SXR376: Summer school day 2

Day two - and the first real lab day. We are going to be doing some western blotting and protein analysis from some sample T cells. We're going to be looking for CD4 receptors as a control, and CCR5 receptors to see if different cell lines have different amounts of that receptor.

We started by getting our samples out of deep frozen state into a form we could work with. This involved some washing and centrifuging, and then some extraction buffers to break down the cells to get at the proteins.

After that we had to make up a polyacrylamide gel to do the runs on. In this we had a bit of a disaster, as we made our first gel up OK, but the stacking gel on top vanished when we pulled the comb out. So we had to start again which put us a couple of hours behind everyone else. We managed to get the second gel to work, and start to run, but then we had to leave the lab, and hope that the tutors could do the transfer and other stuff that we didn't have time to do.

After tea, it was time for a tutorial. The first was on HIV and the genetic susceptibility of various groups and associated issues, given by our tutor Chris. The second was by the course directory on presentation techniques for the final presentation.

Retire to the bar to discuss the day and drown our sorrows!

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