THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODELING

Course objectives

General objectives: The main objective of the teaching is to provide the student with more knowledge in the fields of immunology and diseases associated with the immune system, as well as with general pathology. The deepening of the cellular and molecular processes underlying different diseases, and of the new diagnosis and therapeutic tools offered by biotechnologies, will offer the student an up-to-date view on the different possibilities of diagnosis and therapy. Lectures will help to develop competences on the etiopathogenic bases of diseases, fundamental for a biotechnological medical approach to themselves. Specific objectives: The Immunology and Immunopathology part of the course is aimed at providing the students with the basic knowledge on the molecular mechanisms underlying the main immune-mediated disorders in humans, and how they can be exploited for innovative biotechnology-based diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Particular attention will be given to the study of chronic inflammatory diseases, response to infections, allergic reactions, rejection of organ and tissue transplants, immunotherapies of tumors and primary immunodeficiencies. The part of the course related to Molecular and Cellular Pathology aims to provide the basic knowledge to make the student able to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate pathological processes in humans. In recent years, important discoveries have highlighted the importance of the study of pathologies both at the cellular and molecular level. The knowledge of the molecular processes that underlie diseases allows the development of new biological therapies, demonstrating how fundamental the analysis of the molecular and cellular aspect is, generating new questions and opening up to further analysis. The knowledge of the pathogenetic mechanisms of human diseases, at the molecular and cellular level, allows to create the necessary substrate for a biotechnological approach in different fields, such as prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and clinical aspects of human diseases. In particular, the focus will be on the molecular and cellular bases of those human diseases whose incidence has increased in recent years, in relation to the fact that the average age of the human population has grown. Therefore, diseases such as malignancies and chronic degenerative diseases – e.g., diabetes and atherosclerosis - will be discussed. The pathogenetic mechanisms of non-coding RNA (microRNA and long non-coding RNA) will be also examined. Molecular mechanisms regulating the maintenance of stem cells, their use for therapeutic purposes and the involvement of cancer stem cells in the maintenance of tumor processes will be described. The methods of next generation sequencing (NGS) and some practical examples will be discussed as well. For both modules, among the specific objectives that the student will achieve at the end of the course, there will be: - the ability to perform bibliographic searches in international scientific databases (eg PubMed); - the ability to select scientific articles on the topics covered during the course; - the ability to understand and elaborate a scientific article in English; - the integration of the knowledge acquired during the course with the international scientific literature; - the ability to communicate orally, through a computer presentation (with the power point program), the results described in a scientific article; - the ability to study autonomously, self-administered and integrating material from multiple sources (textbooks, material provided by teachers, scientific literature). The ability to search scientific data and literature on specific subjects, the ability to assess the impact that the various scientific journals have in the international community, together with the knowledge and skills in the field of immunology and pathology, will provide the student with useful and crucial tools for consulting multiple sources, developing research projects, analyzing data, communicating results, and gaining more knowledge on some of the latest biotechnological innovations applied in the biomedical field.

