Type of course

Course content

The course includes relevant techniques for biomedical research including cell culturing, detection and expression of DNA, RNA and proteins, imaging, electron microscopy, confocal microscopy, molecular modelling, inhibition kinetics and other methods used at our core facilities and by the research groups at the department. In each exercise, the students will also learn to do relevant safety evaluations.

The exercises listed are not necessarily in the same order as the exercises will appear during the course.

Short list of exercise content:

1) HMS-0500 Safety course: This part is an intensive course for students and employees at UiT and will provide safety skills relevant to lab work. Obligatory parts: EHS work, biological substances, use of gloves, allergy, liquid nitrogen and gas under pressure.

2) iKomp - information literacy: The course is an online course that aims to make you better equipped to deal with the demands and expectations you are met with at universities and colleges when it comes to learning and academic integrity.

3) Exercise - Myocardial metabolism - from organ to isolated mitochondria (1 week): The students will be introduced to different techniques for assessment of metabolism at the organ and subcellular level. The exercise will include a demonstration of oxygen consumption in isolated perfused hearts, as well as "hands on" experience with high-resolution respirometry in tissue homogenate and isolated mitochondria.

4) Exercise - Histological investigations by Immunohistochemistry and Immunoelectron Microscopy (2 weeks): The students are introduced to various methods for preserving tissue samples for histological investigations. Demonstrations and practical exercises in Immunohistochemistry and Immunoelectron microscopy are given.

5) Exercise - Detection of human polyomaviruses in urine and comparison of the promoter strength from different polyomaviruses (2 weeks): In this exercise the students will learn and perform PCR-based detection of viral DNA, agarose gel electrophoresis, cloning, transformation of bacteria, DNA isolation, DNA sequencing, transfection of mammalian cells, luciferase assay, and western blotting.

6) Exercise - Enzyme inhibition kinetics and molecular modelling (2 weeks): In the first part of this exercise, the student will study enzyme activity measurements and the use of reversible and irreversible inhibition assays. In the other part, the students will study molecular modeling and docking.

7) Exercise - Protein investigations (2 weeks): In this exercise, students will perform purification of recombinant proteins, protein concentration determinations and GST-pulldown assay. Sample preparation for identification of proteins from SDS-PAGE by mass spectroscopy (MS) will be performed.

8) Exercise - Confocal microscopy, flow cytometry and live cell imaging (2 weeks): This exercise introduces the use of flow cytometry and advanced light microscopy in biomedical research. Students will explore applications using immunofluorescence and use GFP for time-lapse imaging in living cells.

9) Exercise - Bacterial adherence and intracellular survival in human cells and host response measured in cytokine production (2 weeks): From this exercise students should understand how to explore and compare bacterial adherence, internalization and survival abilities to human cells and understand how this influence the cytokine production by the host.

Objectives of the course

Language of instruction and examination

Teaching methods

Assessment

The exam consists of 7 part exams, one written laboratory report for each of the 7 lab exercises of the course. Laboratory reports are to be submitted and assessed continuously after each lab exercise is finished. All 7 reports must be passed in order to pass the course. Students will be evaluated with Alphabetical grades (A-F).

In order to start work on the Master's thesis, students must have passed 5 out of 7 part exams.

Re-sit exam Candidates who fail, will be allowed to resubmit a corrected version of the failed laboratory report(s) early in the following semester.

If a candidate fail the re-sit exam, the candidate must follow the entire course over again the following year.

Course work requirements:

• participation in the safety course
• participation in the iKomp course
• participation in all seven sections of the laboratory exercises
• submint a draft of each of the seven lab reports

Students should be prepared for full day activities throughout the semester, including work on the seven compulsory reports. Students will not receive individual feedback on their reports, but feedback will be given in general in a lecture to all students jointly for each of the seven lab exercises.

If unauthorized absence is higher than 20% in any of the seven exercises, the students need to repeat the entire course next time the course runs.

Recommended reading/syllabus