EUKARYOTIC GENE EXPRESSION
July 23 - August 12, 2013
Application Deadline: April 15, 2013

Instructors:
Karen Adelman, NIH/NIEHS
W. Lee Kraus, UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Ali Shilatifard, Stowers Institute for Medical Research
Dylan Taatjes, University of Colorado at Boulder

The Eukaryotic Gene Expression Course is designed for students, postdocs, and principal investigators who have recently ventured into the exciting area of gene regulation. The course will focus on state-of-the-art strategies and techniques employed in the field. Emphasis will be placed both on in vitro and in vivo protein-DNA interactions and on novel methodologies to study gene regulation. Students will make nuclear extracts, perform in vitro transcription reactions and measure RNA levels using primer extension. Students will isolate transcription factor complexes and assess their activity in functional assays. In addition, students will learn techniques for the assembly and analysis of chromatin in vitro. This will include transcription assays, chromatin footprinting and chromatin remodeling assays.

Over the past few years, the gene regulation field has developed in vivo approaches to study gene regulation. Students will learn widely used techniques such as qRT-PCR and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). They will also use RNAi for specific knock-down experiments. Determining cellular gene expression profiles has been accelerated tremendously by microarray and sequencing technology. Students will receive hands-on training in performing and interpreting results from microarrays, ChIP-Seq, and RNA-Seq data sets.

Experience with basic recombinant DNA techniques is a prerequisite for admission to this course. Lectures by the instructors will cover the current status of the gene expression field, theoretical aspects of the methodology, and broader issues regarding strategies for investigating the regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes. Emphasis will be placed on advantages and limitations of specific techniques, and data interpretation. The students are encouraged and expected to actively participate in these discussions. Guest lecturers will discuss contemporary problems in eukaryotic gene regulation and technical approaches to their solution. From the guest lectures and discussions, students will learn to design effective experiments, properly interpret their own data, and critically evaluate the gene expression literature.

Speakers in the 2012 course:
Ananda Roy, Tufts University
Mike Levine, University of California, Berkeley
Karen Adelman, NIH/NIEHS
Jessica Tyler, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Gerald Crabtree, Stanford University
Steve Henikoff, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Barbara Meyer, University of California, Berkeley
Laurie Boyer, Massachussetts Institute of Technology
Bob Roeder, The Rockefeller University
Barbara Panning, University of California, San Francisco
Frank Pugh, Penn State University
Bob Kingston, Harvard University
Brad Cairns, University of Utah
Inez Rogatsky, Cornell University
Kathy Jones, Salk Institute

This course is supported with funds provided by the National Cancer Institute

Cost (including board and lodging): $4,545
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