Cell communication. Ca2+ as an intracellular messenger. Synaptic plasticity. Photoreceptors and chemoreceptors. Cardiac pacemaker potential. Excitation-contraction coupling and regulation of contraction. Molecular motors in muscle and in cell motility.
Taglietti – Casella. Fisiologia e Biofisica delle cellule. EdiSeS D’Angelo – Peres Fisiologia: molecole, cellule e sistemi. Edi Ermes
Nicholls et al. From neuron to brain. Sinauer Associates, Inc. Publ.
Aidley The Physiology of excitable cells, (IV ed) Cambridge University Press
Learning Objectives
Knowledge: Cellular and molecular mechanisms of the physiological processes occurring across cell membrane or in the cytoplasm. Competence: Evaluation of structure-function relationship at cell and molecular level. Acquired skills: Reading and understanding scientific papers. Analysis and interpretation of experimental results
Prerequisites
General physiology, biochemistry, physics
Teaching Methods
Lectures
Further information
Attending to lectures is strongly recommended.
Original papers about some subjects will be given to the students during the course.
Type of Assessment
The final examination is intended to ensure the acquisition of knowledge and skills (i.e. the acquisition of learning outcomes) by an oral examination consisting in a) the description and interpretation of experiments using graphical representations and b) questions on parts of the programme carried out in class. In this way it is possible to reliably assess the degree of achievement of the learning outcomes outlined above.
Course program
Cell communication: inotropic and metabotropic receptors, membrane signal transduction, molecular mechanisms of neurotransmitter release. Slow synapses. Direct action of G proteins: potassium channel activation in the heart, inhibition of N-type calcium channels. Indirect action of G proteins. Cyclic AMP pathway: L-type calcium channel modulation in mammal ventricle, S-type potassium channel modulation in Aplysia. Inositoltrisphoshate and diacylglycerol pathway: direct action of phosphatidyl inositol bisphoshapte on M-type potassium channels. Arachidonic acid pathway: second messenger dependent presynaptic inhibition. Calcium as an intracellular messenger. Short term and long term synaptic plasticity. Synaptic facilitation and depression, posttetanic potentiation. Long term potentiation and long term depression in the hippocampus. Silent synapses. Long term depression in the cerebellum. Spike timing dependent plasticity. Photoreception: molecular mechanism of phototransduction. Photoreceptor adaptation. Responses from bipolar cells and function of horizontal cells. Chemoreception: mechanisms of taste and olfaction. Taste and olfaction coding. Pacemaker cells and genesis of the cardiac pacemaker potential: “membrane clock” and “calcium clock”. Molecular mechanisms of the control of pacemaker activity by autonomic nervous system. Cellular and molecular mechanisms of excitation-contraction coupling in the striated muscle; triads, tetrads and feet; voltage-dependent and calcium-induced calcium release. Modulation of excitation-contraction coupling in cardiac muscle cells. Molecular mechanisms of regulation of the contraction in striated and smooth muscle. Thin filament- and thick filament-based regulation. Modulation of regulation. Molecular motors in muscle and cell motility. Mechano-chemical coupling in muscle myosin II and axonal transport kinesin. Models of force generation by the myosin motor. Processive and non-processive motors.