The Prato International Conference on Pore Forming Proteins started from humble beginnings in 2009.  Organised by a group of like-minded researchers from Melbourne Australia, the conference drew heavily on the unification of immune effectors such as the Membrane Attack Complex (MAC) and perforins, together with bacterial virulence factors from the Cholesterol-Dependent Cytolysins (CDC) family of toxins, into a single superfamily of pore forming proteins. Recognising this, the title of this inaugural meeting was Complement, perforins and bacterial CDCs: The hole family with the program being headlined by Rod Tweten (University of Oklahoma) and Piet Gros (Utrecht University).

The conference adopted its current name 3 years later with the second iteration of the meeting recognising that breakthroughs in structural and genomic technologies were driving a rapid expansion of knowledge in the study of not only MACPF/CDC proteins, but also many other protein pore families. Chaired by Michelle Dunstone (Monash University) and Ilia Voskoboinik (Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre), the 2nd meeting featured a plenary talk from John Collier (Harvard University) and included bacterial toxins beyond the CDC family, bacterial secretion systems, pro-apoptotic proteins and technological applications of pores within its themes.

Subsequent iterations of the conference have seen the scope expand further to include all classes of proteins and peptides linked by a common thread; having an ability to form functional pores within lipid bilayer membranes. The conference is the only international conference that accommodates research on proteins pores from all kingdoms of life. Moreover, it welcomes research on new and emerging technologies that have the potential to deliver new insights into mechanisms of protein pore formation, as well as research into the use of pores in new nano- and biotechnologies.

The 4th edition of the conference, held in 2018, featured a workshop specifically focused on Perforin, highlighting the clinical impacts of pore-forming proteins. The 5th edition of the conference, to be held in 2021, will be chaired by Bart Hoogenboom (Imperial College London) and Michael Landsberg (University of Queensland) and will continue to expand the scope of technologies, applications, and protein and peptide families that are covered.  Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this edition of the conference will be held as a virtual meeting and will feature an embedded workshop on applications and impacts of pore forming proteins in the agritech industry.

As the conference continues to grow, we hope you will join our community. Offering an opportunity to connect with friends and colleagues, old and new, we welcome novel and diverse perspectives and seek to encourage wide participation!