FEBSCourse: Recombinant DNA Technology and Protein Expression

FEBSCourse: Recombinant DNA Technology and Protein Expression

• September 21, 2003 - September 27, 2003

• Bucharest

FEBSAdvanced Theoretical and Practical Course:

RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY & PROTEIN EXPRESSION

September 21 – 27, 2003

Bucharest, Romania

Organizers:

Romanian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy

Ph.D. Student Catalin Lazar, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania

Location of the course:

Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy,Bucharest, Romania. 

The Institute has the necessary laboratory space, equipment and special halls for seminars and lectures. 

Aim of the course:

The aim of this course is to help the young biochemists acquire the basic skills in manipulating DNA and RNA, building recombinant DNA and expressing recombinant proteins in the prokaryotic and eukaryotic system. This course is intended to offer to participants an introduction to the state-of-the-art techniques in molecular biology.

Participants:

Students: 

20 participants will be accepted, of which 15 from abroad are supported by Youth TravelFunds (YTF).

5 Romanian students are partially supported by The Romanian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 

The expected level of participants is undergraduate and PhD students. The participants will be chosen on the basis of their academic and/or research background, taking into account the relevance of the course to their needs and career development. 

! Each selected participant will be asked to deliver a short (1-2 slides, up to 10 minutes) self-introduction on their current work to the other participants.

Lecturers:

4 main lectures will be given on the following topics: proteomics, genomics, transcription gene profiling, phage display.

Detailed Programme:

September 21

9.00-10.00

Registration

10.00-10.30

Welcome and introduction to the course

10.30-11.00

Coffee break

11.00-12.00 

Invited lecture:

“The elation of bovine species and bovine breeds: a DNA approach. Has wisent a hybrid origin?“

Professor Hans Lenstra

Institute of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Utrecht University, Holland

12.00-12.45

Tutorial

Prof. Octavian Popescu: “DNA and RNA Electrophoresis”

Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania

13.00-14.00

Lunch

14.00-15.00

Tutorial: “Reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction”

Stefan Denes

Institute of Biochemistry, Bucharest, Romania

15.00-18.30

Experiments

-Purification of total mRNA from eukaryotic cells

-Reverse transcription

-PCR

19.00-

Dinner

September 22

9.00-10.00

Invited lecture: “Aspects of phage display technology”

Dr. Michael Zwick

The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA

10.00-10.30

Coffee break

10.30-11.30

Tutorial: “Vectors, transformation and transfection”

Dr. Stefan Szedlacsek

Institute of Biochemistry, Bucharest, Romania

11.30-12.30

Tutorial: “Detection of nucleic acids by Southern and Northern blot”

Dr. Ileana Stoica

Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest

12.30-13.30

Lunch

13.30-17.30

Experiments

-Southern and Northern blot (I)

-DNA and RNA electrophoresis

-Purification of the RT-PCR products

-Transformation of E.Coli cells

17.30-18-30

Oral Presentations (I)

Five students will give a 10- minute talk on their current work

19.00-

Dinner

September 23

9.00-10.00

Invited lecture: “Proteomics as a key tool in biomedical research”

Dr. Angel Garcia-Alonso

Glycobiology Institute, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

10.00-10.30

Coffee break

10.30-12.30

Experiments:

-Southern and Northern blot (II)

-Plasmid purification

-Endonuclease digestion of plasmid and RT-PCR product

12.30-13.30

Lunch

13.30-14.30

Tutorial: “DNA sequencing”

Prof. Octavian Popescu

Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania

14.30-17.30

Experiments

-Purification of digested products

-Ligation

-Transformation of E.Coli cells

-Transfection of eukaryotic cells

17.30-18.30

Oral Presentations (II)

Five students will give a 10-minute talk on their current work

19.00-

Dinner

September 24

9.00-10.00

Invited lecture: “The principles of gene expression profiling and its use to understand the transcriptional programme associated with estrogen-induced growth and differentiation in the uterus” 

Dr. George Orphanides

Head of Receptor Biology and Genomics Research, Syngenta Central Toxicology Laboratory,

Macclesfield, United Kingdom

10.00-10.30

Coffee break

10.30-12.30

Experiments

-Southern and Northern blot (III)

-Screening of transformed E.Coli cells by PCR

12.30-13.30

Lunch

13.30-14.30

Tutorial: “Protein expression in pro- and eukaryotic cells”

Dr. Stefan Szedlacsek

Institute of Biochemistry, Bucharest, Romania

14.30-17.30

Experiments:

-Harvest and lysis of transfected eukaryotic cells

-Electrophoresis of the PCR products

17.30-18.30

Oral Presentations (III)

Five students will give a 10-minute talk on their current work

19.00-

Dinner

September 25

9.00-10.0 

Tutorial: “Detection of proteins by Western blot”

Dr. Gabriela Negroiu

Institute of Biochemistry, Bucharest, Romania

10.00-10.30

Coffee break

10.30-12.30

Experiments

-Southern and Northern blot (IV)

-SDS-PAGE and Western blot of transfected eukaryotic cell lysates (I)

12.30-13.30

Lunch

13.30-16.00

Experiments

-Western blot (II)

-Plasmid purification and endonuclease digestion

16.00-17.00

Oral Presentations (IV)

Five students will give a 10-minute talk on their current work

17.00-

Social event and dinner

September 26

9.00-10.00

Experiments

-Western blot-ECL detection

10.00-10.30

Coffee break

10.30-12.30

Tutorial: “Bioinformatics”

Dr. Andrei Petrescu

Institute of Biochemistry, Bucharest, Romania

12.30-13.30

Lunch

13.30-17.30

Bioinformatics: computer processing of nucleotide and protein sequences, data base analysis of DNA and proteins

(first group of 10 students)

19.00-

Dinner

September 27

9.00-13.00

Bioinformatics: computer processing of nucleotide and protein sequences, data base analysis of DNA and proteins

(second group of 10 students)

13.00-14.00

Lunch

14.00-16.00

Final evaluation, closure

18.00-

Farewell party

Organizing committee:

Dr. Norica Nichita, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania 

Dr. Stefana Petrescu, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania 

Dr. Anca Roseanu, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania 

Ph.D. Student Alexandra Hillebrand, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania 

Ph.D. Student Adina Milac, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania

Contact

Dr. Norica Nichita

Institute of Biochemistry, Splaiul Independentei, 296, Bucharest, Romania

Phone: +40 21 223 90 69 

Fax: +40 21 223 90 68

e-mail: Norica.Nichita@biochim.ro

Useful tips:

The weatherin Bucharest in September is generally sunny, temperature ranging 15-25 Celsius degrees. However do not forget to take your umbrella, it might be useful.

If you are a student, don’t forget to take your student card(preferably an international student card) with you. You will find that in Romania, students pay less for some services (e.g. to visit museums).