Cellular and Molecular Biology

MOLECULAR PHARMACOLOGY

MOLECULAR PHARMACOLOGY

Academic year 2015/2016

Sommario del corso

• Course objectives
• Results of learning outcomes
• Course delivery
• Learning assessment methods
• Program
• Suggested textbooks and readings
• Teaching tools

Course objectives

• Core and advanced Knowledge of the fundamental principles of drug action at the molecular level, through which students will be able to connect the action of selected groups of clinically important drugs with body's responses
• Drug knowledge not only as a therapeutic tool but also as a research tool, so students will be able to understand preclinical and clinical research strategies for drug development
• Scientific thinking through the development of students' critical analysis skills, so students will be able to understand experimental approaches and data of scientific literature improving their knowledge as well as their research skills.

Results of learning outcomes

• Understanding of drug principles and molecular targets of selected groups of clinically important drugs
• Practical experience of pharmacokinetic/ pharmacodynamic studies
• Research skills to characterize drug action
• Pre-clinical and clinical strategies for drug discovery and development.

Course delivery

The course consists of:

• 36 teaching hours to provide core knowledge of the different topics covered
• 12 hours of group activities for students discussing scientific literature on pharmacological topics of interest.

Learning assessment methods

The examination consists of a written test with 30 multiple choice questions (max 27/30) and one open question (max 3/30) to evaluate the understanding of basic principles of Pharmacology and the student ability to correlate molecular mechanisms and drug response.

Program

Part I - General Pharmacology

• Drug discovery and development
• Pharmacokinetics
  - drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination

• Pharmacodynamics
  - agonism and antagonism, quantifying methods
  - pharmacological modulation of receptor-mediated responses, molecular mechanisms of receptor up-/down-regulation

Part II - Special Pharmacology - selected groups of clinically important drugs will be studied with respect to the mechanism of action at the molecular level

• Modulation of cardiovascular function (anti-hypertensive drugs; anticoagulant, fibrinolytic and antiplatelet drugs; drug therapy for hypercholesterolemia and dyslipidemia) 
• Modulation of endocrine function (pharmacotherapy of diabetes)
• Modulation of pain (corticosteroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, opioids)
• Neuropharmacology (pharmacotherapy of neurodegenarative disorders)
• Cancer pharmacology (cytotoxic agents, natural products, hormones and related agents, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies and cytokines).

• Teaching Materials:

"Molecular Pharmacolgy" at UniTo website

• Reference Books:

Katzung "Basic & Clinical Pharmacology" Mc Graw Hill Ed.

Rang & Dale "Pharmacology" Elsevier Ed.

Goodman & Gilman's "The pharmacological basis of therapeutics" Mc Graw Hill Ed.

• Websites of Interest:

http://www.nature.com/pharma - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov - http://www.bps.ac.uk - http://farmacologiasif.unito.it

Class schedule

• Teaching materials
• Exams and finals
• Go to Moodle
• Visit the forums