Spring Semester 2011-12

University of Puerto Rico - Cayey RISE Program

Instructions for Laboratory Writing Assignments 1. For each assignment you should write a summaryparagraph of 8-10 sentences and a range

from 160 -170 words. 2. A template for each assignment is attached. Once you complete the template email it to Dr. Elena

Gonzalez; she will grade it using the rubric below and return it to you. Within the next two days, you will email it to me with the corrections incorporated. In your summary include a reference to each one of the criteria in the rubric below.

3. Email subject should include: Your register number; first name; Assignment # and hand-in date. Example: 1. Osvaldo Assignment 2 March __

Rubric for Assessing Laboratory Summaries

Name Grade

Date Points

Assignment Number 30 Points Total

A. PURPOSE LAB TECHNIQUE 1 2 3 4 5

Refers to purpose and objectives of the lab techniques

B. BIOLOGICAL COMPETENCE

Demonstrates knowledge oflaboratory procedures

Reports findings adequately

C. ENGLISH COMPETENCE

Uses correct grammar, syntax,spelling, and punctuation

*

Demonstrates clarity and coherence

D. CRITICAL THINKING

Identifies applications and or implications of the study in concluding

29/30 Excellent work!University of Puerto Rico - Cayey

RISE Program

Template for Laboratory Summaries of Assignment 2Biol. 4997-BiomedicalTechniques Due dateMarch 9, 2012

Reg.# 15 Name Juan Carlos Torres Sánchez Date: March 9, 2012

Paragraph 3. Column Chromatography and SDS-Page+

This two dayworkshop consisted in isolating proteins. Many scientists isolate proteins for different purposes,

such as catalysts, therapeutics, dietary supplements, and structure studies. First, we prepared an extract from

egg white, in which we gathered the proteins. Then, we isolated lysosome from that extract using ion-

exchange chromatography. Ion exchange chromatography is a process in which binding and separation of

proteins is based on charge interactions. Our main goal is to isolate lysosome from the rest of the proteins

found in the egg white.Tomake sure that our protein has been purified or not, we did an SDS-

PolyAcrylamide Gel Electrophoresis. This type of electrophoresis technique is used to separate proteins

according to their size: smaller proteins will migrate faster and further than larger proteins through the gel.

This technique needs charge so that the proteins will run from the negative side to the positive side; this is

called running the gel. After we ran the protein the whole way, we stained the gel with coomassie blue. Next

we distained it, and the bands appeared. Our results demonstrated two bands. Those bands could mean two

things, that we isolated the protein completely and two chains of the same protein were showed or that we

have two different proteins. Paragraph 5. Workshop MSU-Introduction to Neurobiology

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Neuroscience, the study of the nervous system, advances the understanding of human thought, emotion, and

behavior. Neuroscientists use tools ranging from computers to special dyes to examine molecules, nerve

cells, networks, brain systems, and behavior. From these studies, they learn how the nervous system

develops and functions normally and what goes wrong in neurological disorders. We made six experiments

and made a sheep brain dissection in this workshop. Five of the experiments consisted in learning how the

nervous system in our body works. One of the experiments we did was the spike box experiment. We first

cut a cockroach leg and put in the spike box; then we added the two electrodes to the leg and heard a popping

sound, which means that I heard my first neuron. Finally, we made a sheep brain dissection and identified all

the parts of the brain. We compared them to the human brain. The study of neuroscience can help in the

discovery for treatment for many diseases such as ALS, Parkinson and Alzheimer’s disease. Many drugs and

procedures have been made to treat these diseases, for example, there is riluzolefor ALS, which increases the

life expectancy of the patient.

Paragraph 6. Protein – Protein Interactions

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Structure based drug-design is the process of finding new drugs or medication based on the knowledge of the

3-D structure of a biological target. In Silico means that the procedure is done through the computer. This

process involves the design or discovery of small molecules that are complementary in shape and charge to

the bio-molecular target resulting in binding to and inhibition of this macromolecule. In Silico methods can

help in identifying drug targets via bioinformatics tools. They can also be used to analyze the target

structures for possible binding/ active sites, generate candidate molecules, check for their drug likeness, dock

these molecules with the target, rank them according to their binding affinities, and further optimize the

molecules to improve binding characteristics. The objective of this workshop was to learn how In Silico drug

discovery and development work. The group was divided into four groups, in which the whole process, since

it is a long one, was divided into four. The objective of my group was to do the secondary screening:

Vinadocking and ranking by binding energy. We did the last part of the whole drug discovery process in

which weverified if the drug wediscovered for a specific protein has the same or different binding sites as

other drugs previously known. This study can be applied to future science work in finding new drugs and

medications such as Imatinib, a drug used to treat cancer.