Sunday, 2nd August

15.00 – 17.30        Arrival and Registration

 17.30 – 18.30        Dinner

19.00                      Welcome

                                      Ravinder Anand-Ivell (UK; Conference Chair)

                                      Professor Jane Norman – Vice-Chancellor of Nottingham University

 19.30 – 21.00. Session 1. Exploring the Relaxin family of hormones and receptors. 

(Chairs: Laura Goldsmith, Guy Salama)

                                      Richard Ivell (UK)

                                             One hundred years of Relaxin’: History of a pioneer.

                                      Ross Bathgate (Australia)

Identification of receptors for relaxin-like peptides as regulators of reproduction in echinoderms.

21:00 - 21:30     Reception Drinks, Vet School Foyer

 Monday, 3rd August

9.00 – 10.30     Session 2. Structural biology of Relaxin family peptide receptors.

                                         (Chairs: Ross Bathgate, Robert Bennett)

                                      Andrew Kruse (USA)

                                              Activation of the RXFP1 receptor by protein and small molecule agonists.

                                      Janik Clement (Australia)

A complete RXFP1–relaxin interaction model unlocks the design of potent mini-protein modulators.

                                      Tim Lkhagvajargal (Australia)

                                             Development of nanobodies targeting the relaxin receptor, RXFP1.

 10.30 – 11.00           Break

 11.00 – 13.00 Session 3. Fibrosis and modulation of the extracellular matrix

                                        (Chairs: Chrishan Samuel, Zoe Garman)

                                     Chrishan Samuel (Australia)

Relaxin-producing stem cells as a potential treatment option for chronic kidney disease.

    Irina Agoulnik (USA)

Activation of RXFP1 with small-molecule inhibitors in breast cancer models to improve immune surveillance

and therapeutic response.            

                                    Zoe Garman (USA)

                                           Relaxin-2 counteracts fibrotic phenotypes in uterine fibroid patient ex-vivo cultures.

                                    Daniel Kass (USA)

                                           Loss of RXFP1 and the Gs-to-Gi shift of fibrosis.

 13.00 – 14.30        Lunch and Networking

 14.30 – 15.30 Session 4. Small molecule development of RXFP agonists and antagonists.

                                        (Chairs: Akhtar Hossain, Carol Bagnell)

                                    Kathleen Connolly (UK)

                                           Effects of AZD3427 in participants with heart failure and pulmonary hypertension Group 2: Results from the

Phase 2b Re-PHIRE Study.

                                   Predrag Kalaba (Australia)

Novel tools for targeting the RXFP3 signaling system.                                                   

15.30 – 16.00        Break 

16.00 – 18.00  Session 5. Neurobiology of Relaxin 3                    

                                     (Chairs: Tharindunee Jayakody, Craig Smith)

                                   Gavin Dawe (Singapore)

                                           The Neurobiology of Relaxin-3.

                                   Tharindunee Jayakody (Sri Lanka)

Role of the extracellular N-terminus of RXFP3 in signaling and drug discovery.

                                    Anna Blasiak (Poland)

Nucleus incertus relaxin-3/RXFP3 network as a key node in stress-driven social seeking.

                                   Craig Smith (Australia)

Transcriptional changes caused by RXFP3 agonist treatment in mouse brain and RXFP3-CHO cells, and

RXFP3 expression within the heart.

 18:00 – 19:00                       Dinner at The Barn, SB

19:00 onwards                   Networking at SB Lawns

Tuesday, 4th August

9.00 – 10.30 Session 6. INSL5: a gut hormone regulating health and disease.

                                    (Chairs: Brian Wilson, Frank Reimann)

                                    Frank Reimann (UK)

                                             INSL5 – an L-cell hormone with a role in colorectal motility.

                                    Akhter Hossain (Australia)

Rational and structure-based design of novel RXFP3 and RXFP4 antagonists.

                                    Brian Wilson (Canada)

                                           INSL5 and inflammation in brain injured zebrafish.

  10.30 – 11.00       Break

 11.00 – 12.00  Session 7. Assays, biomarkers, and antibody crimes.

                                    (Chairs: Franz Paul Armbruster, Ravinder Anand-Ivell)

  Max Diesner (Germany)

The important nuances of measuring human relaxin-2: A tour through mass spectrometry, ELISA and

activity assays.

                                    Richard Ivell (UK)

Assessing INSL3 and RXFP receptors (the importance of assay validation).

12.15 – 20.00           Visit to Lincoln (packed lunch provided)

 14:00 – 15:00        Special Session 8 in the Chapter House, Lincoln Cathedral

 15:00                                         Group Photo

20.00                                         Coach transfer to Hotel and Halls

Wednesday, 5th August

9.00 – 11.00 Session 9. Cardiovascular biology and relaxin clinical trials

            (Chairs: Guy Salama, Thomas Dschietzig)

  Thomas Dschietzig (Germany)

Unique properties of full-length synthetic human relaxin-2 to tackle the HFpEF pandemic: data from

animal models and human HFpEF myocardium.

