Methods

Marie Curie Research Training Network
TAF-Chromatin

Study of the ordered interactions of different transcription factors
that generate infinite potential to regulate gene expression

List of MC RTN fellows and their email addresses on the TAF-Chromatin project:

CRBEM-IGBMC (France):	Emese Gazdag Dr. Zita Nagy
NHRF (Greece):	Margarita Kalogeropoulou Ignacio Mazon
The Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel):
Fleming Institute (Greece):	Dr. Anastasia Kotsolioutsou
CSIC (Spain):	Francesca Antonucci Dr. Benjamin Grau
Biological Research Center (Hungary):	Anita Ciurciu Christina Popescu
CSC MRC/Imperial College (UK):	Svetlana Nikic Daniel Liber

The list of participation in conferences, workshops, etc, specifying attendance by the recruited researchers
(First Reporting Period)

Participant 1. (CERBM)

Emese GAZDAG (ESR from Hungary):
Participation at technical courses:
-Learning of Standard Operating Procedures at The Histopathology and Embryology service, Institut Clinique de la Souris, Strasbourg (France) from November to December. 2004.
Methods learned: Dissection of mouse tissues, necroscopy, tissue fixation, embedding, sectioning from paraffin-embedded tissues, cry sectioning. Classical and fluorescence staining methods.
-Instruction for animal housing at the IGBMC Animal Facility: Policy and admission of users. December 2004.
-Immunofluorescence staining of mouse embryos in practice, IGBMC, Developmental Biology department. January 2005.
-Acquisition, traitement et analyse d´ímages avec METAMORPH; Centre d´Ímagerie, IGBMC, Illkirch (France) March 15-18, 2005

Participation at conferences and workshops:
-Kick-off Marie Curie RTN network meeting on “TAF-CHROMATIN” at Ottrott (Alsace, France), 5-7th of November 2004. 25 participants.
-NUTRICEPTOR EU TRAINING NETWORK, Spring School, Strasbourg (France); organized by Hinrich Gronemeyer; March 9-11, 2005. 60 participants.
“Nutritional and environmental nuclear receptor modulators: Transcriptional pathways to abnormal development and cancer”
-The International Vertebrate Regulome Workshop; Strasbourg (France); organized by Dr. Irwin Davidson; May 30-31, 2005. 70 participants.

Participation in training events organised outside the network:
-IGBMC Special seminar series 2005:
Jan 14: Insulin signalling and growth control in Drosophila, Prof. Ernst Hafen
Feb. 18: Epigenetic mechanisms of transcriptional memory, Prof. Renato Paro
March 22: Chromatin and its impact on gene expression and cellular memory, Prof. Danny Reinberg
April 22 MicroRNAs and their targets, Dr. Stephen Cohen
May 18 Histone variants, nucleosome assembly and epigenetics, Prof. StevenHenikoff
-DEA seminars at University Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg (France) in Cellular and Molecular Biology
For students of « Biologie moléculaire du développement section » 6 lecture courses
For students of « Biologie moléculaire et structurale section » 6 lecture courses

Short visits and secondments:
One-day visit on the 14th of March 2005 in the laboratory of Dr. Ferenc Müller at Institute of Toxicology and Genetics; Forschungszentrum, Karlsruhe; Germany; setting up a collaboration.

Presentations:
-The fellow presented 4 seminars on her work at lab meetings of the group.

Acquisition of complementary skills such as communication, language skills, computer skills:
-Since Nov, 2004; French for beginners language course. European Correspondence Education.

-Dr. Zita NAGY (ER from Hungary)
Participation at technical courses:
- Agricultural Biotechnology Center, Gödöllô, Hungary, Lab of Dr Jozsef Burgyan, to learn small RNA techniques. Between 16-24 May 2005.
-EMBO Course on microinjection and detection of probes in cells. EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany; Between 13 and 19th of June, 2005

Short visits and secondments:
-IBMP CNRS 2357, Department de Virologie, Strasbourg, Dr. Charles Lecellier; To discuss about utilisation of LNA oligonucleotides in vivo. Between July 29 and 31, 2005.

Participation at conferences and workshops:
-Kick-off Marie Curie RTN network meeting on “TAF-CHROMATIN” at Ottrott (Alsace, France), 5-7th of November, 2004. 25 participants.
-NUTRICEPTOR EU TRAINING NETWORK, Spring School, Strasbourg (France); organized by Hinrich Gronemeyer; March 9-11, 2005; 60 participants.
“Nutritional and environmental nuclear receptor modulators: Transcriptional pathways to abnormal development and cancer”
-The International Vertebrate Regulome Wokshop; Strasbourg (France); organized by Dr. Irwin Davidson; May 30-31, 2005. 70 participants.

