Molecular Pharmacology and Immunology

GOALS
The aim of course is to provide exhaustive knowledge of molecular and cellular mechanism of actions of drugs and to provide information on pharmacological modulation of cellular response, molecular aspects of receptors, modulation of intracellular signaling and gene expression. Drug is considered not only for its therapeutic function but also as a tool to investigate biological phenomena. Immunology is a rapid growing field of research in medicine and attracts a lot of attention for its contribution in various diseases such as infection diseases, cancer and auto-immunity. The course will give the student the opportunity to enhance the knowledge on rapidly evolving aspects within the field of immunology. This is an advanced course in the field of immunology, and will go into depth, particularly on molecular details.


PROGRAM

MOLECULAR PHARMACOLOGY
Pharmacogenetic
Pharmacology of signal transduction.
Kinases inhibitors as antitumor drugs.
Monoclonal antibodies and soluble receptors as drugs
Transporters as target for drugs
Pharmacology of post translational modifications
Immunosuppressants and immunostimulants
Endocannabinoid system
Excitatory aminoacids and excitotoxicity
Physiopathology of pain and analgesics
G protein receptor regulation
Chemotherapy of microbial diseases and drug resistance
Chemotherapy of neoplastic diseases

MOLECULAR IMMUNOLOGY
Vaccinations
Allergic diseases
Autoimmune diseases
Microbiota and the immune system
Cancer Immunotherapy
Immunodeficiencies (AIDS and Kaposi sarcoma)



REFERENCE MATERIALS
Farmacologia (Katzung-Piccin)
papers and articles given during the courses
Books: AK Abbas e AH Lichtman Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Elsevier, 2017
papers and articles given during the courses.


PREREQUISITES AND EXAMINATION PROCEDURES
PHARMACOLOGY: multiple choice questions + a few long answer questions in order to better assess the comprehension of the students, his/her ability to make connections and to write in a correct scientific language
IMMUNOLOGY: Written exam on the topics presented during the course, plus oral presentation during the course (journal club)


TEACHING METHODS
Lectures with power point slides
Journal Clubs/review discussions with the participation of all of the attending students


LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION
English


PROGRAM INFORMATION
Information on the program will be given at the beginning of course, and are present in the Ariel website.


WEB pages
http://users.unimi.it/minucci/didattica.htm
http://psacerdotefm.ariel.ctu.unimi.it