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Receptor Structure and Function
Provider: Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Activity no.: 3119-17-00-00There are no available seats 
Enrollment deadline: 07/04/2017
Date and time15.05.2017, at: 09:15 - 19.05.2017, at: 17:00
Regular seats10
Course fee9,480.00 kr.
LecturersJette Sandholm Kastrup
ECTS credits4.00
Contact personMarianne Wieslander Jørgensen    E-mail address: marianne.joergensen@sund.ku.dk
Enrolment Handling/Course OrganiserPhD administration     E-mail address: phdkursus@sund.ku.dk

Aim and content
This course is free of charge for PhD students at Danish universities (except Copenhagen Business School). Special rules apply for research year students enrolled at Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at UCPH. All other participants must pay the course fee.
Anyone can apply for the course, but if you are not a PhD student, you will be placed on the waiting list for the course until enrollment deadline. After the deadline of enrollment, available seats will be allocated to students on the waiting list.

Learning objectives
A student who has met the objectives of the course will:

a. have knowledge about the relation between the 3-dimensional structure of a receptor and its function
b. have knowledge about receptor-ligand interactions
c. have knowledge on some of the most important methods for studying receptor structure and pharmacology
d. have knowledge on how to find information on structure and function of receptors in various databases
e. know about procedures for the validation of 3-dimensional receptor structures
f. have had hands-on experience with crystallization of receptors, structure analysis and databases as well as on methods for studying pharmacology and biophysical characteristics of receptors.

Content
Cellular communication relies on receptor-ligand interactions. It is therefore essential to gain a detailed structural and functional knowledge of the receptor and the interactions with its ligands. The molecular biology techniques in combination with X-ray structure determination constitute a strong and efficient tool for the elucidation of the questions concerning the interplay between a receptor and a ligand or potential drug.

Molecular biological cloning techniques have provided the means to isolate genes and overexpress proteins. Heterologous expression systems have been developed to optimize proper folding of the expressed proteins. Methods based on random and directed mutagenesis are instrumental in identifying protein-ligand interactions and in characterizing potential domains suitable for crystallization.

X-ray crystallography is the most powerful experimental method for determining the three-dimensional structures of proteins. Several thousand different protein structures are known today, due to the progress in gene technology, in methods for X-ray data collection and in computer technology. These structures have contributed decisively to the knowledge of their biological functions. It is therefore essential for researchers in many different fields within health and natural sciences to have a basic knowledge of how to analyze these results and apply them to their own scientific field.

The lectures will cover:
• Introduction to receptors
• Functional characterization of receptors
• In vivo studies of receptors
• Expression, purification and crystallization of receptor proteins
• Protein crystallography and validation of structures
• Bioinformatics and molecular modeling of receptors

The practicals will cover:
• Receptor pharmacology
• Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET)
• Electrophysiology
• Receptor biophysical characterization (DSF, ITC, CD)
• Receptor crystallization
• Receptor-ligand interaction analysis
• Extraction of information from databases

Participants
The course is primarily offered to PhD students who have completed undergraduate courses in biochemistry, biology, chemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, or pharmacy, or researchers within the pharmaceutical industry.

Applicants enrolled in part-time master's programs at the University of Copenhagen may participate in the course.

Language
English

Form
The course will be organized as a one-week course and will comprise about 18 lectures and 15 hours of practical exercise.

The participants will be supplied with study materials composed of lecture notes or selected scientific publications that can be downloaded from the course homepage.

The course will be concluded by a two-hour examination quiz (WEB-based), which will be assessed by the course director.

Course director
Jette Sandholm Kastrup, Professor, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, email: jsk@sund.ku.dk


Teachers
There will be several internal and external teachers at the course.

Dates
May 15-19 and June 9, 2017

Course location
Lectures will take place in the Benzon Auditorium, Universitetsparken 2.
Computer workshops will take place in Databar D3, Jagtvej 160.
Other workshops will take place at the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, Jagtvej 162.

Registration: Please register before March 1 2017.

Admission to PhD students from Danish universities will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and according to the rules in force.
Applications from other participants will be considered after the last day of enrollment.

Note: All applicants are asked to submit invoice details in case of no-show, late cancellation or obligation to pay the course fee (typically non-PhD students). If you are a PhD student, your participation in the course must be in agreement with your principal supervisor.

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