AIMS AND CONTENT

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The Experimental Pharmacology module aims to describe the main experimental methods, conducted both in vitro and in vivo, to investigate the mechanism of action, metabolism, efficacy, and toxicity of a newly formulated or commercially available drug.

By the end of the course, students will be familiar with various computational methodologies and experimental pharmacology techniques applied in drug discovery and in preclinical studies, respectively.

PREREQUISITES

Knowledge of basic notions of pharmaceutical chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology, animal biology.

TEACHING METHODS

The course is organized in frontal lessons. The topics will be illustrated by the teachers through Powerpoint presentations that are shared on the module TEAM.

Any Student with documented Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), or with any special needs, shall reach out to the Lecturer(s) and to the dedicated SLD Representative in the Department ( Prof. Luca Raiteri, Luca.Raiteri@unige.it ) before class begins, in order to liaise and arrange the specific learning methods and ensure proper achievement of the learning aims and outcomes. VERY IMPORTANT: any request for compensatory tools and adaptations in the exam MUST be done within 10 working days before the date of the exam according to the instructions that can be found at https://unige.it/disabilita-dsa/comunicazioni

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Experimental Pharmacology: experimental approaches for the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of drug actions (experimental design, in-vitro and in-vivo techniques); use of immortalized cell lines and primary cultures; animal models: selection of the most appropriate animal model to be used and examples of in-vivo preclinical experimentation; microscopy and immunohistochemical techniques; flow cytometry techniques; spectrophotometric analyses for protein quantification, studies of enzymatic activity, glucose uptake studies, and calcium studies; description and application of experimental models for the study of synaptic functionality (study of neurotransmitter release, analysis of receptor and transporter expression levels); western blot and protein quantification; experimental techniques to study neurotransmitter release (High Performance Liquid Chromatography, HPLC); study of gene expression through real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR); DNA analysis through gel electrophoresis; cell viability assays; interpretation and analysis of the experimental results.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The official text of the experimental pharmacology consists of the didactic material prepared and distributed during the course, as well as the scientific literature which will be suitably provided for each topic.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The timetable for this course can be found at: EasyAcademy Portal, second semester

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

FURTHER INFORMATION

Contact the teacher for further information not included in the teaching sheet