Announcing a course organized on behalf of the NIH-sponsored Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Centers (MMPC)

4th Annual Course on Isotope Tracers in Metabolic Research: Principles and Practice of Kinetic Analysis

April 17-22, 2011
The Peabody Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Information: http://www.mmpc.org/shared/tracers.aspx

Course Directors: Robert Wolfe, PhD and Henri Brunengraber*, MD, PhD

This is the fourth annual offering of a course that provides basic introductory and comprehensive information on performing metabolic studies using tracers labeled with radioactive or stable isotopes, in man and in animals. The course is designed for beginners as well as those with experience who wish to expand their capabilities to more sophisticated problems. The faculty is well-versed in a variety of applications and methodologies. The number of students is limited to 100.

Techniques will be presented for investigating whole body metabolism, for metabolite balance across organs, intracellular flux rates and pathway regulation. General aspects of modeling will be considered, as well as specific applications in the study of carbohydrate, fat, protein metabolism and energy balance. Theoretical and practical matters related to sample analysis by mass spectrometry and NMR will be discussed, including detailed numerical examples of calculations involved in determining isotopic enrichment and basic kinetic parameters. Advanced lectures will discuss in more detail the use of positional and mass isotopomer analysis for intracellular flux rates and various aspects of protein and amino acid metabolism. Applications in humans and animal models (particularly mouse) will be considered.

Course material will be presented in organized lectures and informal workshops. Problem sets and discussion questions will highlight each lecture. Lecture notes and problem sets will be available to registrants to be downloaded from the web at the course. In addition to organized sessions, attendees will have ample opportunities for personal interaction with faculty members to discuss issues of particular interest to them in depth.

For information, please see http://www.mmpc.org/shared/tracers.aspx or contact Maren Laughlin at maren.laughlin@nih.gov

Checks for registration should be sent to:
Isotope Tracers Course
Deb Viane, Assistant
4301 W. Markham Street, Slot 806
Little Rock, AR 72205

*supported by R25 DK082376 to H. Brunengraber