  Guy Salama (USA)

Functional genomic effects of Relaxin-2 activation of glucocorticoid receptors (GR) in rat and human

cardiac myocytes.

                              Nazha Hamdani (Germany)

Relaxin acutely lowers passive cardiomyocyte stiffness in human HFpEF myocardium and improves

mitochondrial respiration in HFpEF-stressed iPSC cardiomyocytes: translational evidence across human

tissue, ZSF1rats, and iPSC models                                     

Deeptankar Demazumder (USA)

First-in-human subcutaneous relaxin for atrial fibrillation therapy: crossover trial designs for efficient

detection of substrate modification.

 11.00 – 11.30       Break

 11.30 – 13.00  Session 10. The INSL3/RXFP2 system and the relaxin family.

            (Chairs: Irina Agoulnik, Peter Ryan)

  Ravinder Anand-Ivell (UK)

            The INSL3/RXFP2 system in health across the lifespan.

  Bilal Tulumcu (UK)

            Understanding the early causes of the high INSL3 variability in men.

  Federico Hoffmann (USA)

           Comparative genomics of the RLN/INSL gene family and its receptors in ruminants

 13.00 – 14.00        Lunch and Networking

 14.00 – 15.30 Session 11. Novel peptide ligands and receptors in the relaxin family

                              (Chairs: Thomas Klonisch, Weronika Broszkiewicz)

  Sabine Hombach-Klonisch (Canada)

           C1QTNF8 (CTRP8) defines a distinct subset of neuroendocrine epithelial cells across normal and tumor tissues

Thomas Klonisch (Canada)

           CTRP8-RXFP1 affects stress adaptation in glioma.

  Weronika Broszkiewicz (Poland)

Relaxin-2 as a double-edged modulator of glucocorticoid response in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

 15.30 – 16.00        Break

 16.00 – 19.00  Session 12. Emerging young science of relaxin and receptors.

            (Chairs: Chrishan Samuel, Alana Argon-Herrera, Bilal Tulumcu)

Short talks from young scientists. (10 mins + 5 mins discussion)

   Katherine M. Hohl (USA)

       Relaxin-2 reduces hypertrophic scar formation in an in vivo porcine burn injury model.

  James Osei-Owusu (USA)

                          Inhibition of RXFP1 signaling by a synthetic nanobody.

  Spoorthy Kulkarni (UK)

       Distinct vascular-bed effects and systemic haemodynamic-proteomic trends secondary to acute relaxin-2

infusion in healthy humans.

      Bettina Leber (Austria)

       Relaxin-2 at the regeneration – fibrosis interface: mechanistic opportunities for restoring liver growth after

partial hepatectomy.

  Alana Aragón-Herrera (Spain)

       Relaxin-2: shaping the proteomic landscape of skeletal muscle physiology, glucose trafficking, and mitochondrial

function in rat.

  Xinyuan Yang (UK)

           Influence of severe Covid-19 on INSL3 and gonadal function in hospitalized men.

  Therese Riedemann (Germany)

           Relaxin’ cortical circuits: Effects of relaxin on synaptic transmission in mouse cortex.

            Saradindu Banerjee (Australia)

       Characterizing the antidepressant potential of a new BBB permeable RXFP3 agonist in rodents.

  Mohamad Ali Ahmadi (Australia)

               Biophysical analysis of H2 relaxin binding to the glucocorticoid receptor.

  Francisco Olucha Bordonau (Spain)

           RXFP3 signaling within specific inhibitory microcircuits, like SST+ neurons, dynamically balances adaptive social

structures involved in agonistic behaviour.

 19.00 – 21.00        Dinner and Networking

Thursday, 6th August

9.00 – 11.00 Session 13. One health in the relaxin family: model species and systems.

           (Chairs: Gary England, Laura Parry)

  Peter Ryan (USA)

           The reproductive physiological function of relaxin in mammals – 100 years!

  Carol Bagnell (USA)

              Relaxin and the Milky way:  An update on the lactocrine hypothesis and one health.       

  Merrilee Thoresen (USA)

           Investigations of mRNA therapy to induce expression of H2 relaxin in the reproductive tract of cattle, a species that

cannot naturally express the molecule.

  Philipp Schlegel (Germany)

           RXFP1 gene therapy attenuates pressure overload induced cardiac remodelling in a large animal model.

11:00 – 11.30       Break

 11.30 – 13.00  Session 14. Species diversity of relaxin family roles and functions.

            (Chairs:  Sabine Hombach-Klonisch, Gavin Dawe)

  Laura Goldsmith (USA)

            Primate studies of pregnancy initiation and maintenance.

  Robert Bennett (USA)

       Development of a dual-fluorescence reporter mouse to monitor protein expression of the relaxin receptor RXFP1.   

  Laura Parry (Australia)

       From corpus luteum to pouch life: the remarkable biology of marsupial relaxin.                                         

13.00 – 14.00        Lunch and Networking

 14.00 – 15.30        The final round-up!  (Discussion)                 

15.30 – 16:00       Break                                  

Final Relaxin2026 Programme