Course "Redox Chemistry and Biology of Thiols"

• Course: Redox Chemistry and Biology of Thiols
• Type: International course
• Date: March 21st - April 1st, 2011
• Place: Institut Pasteur de Montevideo
• URL: http://www.pasteur.edu.uy/rcbt

The course will consist of four main activities: theoretical lectures, experimental training, seminars and a research symposium. The theoretical lectures will address the most relevant concepts and topics related to redox biology and chemistry of thiols and will be presented by scientists that are internationally recognized as experts in their fields. The lectures will be accompanied by seminars, where the students will have the opportunity to present and discuss original scientific articles of recent publication. In most cases, articles will be selected among the production of the teachers of this course, so as to allow the students to discuss them directly with the authors. The experimental activities will cover different methodological approaches and techniques to characterize the (bio)chemical properties of thiol groups and their physiological (or biological) relevance.

The course is intended to post-graduate students who have a B.Sc. degree in Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, Medicine and related areas, and are engaged in their Master-, Doctoral-thesis or similar. The participants must have solid knowledge of biochemistry and biology and be currently working or, in the near future, in subjects linked to the course’s topics.

Topics

• Functional diversity of cysteine
• Chemistry and reactivity of thiols
• Reduction potential, pKA, nucleophilia
• Thiol-mediated redox catalysis, signaling and regulation
• Formation of thiol derivatives, oxidation, alkylation and nitrosation
• Disulfides formation and isomerization in oxidative folding pathways
• Sulfur amino acid metabolism and regulation
• Hydrogen sulfide
• Bioinformatics approaches to thiol function
• Thiols and free radical processes
• Thiol-dependent redox metabolism of pathogens
• Techniques for the study of protein thiols and their different oxidative modifications
• Selenocysteine in proteins

Preliminary program - click here to download it

Invited speakers

• Ruma Banerjee, University of Michigan Medical Center, University of Michigan, USA.
• Ana Denicola, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
• Gerardo Ferrer-Sueta, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
• Leopold Flohé, MOLISA GmbH, Magdeburg, Germany.
• Vadim Gladyshev, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
• Jean-Pierre Jacquot, INRA-Nancy Université, Nancy Cedex, France.
• Luise Krauth-Siegel, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
• Francisco Laurindo, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil.
• Mónica Marín, Universidad de la República. Montevideo, Uruguay.
• Leslie Poole, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, USA.
• Rafael Radi, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.

Symposium “Thiol metabolism and redox regulation of cellular functions”

• Date: March 25th – 26th, 2011
• Place: Casa Pueblo, Punta Ballena. Montevideo, Uruguay

During the course there will be a two-day long public symposium where regional and international researchers will present their most recent and relevant scientific work. It is foreseen a fruitful exchange of new findings, research questions and state-of-the-art techniques between scientists working in different aspects of thiol-redox chemistry and biology.

The symposium will take place in the art-museum Hotel “Casa Pueblo” (Punta Ballena), it will be opened to the public but attendance should be confirmed, before March 1st.  There is no registration fee.

The amount of USD 128 will be charged in order to cover one night of accommodation (shared room), three meals and three coffee breaks.  Please notice that transportation is not covered.

For those willing to present a poster, you must send (together with the registration form) an abstract of no more than 300 words including title, authors, affiliation and references.

Deadline for registration and abstract:  March 1st, 2011.

Preliminary programme - click here to download it

Organizers

• Beatriz Alvarez (Lab. de Enzimología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República)
• Marcelo Comini (Group Redox Biology of Trypanosomes, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo)
• Gustavo Salinas (Lab. de Inmunología, Instituto de Higiene, Universidad de la República)
• Madia Trujillo (Center for Free Radical and Biomedical Research, Fac. de Medicina, Univ. de la República)
• Luis E. Soares Netto (Dep. de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Univ. de São Paulo)

Information and Deadlines

For more information please write to thiols.montevideo.2011@gmail.com

Deadline for applications (Theoretical-Practical Course): Tuesday February 1st, selected applicants will receive notification before Tuesday February 8th. Applications should include application form (click here to download it), short CV and reference letter

Deadline for registration to the Theoretical Course:  March 7th. 

Deadline for Registration (Symposium): March 1st - Resgistrations will be recieved until March 1st.  In order to be registered participants must send the registration form to:  thiols.montevideo.2011@gmail.com.

Sponsors

The course is supported by ICGEB (main sponsor), RIIP, SRFBM, CSIC, PEDECIBA, ANII.

Lectures