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

From 2009.igem.org




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