Unit EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND TOXICOLOGY
- Course
- Industrial pharmacy
- Study-unit Code
- A003599
- Location
- PERUGIA
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Marco Gargaro
- Teachers
-
- Marco Gargaro
- Giorgia Manni (Codocenza)
- Hours
- 69 ore - Marco Gargaro
- 45 ore (Codocenza) - Giorgia Manni
- CFU
- 6
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2024
- Offered
- 2025/26
- Learning activities
- Caratterizzante
- Area
- Discipline biologiche e farmacologiche
- Sector
- BIO/14
- Type of study-unit
- Obbligatorio (Required)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- Experimental pharmacological basis for the development of new drugs. Principles of evaluation of drug efficacy and toxicity; preclinical and clinical experimentation. Cloning and validation of a drug target.
- Reference texts
- Farmacologia generale e molecolare, Clementi e Fumagalli, Edra. Metodologie biochimiche e biomolecolari, Maccarone, Zanichelli. Tecniche e metodi per la biologia molecolare, Plevani, Pesole, Benedetti, Amaldi, Cea.
- Educational objectives
- For students of the CTF program, this course represents their first experimental course in Pharmacology. Therefore, the main objective is to provide students with the principles and methods of experimental investigation in the pharmacological field. The knowledge acquired during the course will enable students to experimentally manage the pharmacological characterization of a molecule, as well as to understand the main techniques used in pharmacological research and the experimental steps a molecule undergoes before being marketed as a drug.
- Prerequisites
- In order to understand and apply the experimental procedures described in the course, students must have successfully passed the exam in Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy and Pharmacotherapy I. The course is also a prerequisite for attending the Practical Course in Experimental Pharmacology. Furthermore, to follow the practical course effectively, it is advisable for students to have a solid background in molecular biology and sufficient mathematical skills to perform calculations related to bioequivalence and dilutions.
- Teaching methods
- The course EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND TOXICOLOGY is organized as follows: - Lectures: classroom lectures covering all the topics described in the program (theoretical part). - Practical sessions: the practical component is organized as an intensive three-week module, during which students carry out a mini experimental project focused on the construction and validation of a pharmacological target, applying recombinant DNA technology and experimental pharmacology. The practical course takes place in the Biochemical-Pharmacological Teaching Laboratory at the teaching complex in Via del Giochetto.
- Other information
- Mandatory attendance
- Learning verification modality
- The exam consists of oral test, an interview of about 20 minutes for evaluating the knowledge level and the ability of the student to manage the acquired experimental knowledge in a pharmacologic context.
- Extended program
- Theoretical lessons: Introduction to the research of innovative drug targets and molecules as lead compounds for the development of new drug. ADMET studies. IDO1 enzyme as an example of drug target in autoimmune and cancer diseases. End-point, real-time and digital PCR as tools for the evaluation of the drug effect on gene transcription. Microarray and gene chips for the evaluation of the drug effect on the transcriptome. High throughput screening (HTS): a method for selecting ‘lead’ compounds. In vitro and ex vivo preclinical methods of drug study: cell cultures and isolated organs. Methods of study of the signal transduction for the identification of potential drug targets. In vivo preclinical study: the 3R principle; alternative methods to the animal experimentation; animals used in research and their maintenance in animal facility; the Irwin’s test; experimental models of disease. Mice genetically modified: transgenic, knock-out, knoch-in and conditional transgenic/knock-out mice. Clinical trial design: scientific and statistical hypothesis, principles of biostatistics; endpoints; bias and variability; randomization. Phases of Clinical Trials. Genetically modified organisms (OGM) for the production of oral vaccines. MicroRNAs (miRNA) as new drug targets. Practical training: Cloning, expression and validation of the enzyme IDO as a drug target. Purification and activation of murine spleen cells; RNA extraction, RT-PCR for the amplification of the drug target gene; cloning of the drug target gene in a plasmid. Transfection and expression of the drug target gene in a cell line. Validation of the drug target by analysis of the protein expression and the catalytic activity. Building of dose-response curves using the cloned drug target and evaluation of the IC50 of different molecules.
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