Participation in training events organised outside the network:
-IGBMC Special seminar series 2005:
Jan 14: Insulin signalling and growth control in Drosophila, Prof. Ernst Hafen
Feb. 18: Epigenetic mechanisms of transcriptional memory, Prof. Renato Paro
March 22: Chromatin and its impact on gene expression and cellular memory, Prof. Danny Reinberg
April 22 MicroRNAs and their targets, Dr. Stephen Cohen
May 18 Histone variants, nucleosome assembly and epigenetics, Prof. StevenHenikoff

Presentations:
-The fellow presented 4 seminars on her work at the lab meetings of the group.
-The fellow presented a poster at the EMBO Course on microinjection and detection of probes in cells. EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany; Between 13 and 19th of June, 2005

Participant 2. (NHRF)

Margarita KALOGEROPOULOU (ESR from Austria)
The fellow has been hired only two months before the end of the first reporting period.

Participant 3. (WEIZMAN)

Jiangke YANG (ER from People's Republic of China)
Participation at technical courses:
-The fellow learned many biochemical techniques, such as how to purify proteins and assemble complexes.

Participation at courses:
-Advanced course entitled “Transcriptional Control” (13 lectures, 2 hours each) organized by the Fienberg Graduate School at the Weizmann Institute (Israel). This course covered broad aspects of eukaryotic transcription.

Presentations:
-The fellow presented progress reports on his work at the lab meetings of the group.

Participant 4. (FLEMING)

Anastasia KOUTSOLIOUTSOU (ER from USA)
Participation at technical courses:
The fellow has learned chromatin-related biochemical techniques such as generation of recombinant nucleosomes, high fidelity in vivo nucleosome mapping and in vitro transcription and recruitment experiments using immobilized templates.

Presentations:
-The fellow presented progress reports on her work at lab meetings of the group.

Participant 5. (CSIC)

Benjamin GRAU (ER from Germany)
Participation at technical courses:
-The fellow has made a 1-week working visit to the lab of Prof. Uhl at the Bioimaging Center in Münich (Germany) to learn and test a novel confocal system that will be used by the group in Madrid.

Presentations:
- The fellow gave a seminar at the Cajal Institute on his previous work as PhD research. April 2005.
-The fellow presented progress reports on his work at lab meetings of the group.

Acquisition of complementary skills such as communication, language skills, computer skills:
- B. Grau (German) is rapidly improving his Spanish skills.
- B. Grau has improved his technical abilities in image processing. He learned a new de-convolution algorithm to the analysis of confocal images thanks to his training visit that to Münich.

Participant 6. (BRC)

Anita Oriana CIURCIU (ESR from Rumania)
Participation at technical courses:
The fellow learned the following techniques at Biological Research Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and at the Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Szeged (Hungary):
Maintenance and handling of Drosophila stocks. Recognition and analysis of phenotypic markers. Planning and execution of genetic crosses with Drosophila and progeny analysis. The use of balancer chromosomes. Dissection of Drosophila larvae, isolation of salivary glands and preparation of giant chromosomes. Microscopy analysis of polytene chromosomes, identification of specific chromosomal regions on the bases of banding pattern. Induction of chromosome puff formation by heat-stress and hormone treatment, identification of puffs and comparison of the formation of chromosome puffs in wild type and mutants. In situ hybridisation to polytene chromosomes with the use of DIG-labelled DNA probes. Localisation of transgenes at specific regions of the polytene chromosomes. In situ immunohistochemistry with specific antibodies to detect polymerase binding and histone acetylation at specific chromosomal regions of wild type and mutant animals.

Participation at conferences and workshops:
-MINISYMPOSIUM on Protein complexes of transcription regulation at Szeged (Hungary); Organized by Prof. Imre Boros; January 15, 2005. 25 participants.
- 30th FEBS Congress - 9th IUBMB Conference Budapest (Hungary), between the 2nd-7th July 2005. 2500 participants.

Presentations:
-The fellow presented progress reports on her work at lab meetings of the group.
-The fellow presented a poster at the 30th FEBS Congress - 9th IUBMB Conference Budapest (Hungary), between the 2nd-7th July 2005.

Participant 7. (Imperial College, UK)

Svetlana NIKIC (ESR from Danmark)
Participation at courses:
-DNA Microarray Applications (June 14-21, 2005) Cold Spring Harbour, USA.
-Imperial College half-day courses on:
Presentation skills (2 days),
Statistics (half-day),
Commercialisation of Research (half-day).

Participation at conferences and workshops:
-Kick-off Marie Curie RTN network meeting on “TAF-CHROMATIN” at Ottrott (Alsace, France), 5-7th of November 2004, 25 participants.
-MRC Clinical Sciences Centre Annual Retreat, October 29th 2004.

Presentations:
-The fellow presented seminars on her work as part of the 1st year training programme for MRC Clinical Sciences Centre PhD students.

Daniel LIBER (ESR from Israel)
Participation at courses:
-Imperial College half-day courses on:
Presentation skills (2 days),
Science, Research and Integrity (half-day),
Commercialisation of Research (half-day).

Participation at conferences and workshops:
-Kick-off Marie Curie RTN network meeting on “TAF-CHROMATIN” at Ottrott (Alsace, France), 5-7th of November, 2004; 25 participants..
-MRC Clinical Sciences Centre Annual Retreat, October 29th 2004.

Presentations:
The fellow presented seminars on his work as part of the 1st year training programme for MRC Clinical Sciences Centre PhD students.