14513 - Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology

Learning outcomes

The aim of course is to provide exhaustive knowledge of molecular and cellular mechanism of actions of drugs and to provide informations on pharmacological modulation of cellular response, molecular aspects of receptors, modulation of intracellular signalling and gene expression. Drug is considered not only for its therapeutic function but also as a tool to investigate biological phenomena and to design new drugs.

Course contents

Receptors and signal trasduction; drug-receptor interaction and quantitative responce to drugs, quantitative aspects of drug responce : dose-responce curve analyses

 

Relationship between drug-receptor interaction and response

Receptor  analysis tecnique (binding, receptor functionality)

 

Receptors: classification; modulation of receptorial response, ion channel receptor, molecular organization of ion channel receptors, modulation of activity of ion channel receptors, proteins G coupled receptors, molecular organization of G protein-coupled receptors, molecular organization and functions of G proteins, effector systems, regulation of intracellular calcium, receptor for grown factors, molecular organization of grown factors receptors, Activation and signal transduction of growth factors receptors, pharmacological approach for the control of the actvity of growth factors receptors.

 

Membrane transduction system, second messangers, intracellular mechanism of signal transduction and relative drug-induced regulation.

 

Use of cell colture to study transmitter  systems and their receptors. Phosphorylation of proteins

 

Modulation of receptor responces: desensitization, up regulation, down regulation, pharmacological control of cellular transport. Ion channel. Pumps and carriers, neurotransporter. Pharmacological modulatioon of gene expression

Intracellular mechanism of regulation of gene expression, pharmacology of genetic transcription, intracellular receptors, inhibitors of genetic code, pharmacological use of sintetic oligonucleotides, genic therapy, Vectors and genic tranferring use of biomolecular tecniques for the pharmacological characterization of peptidic drugs and their receptors. Neuronal transmission, opioid system. Pharmacology of Nitroxide

Readings/Bibliography

F. Clementi, G. Fumagalli, "Farmacologia generale e molecolare" UTET, 2012.

Goodman and Gilman "La basi farmacologiche della Terapia" ed. it. McGraw Hill. 2006.

Katzung, Farmacologia e Farmacoterapia clinica , Ed PICCIN 2011

Teaching methods

frontal lessons

Assessment methods

The final test consists of an oral examination concerning the topic. The examination verifies the reachment of the teaching goals: the knowledge of the basic principle of Cellular and Molecular pharmacology . The final score leading to 4CFU will come out by means of 3 questions exam dealing with  topisc related to the program.

The exam consists of 3 questions.

First question deals with the pharmacological modulation of drug-receptor interactions, transduction signalling, molecular characterizations of receptors, as indicated in the program.

Second question deals with the pharmacological modulation of gene expression regulation, as indicated in the program.

Third question deals with the pharmacological modulation of neurotransmission, as indicated in the program.

Further questions may be given in needed case. The test lastes about 30 minutes.

The final score will be the result of a global judgement obtained in the three questions, based on the capacity of the student to talk about the items and to demonstrate the knowledge of the pharmacological principles, together with the possibility to be rewarded with excellence scores when he is able to show a profound knowledge and specific property of language.

Teaching tools

power point presentations available on AMS campus

Office hours

See the website of Patrizia Romualdi