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MARIA HELENA STABILE Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
Immunology and immunopathology module The Immunology and Immunopathology part of the course will be in the format of lectures. In addition, the students interested in developing a thesis on immunological topics can make a request to the professors, to do an internship in their laboratory. During the course, the topics will be the following: - Inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and their receptors: etiopathogenetic role (8-10 hours). - Cells of innate immunity: NK and ILCs (4 hours). - Mucosal immunity (2-4 hours). - Immunity to bacterial and viral infections (4-6 hours). - Immunity and tumors: new biotechnological approaches in tumor immunotherapy (4 hours). - Prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines (2-4 hours). - Allergies (2 hours). - Congenital immunodeficiencies: gene and cell therapy approaches (4 hours). - Immunity and transplantation: new biotechnological approaches in the control of rejection reactions of organ and tissue transplants (2-4 hours). - Tolerance and autoimmunity (2-4 hours).
Prerequisites
Immunology and immunopathology module The student will need to know the cellular and soluble components of the immune system, as well as their functioning within the immune response. In particular, the basic knowledge required at the beginning of the teaching are: - General characteristics of immune responses. - Cells and tissues of the immune system. - Innate immunity: cells and soluble mediators. - Adaptive immunity: CD4 + and CD8 + T lymphocytes, MHC and antigen presentation, cytokines. - Receptors and siganling pathways of the immune system. - Lymphocyte maturation and BCR/TCR rearrangement. - Adaptive immunity: B lymphocytes, antibodies, cytokines. - Effector mechanisms of humoral immunity.
Books
Textbooks K. Abbas, A. H. Lichtman, S. Pillai, Cellular and Molecular Immunology (9th Edition), Ed. Elsevier. Pontieri, Russo, Frati: "General Pathology" Ed. Piccin Robbins and Cotran: "The pathological basis of diseases" Ed. Elsevier. Handouts and articles provided by the professors.
Frequency
Attendance is mandatory.
Exam mode
For both modules, the evaluation mode will be divided into two parts: - Part I: computer presentation (with the power point program) of a scientific article published in an international peer-reviewed journal, chosen by the student. The duration of the presentation prepared by the student must be around 15 minutes. The evaluation criteria will focus on: choice of article; ability to understand, process and communicate the results described in the study; any links to the topics covered during the course, - Part II: oral exam. During the oral examination the student must demonstrate that he has acquired sufficient knowledge of all the topics addressed in class: - Inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and their receptors: etiopathogenetic role (8-10 hours). - Cells of innate immunity: NK and ILCs. - Mucosal immunity. - Immunity to bacterial and viral infections. - Immunity and tumors: new biotechnological approaches in tumor immunotherapy. - Prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines. - Allergies. - Congenital immunodeficiencies: gene and cell therapy approaches. - Immunity and transplantation: new biotechnological approaches in the control of rejection reactions of organ and tissue transplants. - Tolerance and autoimmunity. To achieve a score equal to 30/30 cum laude, the student must prove that he has acquired an excellent knowledge of all the topics covered during the course. For the purposes of the evaluation, the student's ability to reason and to explain the topics clearly and with the right terminology will be taken into account, demonstrating the ability to connect them in a logical and coherent way. In the final evaluation of each module, the percentage of presences at the lectures will be taken into consideration. It will be the student's choice to be evaluated for one or both modules in the same day, or in different days, according to the order he/she feels more appropriate to him/her. In the latter case, the professors will take note of the score obtained in the first module chosen. The final score will be the result of the average of the two scores obtained in the two modules.
Lesson mode
Some lessons could be held by foreign professors, coming from prestigious research institutes and universities, on the basis of agreements made between the professors during the Academic Year. These lessons will be mandatory, as they will be held during the calendar of the course. Students will be also invited to attend seminars on biomedicine topics, held by national and international speakers. In this case, attendance is not mandatory
GIOVANNI BERNARDINI Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
mmunology and immunopathology module The Immunology and Immunopathology part of the course will be in the format of lectures. In addition, the students interested in developing a thesis on immunological topics can make a request to the professors, to do an internship in their laboratory. During the course, the topics will be the following: - Inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and their receptors: etiopathogenetic role (8-10 hours). - Cells of innate immunity: NK and ILCs (4 hours). - Mucosal immunity (2-4 hours). - Immunity to bacterial and viral infections (4-6 hours). - Immunity and tumors: new biotechnological approaches in tumor immunotherapy (4 hours). - Prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines (2-4 hours). - Allergies (2 hours). - Congenital immunodeficiencies: gene and cell therapy approaches (4 hours). - Immunity and transplantation: new biotechnological approaches in the control of rejection reactions of organ and tissue transplants (2-4 hours). - Tolerance and autoimmunity (2-4 hours).
Prerequisites
Immunology and immunopathology module The student will need to know the cellular and soluble components of the immune system, as well as their functioning within the immune response. In particular, the basic knowledge required at the beginning of the teaching are: - General characteristics of immune responses. - Cells and tissues of the immune system. - Innate immunity: cells and soluble mediators. - Adaptive immunity: CD4 + and CD8 + T lymphocytes, MHC and antigen presentation, cytokines. - Receptors and siganling pathways of the immune system. - Lymphocyte maturation and BCR/TCR rearrangement. - Adaptive immunity: B lymphocytes, antibodies, cytokines. - Effector mechanisms of humoral immunity.
Books
A. K. Abbas, A. H. Lichtman, S. Pillai, Immunologia cellulare e molecolare (Nona edizione aggiornata), Elsevier‐Masson 2018 Pontieri, Russo, Frati: “Patologia Generale” Ed. Piccin Robbins e Cotran: “Le basi patologiche delle malattie” Ed. Elsevier Dispense ed articoli forniti dai docenti
Frequency
Attendance is mandatory.
Exam mode
For both modules, the evaluation mode will be divided into two parts: - Part I: computer presentation (with the power point program) of a scientific article published in an international peer-reviewed journal, chosen by the student. The duration of the presentation prepared by the student must be around 15 minutes. The evaluation criteria will focus on: choice of article; ability to understand, process and communicate the results described in the study; any links to the topics covered during the course, - Part II: oral exam. During the oral examination the student must demonstrate that he has acquired sufficient knowledge of all the topics addressed in class: - Inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and their receptors: etiopathogenetic role (8-10 hours). - Cells of innate immunity: NK and ILCs (4 hours). - Mucosal immunity (2-4 hours). - Immunity to bacterial and viral infections (4-6 hours). - Immunity and tumors: new biotechnological approaches in tumor immunotherapy (4 hours). - Prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines (2-4 hours). - Allergies (2 hours). - Congenital immunodeficiencies: gene and cell therapy approaches (4 hours). - Immunity and transplantation: new biotechnological approaches in the control of rejection reactions of organ and tissue transplants (2-4 hours). - Tolerance and autoimmunity (2-4 hours). To achieve a score equal to 30/30 cum laude, the student must prove that he has acquired an excellent knowledge of all the topics covered during the course. For the purposes of the evaluation, the student's ability to reason and to explain the topics clearly and with the right terminology will be taken into account, demonstrating the ability to connect them in a logical and coherent way. In the final evaluation of each module, the percentage of presences at the lectures will be taken into consideration. It will be the student's choice to be evaluated for one or both modules in the same day, or in different days, according to the order he/she feels more appropriate to him/her. In the latter case, the professors will take note of the score obtained in the first module chosen. The final score will be the result of the average of the two scores obtained in the two modules.
Lesson mode
Lectures
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • CourseMedical Biotechnology
  • CurriculumBioingegneristico
  • Year1st year
  • Semester2nd semester
  • SSDMED/46
  • CFU3