About the Practical Course
A comprehensive and integrated characterization of molecular interactions is key to the understanding of life processes at a molecular level. Due to their complexity the study of binding events requires the gathering of data from multiple methods in order to build a complete picture of their function.
This EMBO Practical Course aims at a multidisciplinary approach to the study of molecular interactions from and in biological systems, integrating biochemical/biophysical methodologies with live cell microscopy techniques.
In this 5th edition, this EMBO Practical Course will cover a range of methods used in the kinetics and thermodynamics characterization of binding events, such as:
- Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC),
- Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR),
- Electrically Switchable nanolevers (switchSENSE), and
- Microscale Thermophoresis (MST)
The bridge to in vivo will be crossed with the introduction of advanced
light microscopy techniques, e.g.:
- Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) and
- Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM),
to study the dynamic interactions of proteins within the living cell.
Practical sessions
The practical sessions will be organized in rotations. Each group will rotate through sessions focused on the topics of the course.
Practical sessions will include pre-recorded talks/tutorials made available before the course including introduction to the technologies, equipment and best practices. Practical sessions will focus on sample preparation, experimental design and execution and various data analysis workflows.
Participants samples and data
Participants will be invited to:
a) propose hypothesis/questions within their work that could be addressed using one or more of the techniques focused in the course;
b) send data previously acquired to process, analyze and discuss (troubleshooting); or
c) send their samples to assay.
Acceptance of samples and data is dependent on a pre-feasibility assessment.
Poster Sessions
Successful applicants who are selected to attend the course will be requested to present a poster describing their project. Posters will be made available before the course in PDF format and a poster session is scheduled.
About EMBO Courses and Workshops
EMBO Courses and Workshops are selected for their excellent scientific quality and timelines, provision of good networking activities for all participants and speaker gender diversity (at least 40% of speakers must be from the underrepresented gender).
Organisers are encouraged to implement measures to make the meeting environmentally more sustainable.