The Biology of Infection course aims at introducing students to the biological basis of Infection. The mechanisms of resistance to infection as well as the microbial factors that allow microbes to infect will be addressed. At the end of the course, it is expected that the students will have acquired basic knowledge regarding the host response to infection and the different microbial strategies employed by infective microorganisms. Students should be able to relate these two aspects, ie, should understand the basis of infectious diseases and of infection models. Students should also be capable of analyzing original research papers on the subject, both from the point of view of the specific subject analysed and of the methodology used.

The aim is to provide students advanced skills to analyze and solve problems in diverse areas such as functional and structural genomics, cell division, protein sorting in the eukaryotic cell (ER, mitochondria and peroxisomes as case studies), protein regulation by ubiquitin and ub-like molecules (e.g., SUMO), and the molecular biology of complex phenomena such as angiogenesis.

With this curricular unit it is intended that the students:

- acquire general methodological concepts and knowledge on microscopy techniques.

- be equipped with the necessary skills to correctly apply the techniques of microscopy in solving specific problems of scientific research.

- be able to perform the basic laboratory techniques in optical (MO) and electronic transmission (TEM) microscopy, dominating the analysis and interpretation of the obtained results, as well as being able to reliably reproduce them.

Neuroscience is dedicated to the study of the nervous system and its role on behaviour and other functions of the body. In the last few years, neuroscience knowledge has greatly improved due to the introduction of new techniques (e.g. molecular biology, genomics, proteomics) and advanced technologies, like the imaging methods to visualize neuronal functioning. With these improvements the neuroscientists are in a better position to understand cerebral function in both normal and disease conditions.

Neurochemistry / Neurobiology curriculum aims at increasing the students’ knowledge on the nervous system functions, from cellular level to neuronal networks, in a multidisciplinary scientific perspective privileging the research work at the laboratory level.

1. Understand the concept of neoplasia as an alteration of growth and cell/tissue differentiation
2. Understand the basis for classification and recognize the main types of human neoplasia
3. Realize the epidemiological profile of the main cancer types and its time trends
4. Recognize the main tumorigenic agents and its mechanism of action
5. Identify the main phases of neoplastic development and the agents involved in that process
6. Recognize the genetic, epigenetic and molecular basis of cancer
7. Recognize and understand the mains hereditary conditions associated with cancer
8. Integrate knowledge on genesis, biology and evolution of neoplasia using the most prevalent models of human cancer

The aim is to provide students advanced skills to analyze and solve problems centered on the functional/structural relationships in proteins. These relationships will be addressed using as examples proteins involved in central pathways of human biology, in health and disease contexts.

Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology curriculum aims at increasing the students’ scientific knowledge on drugs action mechanisms, in a multidisciplinary scientific perspective privileging the research work at the laboratory level.

Concepts: genetic disease as an extreme of human variability; types of hereditary disease; genetic risks; diagnostic techniques for hereditary diseases; genetics of common diseases; genetic factor in cancer; screening, prevention and treatment of genetic diseases; the ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) of genetic diseases.

Skills: to collect, register and interpret a family history; to determine the hereditary nature of a disease; to evaluate genetic risks; to recognize the psychosocial impact of a hereditary disease; to recognize chromosomal syndromes and the most frequent hereditary diseases; to know the indications for genetic testing, to interpret results and to know its limitations.

Competences: to recognize what is needed to perform the correct diagnosis of genetic diseases; to know the various situations and contexts when physicians refer patients for a correct genetic diagnosis; to khow to main technologies used in genetics research and for genetic diagnosis of patients, their main indications and limitations.

This course unit aims to familiarise students with the molecular mechanisms used by cells to receive, process, amplify and integrate different signals. It will be discussed the general mechanisms, through which information is transmitted by proteins and signal transduction cascades. Some important signalization procedures will be integrated and applied to specific biological problems.