Short Report of Alyssa Loktis: PHYLOGENETIC APPROACH TO UNDERSTAND THE MECHANISM OF G PROTEIN ACTIVATION AND THE SELECTIVITY OF GPCR INTERACTION at University of Leipzig (MAY 04 – JULY 04)
by Alyssa Loktis (phd student at Vanderbilt University): I am a Neuroscience Ph.D. Candidate at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, USA. I am jointly mentored in the laboratories of Dr. Heidi E. Hamm (pharmacology) and Dr. Jens Meiler (chemistry). I traveled to Leipzig, Germany to work with Dr. Peter Stadler in the Bioinformatics Department at the University of Leipzig. I lived in the Max Plank Guesthouse for 2 months while I completed my research collaboration.
Working primarily with a doctoral graduate student, Henrike Indrischek, in Dr. Stadler’s laboratory, I worked to reconstruct the evolutionary history of heterotrimeric G proteins through vertebrates and non-vertebrate chordates. Henrike has experience reconstructing and reconciling phylogenetic histories of another protein signaling family, arrestin. In addition, she has developed a computational method which assists in quickly and accurately annotating gene sequences from fragmented genomic data. This pipeline very effectively improved our analyses and aided in our collaboration efforts. Working with her was an excellent experience. Though I had very little background in genetics or bioinformatics, Henrike was able to instruct me on the finer points of gene annotation, sequence reconstruction, and phylogenetic analyses. We accomplished most of our objectives during my two month stay, and we continue to collaborate though I am back in Nashville.
Living in Leipzig for the summer was a fantastic experience. The members of the Bioinformatics Department, including Dr. Stadler and his laboratory, went out of their way to make me feel welcome and included in activities around the city. While in Leipzig, I attended the 1000 year anniversary celebration of the city as well as the annual city festival. I was also able to attend many cultural events such as outdoor concerts for the Bach festival, a performance of Die Valkyrie Opera during the Wagner festival, and several others. During my stay, the four-day Wave Gothic Festival also occurred. It was truly an active summer both academically and culturally.