Learning objectives
The objective of the practical activities is to offer to the students the opportunity to acquire manual dexterity in conducting cellular pharmacology experiments under safe conditions.
Knowledge and understanding skills:
• To know how to correctly perform the most common operations in a cell pharmacology laboratory (handling of cell cultures, proper use of glassware, preparation of solutions, serial dilutions, preparation of plant extracts);
• to Know the most relevant aspects related to safety in the laboratory;
• Understand how to process the obtained data
• To know the mode of operation of the main equipment used
Applied knowledge and understanding skills:
• To Apply the knowledge of pharmacology at a practical level;
• To know how to conduct laboratory experiments safely and independently, following the protocols that will be made available for each student;
• To process on the Excel platform the results obtained from the spectrophotometric assay
Autonomy of judgment
• To Understand the meaning of the operations that are conducted during the exercises
• To know how to independently evaluate the quality of the results obtained
Learning skills:
• To acquire ability to work independently in the laboratory
• To acquire critical thinking about the interpretation of the results obtained
Prerequisites
no
Course unit content
Practical activities in laboratory
Full programme
4-hour class: laboratory safety training, theoretical basics on handling cell cultures, assays for protein quantification in a biological sample, preparation of some plant extracts.
Practical acivity: Setting up an experiment with cultured cells (seeding of cells in plates), spectrophotometric assay of cell lysate proteins, data processing and analysis in the classroom, preparation of plant extracts.
Bibliography
Slides provided by the teachers
Teaching methods
To participate in the practical activities, it is necessary to register on the Elly platform (Pharmacology practical activities), to send a request email to the teachers and at the same time to send the certificates of completion of the safety courses (Modules 1-3) available at https://elly2024.formazione.unipr.it/ in the “Safety section”.
Laboratory exercises will be conducted in small groups of students (n = 15-20/group) in the second half of January, according to a schedule that will be communicated by mid-December and posted on the Elly platform. Such exercises will engage three half days/student. They will be preceded by a 4-hour frontal lesson scheduled in January. During this lecture, the theoretical basis for conducting the exercises will be provided and safety aspects will be addressed in detail.
Attendance at the frontal lecture, as well as the exercises, are mandatory to take the Pharmacology exam.
The slides will be made available to students by uploading them to the Elly platform. Short video recordings preparatory to the practical activities will also be made available on the Elly portal.
Assessment methods and criteria
Among the questions on the Pharmacology exam, it will be included a short-answer question (1 to 5 words, maximum rating 3 points) that deals with some aspect covered during laboratory exercises.
Other information
no
2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
3
