Team:Brown/Notebook Meetings/4-22-09

iGEM 2009 Meeting

April 22, 2009


 * 9:40PM: Meeting begins in the SciLi Basement
 * 9:43: iGEM account, Google groups account, Mathworks; email Neil for google group invitation!
 * 9:45: Minoo and Eli are attending the Webinar
 * 9:46: Michael gives presentation on Bacterial Pixel
 * GFP, BFP, RGP components within a bacteria
 * Wavelength promoters need to be cloned


 * 10:00 Flora’s project: ability to detect cancer cells, then induce apoptosis
 * Detecting target – binding site on breast cancer cells – using nanoparticles to identify
 * Once cells are identified, induce apoptosis by bringing inducer molecule
 * Flora will meet with them on Friday; report back; “Click Chemistry”


 * 10:12: Indu & Minoo: prevention of allergies creating bi-functional protein – idenitify histamine & induce liver uptake
 * Common allergies - too much histamine
 * Tics secrete 3 binding histamine protein – have been cloned
 * EV131 in mice – binds to histamine with high affinity
 * Look into mechanism to fuse these 2 proteins


 * 10:25: Will – unlike every other team on the planet let’s use RNA synthetic biology
 * RNA strand with UTR and translated region
 * Toxin trigger conformational change of RNA
 * Make RNA that binds to RNA strand, blocking ribosome binding
 * Another part of RNA has spot that binds to one molecule, allowing RNA strand to fall off
 * Advantage: faster mechanism of gene regulation
 * “Ribo-regulators”


 * 10:38: Ahmad – specialized Safe Cell where dangerous cells will die if they escape
 * Cell can only produce ATP on plate
 * Uncouplers stop ATP synthesis
 * Inhibitor of uncoupler – liver x receptor alpha in media – cell dies


 * 10:48: Ashley – eat as much as you want!
 * Leptin creates satiety signals, but obese individuals have large adipose, and large leptin; however, leptin receptors are not receptive
 * Use leptin signal to break down fats directly
 * Establish threshold leptin level


 * 10:59: Stephanie – meningitis – bacteria has gene called lactate permease that when absent in mutant, mutant incapable of taking up lactose
 * Uses lactose instead of glucose as primary energy source
 * Bind something to lactose to prevent uptake
 * Needs adhesins
 * Build machine that recognizes bacteria then have gene expressed where lactose binding lactin => lactate broken down
 * Proposed targeting this towards lactose intolerance


 * 11:08: Eli – sphingosine and sphingosine 1-phosphate (signaling lipids)
 * Spingosine is pro-apoptosis, anti-mitotic
 * Spingosine 1-P is anti-apoptosis, mitogenic (overexpressed in cancer cells)
 * Create switch that would induce cells to grow and die via ribo-regulator or regulation of transcription


 * 11:16: Need to pick favorites


 * 11:22: Everyone agrees on Bactopixel, Cancer-detection, and Histamine
 * Possibility to implicate RNA regulators into each project
 * Glue idea (ask Katrina)


 * 11:27: Next meeting 9:30 to 11:30 Same Place


 * TEAMS
 * Steph & Will – ribo-regulators
 * Will – Glue
 * Minoo & Indu & Ashley – histamine
 * Bactopixel – Michael & Eli
 * Cancer – Flora & Ahmad