Practical Course Prof. Dr. Dirk Hoffmeister

Radioisotopes in natural product research
March, 28^th - 29^th, 2011 (Course I)
March, 30^th - 31^st, 2011 (Course II)

Organizer: Prof. Dr. Dirk Hoffmeister and assistants

Contact: dirk.hoffmeister[at]hki-jena.de or phone 532-1310

Registration deadline: January 31^st, 2011

Max. number of participants: 4 per course

Theme of the workshop:
This course is designed to provide students with basic techniques how in vitro and in vivo radiolabeling can be utilized in natural product research. All participants must complete the mandatory radiation safety orientation prior to lab work.

Course I will focus on the use of ³H- and ¹⁴C-labeled precursor molecules to determine the mode of action of antibiotics in vivo (i.e. inhibition of DNA-replication, transcription, or translation). Participants are encouraged to provide their own natural products, crude extracts, or fractions, which they wish to assay.

Course II emphasizes the in vitro biochemical characterization of nonribosomal peptide synthetases and related enzymes using the the phosphorus isotope ³²P. The participants will be introduced to the ATP-PP_i exchange assay which is commonly used to determine the substrate specificity and the kinetic properties of adenylation domains. Participants may characterize enzymes related to their own work. Please contact the instructor for coordination.

Location: Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology e.V. - Hans-Knöll-Institute (HKI) - Dept. Pharmaceutical Biology, Beutenbergstr. 11a, 07745 Jena