| CODE | CPH1906 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Research Tools and Study Design in Molecular Pharmacology | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will provide the theoretical basis for research approaches in molecular pharmacology. Students will learn the mainstream tools and approaches used in molecular pharmacology research, including cell culturing and the use of different cell models, the use of genetic and protein-based approaches to study the molecular effects of drugs on living cells and histological studies of tissues and immunohistochemistry approaches to determine specific drug effects on tissues and proteins. Various experimental approaches and measurable endpoints will be discussed, together with how these relate to drug actions in a human patient. Students will also learn the basis of such study designs, ways in which to minimize bias, reduce biological background noise and optimize precision and accuracy. This study-unit will contribute to learning which, together with other study-units, will have additional value for those students who later embark on a molecular pharmacology project for their dissertation. Study-unit Aims: This study-unit aims to lay the necessary foundation in order to enable students to comprehend and apply principles of research study design and implementation in molecular pharmacology. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Identify the principles of molecular pharmacology research and relate these to expected drug-related outcomes in patients; - Recognise different approaches and endpoints that are relevant to molecular pharmacology research, and ways in which to quantify these endpoints; - Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different molecular research approaches and the respective scientific tools needed to attain them; - Review in detail the use of cell responsive endpoints (e.g. apoptosis), as well as genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic endpoints including protein trafficking, with respect to suitable ways for the in vitro study of specific effects of different drugs; - Review histological approaches on common tissues, together with appropriate immunohistochemical analysis, in order to identify specific drug-target related proteins. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Discuss literature data which relates to molecular pharmacology research; - Propose experimental approaches to study a specific drug-related question using a molecular and cellular approach; - Identify the molecular influence of a drug on multiple cellular pathways, and evaluate potential research approaches that may be used in order to best quantify the drug's outcome parameters. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main text: - Ritter JM, Flower RJ, Henderson G, Loke YK, MacEwan D, Rang HP. Rang & Dale's Pharmacology. 9th Ed. 2019. Elsevier. - Specific research papers which will be provided to the students directly. Supplementary readings: - Trevor AJ, Katzung BG. Basic and Clinical Pharmacology. 15th Ed. 2021. Mcgraw Hill Medical. Journals: - Molecular pharmacology. Published by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. - British Journal of Pharmacology. Published by the British Pharmacological Society. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Independent Study | ||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Maria Azzopardi Analisse Cassar Melissa Marie Formosa Maia Lanfranco Janet Mifsud Vanessa Petroni (Co-ord.) Michael Portelli Nathan Vella |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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