General Physiology and Animal Physiology

PROGRAM
Physiology of the biological membrane
Morpho/functional characteristics of cell membranes.
Functional characteristics of transmembrane exchanges. The cytoplasmic environment
Active and passive transport through the membrane
Chemical and electrical potential across the membrane
Mechanisms of transport for neutral substances, ions, water and organic compounds. Functional integration of electric and chemical messages.
Cellular and molecular physiology of excitable cells
The neuron
The cell action potential
The Hodgkin and Huxley theory
Electrical signal generation and its propagation
Biophysics of ion channels
Metabotropic and ionotropic membrane receptor. The second messenger system
Cell communication: chemical and electrical stimulation
Electric and chemical Synapses
Neuronal signal integration
The modality of communication in the nervous system: the neuronal firing
Functional principles of cellular memory: LTP and LTD The muscle cell: skeletal, smooth and cardiac The skeletal muscle
The neuro-muscular junction
Excitation and contraction coupling
Basic mechanism of muscular contraction
The Huxley hypothesis: the sliding filaments
Biomechanics of the skeletal muscle: isometric and isotonic contractions
The smooth muscle
Cells organization and function
Distribution and function of contractile proteins in the smooth muscle
The peristalsis
The cardiac muscle
The cardiac action potentials
Cardiac cell ionic current
Cellular and molecular basis for cardiac autorhythmicity
The pace maker current If
Modulation of cardiac cell excitability
External signal transduction in sensory cells Physiology of light sensitive cells in the eye Physiology of the auditory system cells
The olfactory system cellular organization
The gustatory system
Touch and pain transducer at the cellular level Processes of reabsorption/secretion in the kidney Organization of the nephron
Glomerular filtration
Reabsorption and tubular secretion mechanisms


REFERENCE MATERIAL
V. Taglietti, C. Casella, Principi di Fisiologia e Biofisica della cellula, ed. EDISES. E. Kandel et al., Principles of Neural Science, ed. Elsevier.
B, Hille. Ion Channels In Excitable Membrane. Ed. Sinauer


PREREQUISITES AND EXAMINATION PROCEDURES
The exam consists of a written and an oral part. The written test will be composed of 15 multiple-choice questions on general topics of the course. Each correct answer counts 2 points (no answer 0 pt, wrong answer -0.25 pt) for a total of 30. The students passing the written test (minimum grade 18/30) will be eligible to sustain the oral part in the days after the written test (no more than 4 days). The interval between the written and oral tests will depend on the number of the students enrolled.


RECOMMENDED PREREQUISITES
Students are seriously recommended to pass the Mathematics and Physics exams before join this course


TEACHING METHODS
Student are awarded that a constant presence during class is highly recommended. The exams are a written test. There is the possibility, on request, to have a colloquium following the written trials.


LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION
English