Summer 2010 Workshop in Proteomics and Informatics
DATE: August 2-6, 2010
LOCATION: Proteomics and Informatics Service Facility (PISF), UIC
Workshop Recap
August 23, 2010
The Fourth Annual CBC Summer Workshop in Proteomics and Informatics took place at the CBC/UIC Proteomics and Informatics Service Facility (PISF) on August 2-6, 2010. The workshop, organized by Dr. Larry Helseth, the Associate Director of the PSIF, and Dr. Kolla Kristjansdottir of The University of Chicago, was a combination of lectures, demonstrations, hands-on laboratory training in multiple mass spectrometry techniques, and computer training in data analysis. In addition, the five-day course offered lectures and training in protein separation followed by trypsin digestion, peptide separation, mass spectrometry, database searches, isotope labeled sample analysis, identifying and analyzing post-translational modifications, top down proteomics and complex data analysis. As with past workshops, the number of applicants far exceeded the capacity of the workshop; the 28 students, faculty and staff that attended the workshop included 7 from The University of Chicago, 6 from Northwestern University, 14 from the University of Illinois at Chicago and 1 from industry.
Proteomics and informatics specialists from all three CBC affiliated universities contributed to the workshop. In addition to lectures by Drs. Alex Schilling, Hua Xu and Larry Helseth from the PISF at UIC, Dr. Kolla Kristjansdottir, University of Chicago, a co-organizer of the meeting, presented multiple lectures and participated in sample prep demonstrations and tutorials in data analysis software applications during the 5-day workshop. Dr. Carrie Crot and Mr. Rod Davis from the PISF demonstrated the use of several of the instruments in the facility and helped participants interpret raw mass spectrometry data. Dr. Paul Thomas, Northwestern University, organized sections on top-down proteomics, gave lectures in this area and demonstrated top-down proteomics on the PISF LTQ-FT Ultra.
The workshop also featured an invited speaker from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Dr. Josh Coon, who gave a lecture on using iTRAQ for quantitative proteomics and presented a seminar discussing on-going research in his lab. The final day of the workshop included presentations by all attendees. The workshop members were divided into 3 groups that outlined a preparative strategy, analyzed data, and then proposed an interesting biological question and how they would investigate it using proteomic and informatic techniques learned during the week. The day concluded with workshop participants meeting one-on-one with PISF staff members to discuss individual research projects.
LEFT: Kolla Kristjansodotti using systems biology software to analyze mass spectrometry results. CENTER: Paul Thomas acquiring top-down data on the LTQ-FT Ultra. RIGHT: Alex Shilling describing advanced proteomics strategies. (Photos: CBC)