Microspectroscopy: Probing Protein Dynamics and Interactions in Living Cells
14 September - 23 September 2010
Number of participants: 20
Number of YTF grants: 17
Numver of TransYTF grants: 3
Course description
There is a large demand to become familiar with sensitive techniques and methods to image biochemical processes in living cells. Microspectroscopic techniques are the method of choice for this purpose as they can provide direct information on molecular interactions and dynamic events involving biomolecules with minimal perturbation of cellular integrity and function. We will organize a FEBS combined practical and lecture course in which these techniques and methods are discussed. Lectures which are combined with practical sessions are very learning full, because the theoretical part is directly applied into practice via experiments in the afternoon session.
Briefly, the course will cover several microscopic and spectroscopic techniques to study molecular processes in living cells such as: (multiphoton) confocal microscopy, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) microscopy, fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), ratio-imaging microscopy (RIM), spectral imaging microscopy (SPIM), Raman microscopy, fluorescence correlation microscopy (FCS), and single-molecule detected fluorescence. New developments in fluorescent bioprobes crucial for nowadays cell biology studies and suitable for microspectroscopy will be highlighted. These are, among others, novel probes (with increased photostability and exploiting different photo-excited states), novel genetically encoded probes (such as visible fluorescent proteins, FlAsH-related tags and specific single-chain antibodies), and functionalised magnetic beads, quantum dots and other nanoparticles that are increasingly used in cell biology.
The setup of this course will be different compared to previous organized courses by the Microspectroscopy Centre (MSC). We will organize this course in close collaboration with the group of Peter Willems and Jack Fransen. This group is focussed on applying fluorescence microscopy in the medical field whereas the MSC aims to apply spectroscopy in the field of plant science. In the course we want to cover a broad spectrum of imaging- and (micro) spectroscopy tools. Therefore this course will be held on two locations with their own focus. However the structure of the course will be identical at the two locations where a good balance between lectures and practical work will be taking care off. The practical sessions will be prepared in such a way that sufficient time is available for an in-depth treatment of the different techniques. The practical sessions are spread over four consecutive days in Nijmegen and Wageningen (4 days at each location). The participants will obtain ‘hands-on’ experience on advanced microscopic equipment and the obtained data will be used for data analysis. Most lecturers are also assisting in the practical work to stimulate scientific discussions between the students and lecturers. As compared to the previous course organized by us we will invite other scientists bringing their expertise in the research of microspectroscopy.