General aim of the course is to provide competence and knowledge regarding common methodologies used in the study of molecules with pharmacological activity and in general on the experimental methods of biological and pharmacological investigation
Teaching Methods
The course will be divided into theoretical lessons, in 4 of which there will be an analysis of 4 different scientific articles carried out by the students (divided into groups). For students with specific needs, who cannot attend teaching activities in person and who have applied for Inclusive Teaching Modality, adequate teaching material will be available for fruitful independent study. If requested, self-learning can be supported by tutoring or supplementary teaching activities, and by dedicated meetings, including online, with time flexibility depending on needs.
Assessment Methods
Intermediate test
Not applicable
Final Test To pass the final exam, the student will have to take an oral exam, consisting of a broader general question and two more detailed questions regarding the topics covered (lessons or publications analyzed during the lessons). The student must demonstrate that they have understood the essays and methods and be able to analyze the fundamental concepts developed during the course. The student must be able to describe the results of a research (from one of the publications discussed during the course) and discuss the technical aspects or the methods used. The objective is to verify that the student has acquired the ability to read and interpret a pharmacological basic scientific publication and acquired mastery of the main experimental techniques used and described in the course.
Texts
The study material for the course is constituted by the slides of the lectures provided by the lecturer and the literature material discussed during the course.
Contents
Introduction to pharmacological methods for the development of a drug, study of the experimental approach to design an experiment using "in vivo" and "in vitro" methods. In vitro testing; topics relating to the manipulation of cell cultures, viability and proliferation assays are covered. Immunohistochemical and immunocytochemical assays. Basics of flow cytometry and application examples. Real-time PCR methods and recombinant DNA technology. Preclinical testing; notes on animal testing and the legislation that regulates it. Recall of the principles of general pharmacology and description and application of experimental models for the study of the pharmacological properties of molecules with activity. Disease models (preclinical models of depression, xenograft and allograft models and transgenic animals). Clinical trial. Phases of the clinical trial, ethical principles and statistical evaluation of the results. Reference to the principle of blindness and randomization and examples of clinical studies. Reference to the scientific literature, with analysis of the individual sections of a scientific article, peer review and interpretation of the results, statistical analysis. Work in groups of students for analysis and discussion of four scientific works.
