Cath-tastic.
Eat. Sleep. Chemotax. iGEM ♥
Jun 21st, 2009 @ 5:23 am
week one: iGEM has begun!
Monday, Monday, Monday
Nervous + excited = anxious. Walking through Genentech Hall one again, I was anxious: nervous about seeing old and new faces, excited about experiencing iGem a second time around. I will no longer be one of the high school team members. This year, my position on the UCSF team requires some leadership. Yikes!
My first day back, and I was greeted by a warm welcome from Raquel in the iGem office [though I hear it’s called ‘the cave’]. And I see new faces! Ryan, Jacinto, and I will be working with Allen, Edna, Ethan, Eric, Jackie, and Ryan. I noticed how tight-knit this year’s team is. One of our strengths last year was how well we worked together as a team, so that won’t be a problem this year. Ryan’s running on UCSF time this morning. I didn’t want to begin my first day without him, so I stepped out and waited. Annnnnd.. adjkslksdjs! We’re matching. Off to BH212 for introductions! I was extremely happy to receive a bear hug from David and hear that he will be joining us for a second year. iGem has begun!
They’re calling it ‘bootcamp’ this year. A very appropriate term, considering the 9 AM four-hour-long meeting, homework, and blogging. However intense it may be, we will all be better prepared for Jamboree this year. This is especially important since we will be working with more complex organisms and chemotaxis.
Tuesday + Tetris
“What is your favorite game, and why?” starts off today’s meeting. Though I’m a huge fan of Bejeweled and Text Twist, my answer was Tetris. Arthur enjoys strategy games, as reflected in the board game he organized for us. [Gosh, they’re creative this year!] Subject: actin. The green team and the blue team end up neck in neck, racing to build the correct marshmallow actin structure. Unfortunately, my dive for the bell wasn’t quick enough, and the blue team received bonus points for finishing first. But the green team prevailed, providing a correct answer for the tie-breakign question: what is a capping protein? I love the smell of competition in the morning!
So what is a capping protein anyway? It’s a protein that regulates growth of actin filaments by preventing further polymerization at the ends. In other words, it caps the ends of actin filaments. We also learned about critical concentration and polymerization of actin relative to a cell.
David led a discussion on an article regarding GFP. Turn out, Ryan and I can provide input during these discussions. I really appreciated the portion of the article that explained Figure 3, because I love, love, love biology! I really enjoy these meetings, because of all the thinking and the learning. I can feel my brain swelling. I’m going to be disproportionate by the end of this summer, aren’t I?
MarshmalloWednesday
Today, we tackled the article Actin microfilament dynamics in locomoting cells. With the help of large marshmallows and The Matrix, Arthur demonstrated how we know “actin microfilaments in the lamellopodium remain approximately fixed relative to the substrate.” Hint: There is no spoon. I doubt the marshmallows will be making a third appearance. They looked quite worn out by the end of the demonstration.
A presentation on signal transduction was prepared by Delquin, followed by a presentation on GPCR’s prepared by Ben. We learned about intracellular signalling and their relationship with receptors. More specifically, we were introduced to G-protein coupled receptors and the functions of G-protein subunits.
We were finally given some lab work after lunch. I think the team was just as excited as I was. The mini-prep protocol was introduced, and the team prepared their constructs/ plasmids for a test digest. The role as a buddy is somewhat difficult for me, since I’m not as familiar with the Lim Lab as Ryan and Jacinto are. Last year, I spend the majority of the summer working in the El-Samad Lab. It is also difficult to find benchspace for the team. The Lim Lab is pretty crowded in the first place. But labwork will be executed smoothly once benchspace is provided and everyone becomes acquainted with their respective labs. I can’t wait! Til then, another reading assignment for the night…
Tasty Thursday
Journal club was interrupted with a blackout and a fire drill this morning, during which Ryan and I were to come up with the main point of last night’s reading. Article: Receptors and coding logic for bitter taste. We say…
1. The T2R receptors are necessary and sufficient for detection and perception of bitter compounds
2. Differences in T2Rs between species can determined selectivity of bitter taste responses
David led us through a great presentation on signal transduction. We learned about signalling currencies, one of which is phosphate [via kinases]. Specificity is key: kinases must be able to phosphorylate the correct substrate. Oliver provides further context for this year’s project by covering lipid kinases and lipid phosphatases. Now I understand what PIP3 refers to. More research lingo! I am quite satisfied with by the end of the meeting… all these drawings in my notes!
Friday: CRAC-ing Up
I felt the weight of the week catch up to me by Friday morning, and I think that goes for everyone else. The team was especially quiet during journal club. Despite lack of coffee, I tried to compensate for the lack of energy in the room. Otherwise, Oliver would have had a hard time leading the discussion. The subject of the article provided some assistance for my intentions. CRAC-GFP. CRAC. [GFP.] This protein has an extremely funny name. Unfortunately, I think I was the only person who felt this way. I think I laughed to myself every time someone mentioned CRAC. Anyway, my amusement is insignificant. In fact, CRAC [Kekeke] isn’t all the significant either. The importance of the article lies with the PH domain. It is necessary for the translocation of CRAC [Kekeke] to the plasma membrance for the activation of the G-protein signalling system.
After a much-needed break, Andrew a.k.a. “Iowa” caught my attention with a very funny introductio
n to GTPases and small G-proteins. What did I learn? Machine guns on jeeps make great photographs! Kidding. Before the presentation, Andrew promised he would “blow my mind.” I promised I would be prepared to have my mind blown. I felt he held up his end of the bargain. GEFs and GAPs are pretty mind-blowing. But the demonstration regarding Rac and Rho and cellular decision-making was the icing on the cake. The shoe was a nice touch. A damned good way to conclude a presentation and adjourn a meeting.
While the rest of the team went to grab lunch elsewhere, Ryan, Jacinto, and I were enjoying our lunches brought from home. It’s how we dooooo! Jacinto watched anime, and Ryan stole photos from me. Such thievery! But then he showed me an awesome website and drove me home. So all is well :]
And so, my week at a glance comes to a close. Time to do some reading!
