Cellular and Molecular Physiology

The aim of the course is to deepen the students' knowledge on the cellular and molecular physiological mechanisms especially in relation to cellular excitability and cardiovascular function. Lectures will encompass examples of pathologies caused by alterations in the molecular components of excitable cells, with a particular focus on ion channels and their interaction with the cytoskeleton and other protein macro-complexes, as well as inflammatory or chronic diseases, with a specific focus on the role of blood vessels and vascular disfunction. The teaching strategy is based on a " problem solving" approach.
Students will learn physiological mechanisms that are essential for cellular functions that are made up of different interactions (e.g.: membrane potential, calcium release, activation of intracellular pathways), how alteration of specific components of these processes can cause a pathophysiological state and what countermeasures could be adopted to restore physiological cellular and organ homeostasis.

At the end of the course, the student is expected to have acquired the critical ability to analyze, through the literature, the behavior of a physiological process that changes into a pathological one. The second objective is to integrate the basic knowledge of different disciplines to cope with a complex physiological problem by including quantitative approaches.