The first international forum on relaxin was a workshop held in Hawaii in 1980. This was followed by the Kroc Foundation conference in Santa Ynes, California in 1981 and then the First International Congress on the Hormone Relaxin in Florence in 1982. After a hiatus of several years, the Second International Congress on the Hormone Relaxin was held in Adelaide in 1994. Since that time, the enormous advances in molecular biology and protein chemistry have led to a stellar growth in relaxin research. Novel sites of action of the hormone have been elucidated, numerous new mammalian primary structures determined, more detailed mechanisms of action postulated, the control of relaxin secretion better understood, non-pregnant roles of the hormone identified, and, importantly, relaxin-related peptides (particularly INSL 3 and 5) identified and possible synergistic actions with relaxin proposed. A raft of novel clinical applications of relaxin has also been explored. Together, these exciting developments made the time ripe for a third international conference. We were therefore delighted to welcome many colleagues, old and new, at Relaxin 2000, the first international forum on relaxin and related peptides in the new Millennium. This conference, which we hope will now be held every four to five years, was held at the Cable Beach Inter-Continental Resort at the delightful old pearling town of Broome in the far north-west of Australia from 22-27 October, 2000.

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Preface. Relaxin 2000 Committees. Sponsors. Young Investigators Awards. In memoriam. Abbreviations. Section 1: Plenary Lecture. Hooked on relaxin: A career-long love affair with a fickle and elusive hormone; B.G. Steinetz. Section 2: Reproductive Physiology of Relaxin I - Peripartum Period. Effects of relaxin on the cervix and the vagina in the rat; O.D. Sherwood, S. Zhao. Relaxin retards apoptosis in the cervix and the vagina during pregnancy in rats; S. Zhao, O.D. Sherwood. Synthesis and function of relaxin in human endometrium; G. Weiss, et al. Analysis of relaxin deficient mice; L. Zhao, et al. Relaxin is a key regulatory peptide in the reproductive tract of the pregnant tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii; L.J. Parry. Characterization of preprorelaxin in a marsupial, the tammar wallaby Macropus eugenii; L.J. Parry, R. Ivell. Possible role of the insulin-like growth factor family for the bovine ovarian function; D. Schams, et al. Identification of consensus sequences in the rat relaxin promoter which bind nuclear proteins; P. Fu, et al. Section 5: Cardiovascular Physiology of Relaxin. Effects of relaxin on experimentally-induced myocardial infarction. Is this hormone a natural shield against cardiovascular disease? M. Bigazzi, et al. Systemic relaxin administration stimulates angiogenic cytokine expression and vessel formation in a rat myocardial infarct model; M. Lewis, et al. Is relaxin the elusive' vasodilator of pregnancy? K.P. Conrad, et al. Reproductive hormones and blood pressure during pregnancy; P. Kristiansson, J.X. Wang. The effect of relaxin on vascular function in rat aorta; J.J. Reid, et al. Cardiovascular phenotypes of relaxin knockout mice: Importance of gender; X.-J. Du, et al. Section 6: Physiology of Relaxin I - Brain. Relaxin action on and in the brain; A.J.S. Summerlee, J.D. Silvertown. Neurons and neural pathways mediating the actions of circulating relaxin on the brain; M.J. McKinely, et al. Identification of relaxin and relaxin responsive cells in the rat brain; T.C.D. Burazin, et al. Chemical synthesis and relaxin activity of rat insulin 3; K.J. Smith, et al. Section 9: Relaxin Bioassays. Structure-activity relationships of relaxin and relaxin-like factor/Insulin 3; Y.-Y. Tan, et al. Relaxin bioassays; M.E. Erikson, S.-H. Liu. Bioassays for relaxin and relaxin-related peptides; Y.Y. Tan, et al. A highly sensitive homologous human relaxin ELISA; F.P. Armbruster, et al. Section 10: Relaxin-induced Signal Transduction. Relaxin and scaffolding proteins in signalling crosstalk; B.M. Sanborn, et al. Mechanism of action of relaxin in human cervix; L.T. Goldsmith, et al. Myometrial relaxant action of relaxin; M. Hollingsworth, et al. The use of biosensor technology to search for orphan biomolecules: towards the relaxin receptor; E. Nice, et al. Relaxin signal transduction couples tyrosine phosphorylation to cAMP upregulation; O. Bartsch, et al. Relaxin activating effect on the adnylyl cyclase and glycogen synthase in muscles of mammals and molluscs; L. Kuznetsova, et al. Relaxin modulates fibrillin-2, but not fibrillin-1, gene expression by human dermal fibroblasts; C.S. Samuel, et al. Effect of relaxin on normal and impaired wound healing in rodents; X. Huang, et al. The formation of amyloid fibrils by relaxin; C.E. MacPhee, et al. Section 13: Clinical Aspects of Relaxin II - Joints, Breast Cancer and Delivery. Pelvic girdle relaxation, developmental dysplasia of the hip and the hormone relaxin - are they loosely connected? A.H. MacLennan. Back pain in IVF-induced and spontaneous pregnancies; P. Kristiansson, et al. Immunohistochemical detection of relaxin binding to ligaments to the thumb and knee; S. Galey, et al. Pre term delivery predicted by serum relaxin; I. Vogel, et al. High serum concentrations of relaxin correlate with dissemination of breast cancer; C. Binder, et al. Relationship of serum relaxin levels to knee joint laxity in female athletes; C. Arnold, et al.< ...