IMMUNOCYTOCHEMISTRY, IN SITU HYBRIDIZATION & LIVE CELL IMAGING
October 19 - November 1, 2008
Application Deadline: June 15, 2008

Instructors:
Viki Allan, University of Manchester, UK
Ke Hu, Indiana University
Sui Huang, Northwestern University
John Murray, University of Pennsylvania
Jennifer Waters, Harvard Medical School

a nice collage from a recent course

This course focuses on specialized techniques in microscopy, in-situ hybridization, immunocytochemistry, and live cell imaging related to localizing DNA, RNA, and proteins in fixed cells as well as protein and RNA dynamics in living cells. The course emphasizes the use of the latest equipment and techniques in fluorescence microscopy, including confocal laser scanning microscopy, deconvolution methods, digital image processing, and time-lapse imaging of living specimens. The course is designed to present students with state-of-the-art technology and scientific expertise in the use of light microscopy to address basic questions in cellular and molecular biology. The course is designed for the molecular biologist who is in need of microscopic approaches and for the cell biologist who is not familiar with the practical application of the advanced techniques presented in the course. Among the methods presented are the preparation of tagged nucleic acid probes, fixation methods, detection of multiple DNA sequences in single nuclei or chromosome spreads, comparative genomic hybridization, cellular localization of RNA, localization of nucleic acids and proteins in the same cells, use of a variety of reporter molecules and non-antibody fluorescent tags, indirect antibody labeling, detection of multiple proteins in a single cell, and the use of GFP variants to study protein expression, localization and dynamics. In each method, several experimental protocols are presented allowing the students to assess the relative merits of each and to relate them to their own research. Students are encouraged to bring their own nucleic acid, protein, or antibody probes to the course, which are used in addition to those provided by the instructors. The laboratory exercises are supplemented with lectures given by invited distinguished scientists, who present up-to-the-minute reports on current methods and research using the techniques being presented.

Speakers in the 2007 course included:


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