Dr. James Cavalcoli, a former graduate student of Dr. Kousoulas' lab, shares his experience with sequencing data from the work he does at the University of Michigan Medical School. A pdf of his presentation: 'Bioinformatics Analysis for Next-Generation Sequencing' available here.

Abstract: Recent advances in genome sequencing technologies, in particular, with Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) platforms, have been a major driver for the paradigm shift in biological discovery. Provided genome-wide information on genome structure, transcriptome, epigenetic landscape, and gene expression and regulation mechanisms in general, along with their affordable costs, is increasing becoming accessible to an individual researcher or group. In this talk, I will introduce DARE-NGS, a science gateway for NGS data analytics and downstream analyses. DARE-NGS has been developed primarily focusing on novel challenging issues associated with NGS analysis, i.e., a scalable solution to deal with the large volume of sequencing and processed data, an efficient strategy to support multiple tools or various pipelines, and a rapid development of new types of tools, which were tackled with our own solutions built upon the DARE framework and SAGA middleware. I also illustrate the collaborative efforts aiming a large scale human exome study, RNA-seq data analysis for cancer research, ChIP-Seq data analysis for NHR-6 binding discovery in C. elegans, and host-pathogen interactions in rice and B. Glumae since those are behind our current offering of services via DARE-NGS.

As part of the LBRN Program IDeA Seminar Series, Dr. Russel Middaugh was invited from the University of Kansas to speak about his experience in the field of drug design and development. Dr. Middaugh's research interests include protein folding and dynamics, the formulation and delivery of peptides, proteins, nucleic acids, viruses and bacteria as pharmaceutical agents and the type III secretion system of gram negative bacteria.

MCB core hosted Dr. Samithamby Jeyaseelan as a speaker for the NIH Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) Program (R15). A panel discussion followed the presentation. The panel consisted of Dr. Shisheng Li, Dr. Chris Gissendanner, and Dr. Andrew Yurochko. In the video, Dr. Jeyaseelan's talk takes up the first half while the panel discussion is in the second half. There is no video for some of the discussion attendees but there is still audio for them.

The Molecular and Cell Biology Core of the Louisiana Biomedical Research Network commenced a series of training presentations and hands-on modules in September 2010. MCBC Flow Cytometry Training Course – Session 1 is scheduled for Thursday November 18, 2010 from 2-4pm. Jason Walker, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher in the Division of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine will give a presentation on the "An Introduction to Basic Flow Cytometry - Improving Accessibility for Everyday Use." Flow Cytometry is a powerful tool for assessing and quantifying cellular phenotypes using fluorescent labels. It can be used to assess rare populations, simultaneously detecting an increasing number of fluorophores. These types of experiments can be complicated and expensive and are often daunting for novice users. Simple 1- 2- and 3-color analyses however, need not be intimidating. Basic flow cytometers are becoming increasingly cheaper, easy to use, and accessible. This presentation will introduce the basic principles and techniques of cell labeling, experimental design, data acquisition and analysis as demonstrated on an Accuri C6, an inexpensive and surprisingly user friendly bench-top flow cytometer.

The Molecular and Cell Biology Core of the Louisiana Biomedical Research Network commenced a series of training presentations and hands-on modules in September 2010. GeneLab Molecular Biology Training Course – Session 3 is scheduled for Thursday November 11, 2010 from 2:30-4:00pm. GeneLab has arranged for Mark Lawson, Field Application Scientist for Bio-Rad Laboratories to visit LSU and give a presentation on the "BioPlex Multiplex Immunoassays". Bead-based multiplex immunoassays enable the analysis of multiple analytes in a single sample. The xMAP technology is an open-format bead system for the analysis of cytokines, phosphoprotein signal transduction cascades, and many other applications. Best practices will be discussed for maintaining the hardware, preparing the samples, and the post-run data analysis.

The Molecular and Cell Biology Core of the Louisiana Biomedical Research Network commenced a series of training presentations and hands-on modules in September 2010. GeneLab Molecular Biology Training Course – Session 2 is scheduled for Thursday November 11, 2010 from 12:30-2:30pm. GeneLab has arranged for Mark Lawson, Field Application Scientist for Bio-Rad Laboratories to visit LSU and give a presentation on the "Real-time PCR for Gene Expression". Real-time PCR is a ubiquitous tool for the measurement of gene expression changes. Good experimental design and an understanding of the theory underlying quantification methods is essential to producing quality, publishable data. Real-world examples will be given for analysis, troubleshooting and optimization workflows using the new publication standard: MIQE (Minimum Information for the Publication of Quantitative PCR Experiments).

The Molecular and Cell Biology Core of the Louisiana Biomedical Research Network commenced a series of training presentations and hands-on modules in September 2010. GeneLab Molecular Biology Training Course – Session 1 is scheduled for Thursday November 4, 2010 from 2-4pm. GeneLab has arranged for John Pfeifer, PhD, Senior SDS Field Application Specialist of the Applied Biosystems division of Life Technologies to visit LSU and give a presentation on the "Fundamentals of Real-Time PCR". This talk will provide an overview of real-time PCR technology including topics: streamlining real-time PCR, primary applications, TaqMan and SYBR Green, instrumentation and the fundamentals of real-time quantitative PCR theory.

Dr. Gus Kousoulas, Professor and Director of the MCBC and Dr. Vladimir Chouljenko, Research Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the MCBC will present "Protein Expression Part III: Expression and Purification of Recombinant Proteins Using the Baculovirus/Insect Cell Culture System", the third in a series of three discussions regarding various aspects of protein production and purification. In the second half of this talk, Dr. Chouljenko will give specific insights into use of Protein Expression Using a Bac-to-Bac TOPO Expression System including results from the lab.

Dr. Gus Kousoulas, Professor and Director of the MCBC and Dr. Vladimir Chouljenko, Research Assistant Professor and Associate Director of the MCBC will present "Protein Expression Part III: Expression and Purification of Recombinant Proteins Using the Baculovirus/Insect Cell Culture System", the third in a series of three discussions regarding various aspects of protein production and purification. In the first half of this talk, Dr. Kousoulas will give an overview of Protein Expression Using a Baculovirus System.