASMB's reach is broad and includes (yet not limited to) research on:
- Structural ECM components, such as the collagens, laminins, proteoglycans, elastin, fibronectin, matricellular proteins and more
- Mechanisms of how cells interact of ECM components, such as via integrins and other receptors
- How the interactions with the ECM impacts cell behavior, signaling, and gene expression
- The orderly progression of ECM formation during development
- The disruption of the ECM and ECM-mediated processes in hereditable and acquired diseases
- Applying this knowledge to making translational advancements in therapeutics and tissue engineering
Because of its diversity and broad reach, ECM biology ties together a number of basic, translational, and applied disciplines such as developmental and cell biology, biochemistry, cancer biology, inflammation, orthopedics, rheumatology, dermatology, pulmonary medicine, bioengineering, and much more.
One of the principal functions of the ASMB is to provide a forum for ECM biologists of diverse disciplines to meet, interact, exchange ideas, and develop new collaborations. The ASMB Biennial Meeting has been, and will continue to be, the society's most effective means to promote interactions, but we are now reaching out to our members and ECM professionals through our new website and hope that the network of our scientists can continue to thrive and grow through this medium.