MODULO PATOLOGIA GENERALE: Comprendere la natura dei processi patologici ed i meccanismi biochimici e molecolari attraverso i quali gli agenti patogeni li determinano
MODULO MECCANISMI MOLECOLARI DELLA PATOGENICITA' BATTERICA: Acquisizione di nozioni fondamentali circa i meccanismi con cui microrganismi di rilevanza medica causano malattie ancora molto diffuse nell’uomo e delle modalità con cui tali malattie possono essere studiate e prevenute.
The student who successfully completes the course will be able to demonstrate a solid knowledge of - the nature and activity of biological, physical and chemical agents causing diseases in humans - the mechanisms of the response to pathogens of cells, tissues, organisms - the nature, and progression of human disease and the mechanisms of healing.
L'accertamento delle conoscenze avverrà tramite esame orale. I docenti sono disponibili ad incontri di approfondimento da concorcordare con gli studenti.
Oral exam.
Lo studente acquisirà la conoscenza dei processi patologici alla base delle malattie (infiammazione, degenerazione, neoplasia), della natura delle loro cause (fisiche, chimiche, biologiche), delle modalità biochimiche, molecolari e cellulari attraverso cui tali cause agiscono.
Inoltre, lo studio dei meccanismi di patogenicità batterica e delle tecnologie oggi impiegate per l’identificazione dei principali fattori di virulenza e per la messa a punto di nuove strategie vaccinali è fondamentale per fornire al biologo la capacità di svolgere attività di ricerca o di divulgazione in ambito biomedico.
L'accertamento delle conoscenze avverrà tramite esame orale, durante il quale saranno valutate sia le conoscenze acquisite, sia il corretto utilizzo del linguaggio tecnico proprio della materia.
Academic progress will be verified during the exam session.
During the oral exam the student must be able to demonstrate his/her knowledge of the course material and be able to discuss the course contents thoughtfully and with propriety of expression.
Lo studente potrà acquisire e/o sviluppare sensibilità verso problematiche legate al controllo, diffusione, patogenesi e diagnosi di laboratorio delle malattie infettive.
The student will be able to acquire knowledeges about problems related to the control, diffusion, pathogenesis and laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases.
Le capacità acquisite dagli studenti saranno valutate durante l'esame orale
The assessment of the skills will be verified during the exam session
Biologia Generale, Biochimica, Anatomia, Immunologia, Microbiologia generale
Lo studente è invitato a verificare l'esistenza di eventuali propedeuticità consultando il Regolamento del Corso di studi relativo al proprio anno di immatricolazione. Un esame sostenuto in violazione delle regole di propedeuticità è nullo (Regolamento didattico d’Ateneo, art. 24, comma 3)
Cellular biology, biochemistry, anatomy, immunology, microbiology
Lezioni frontali
Lectures
MODULO MECCANISMI MOLECOLARI DELLA PATOGENICITA' BATTERICA
MODULO PATOLOGIA GENERALE
The main topics of the course are the aetiology of human disease, with particular emphasis on biological, physical an chemical agents and their mechanisms of action. The course will cover also the molecular and cellular elements involved in the reponse to pathogens and in the pathogenesis of human inflammatory, degenerative and neoplastic disease.
MODULE OF: GENERAL PATHOLOGY (6 CFU)
Course introduction - Health status, disease, morbid conditions, pathological syndromes, states, processes and reactions. Homeostasis concept. Concepts of functional reserve, compensation and decompensation. Etiology and pathogenesis.
General Etiology - Physical pathogens. Radiation. Definition; classification (corpuscular and electromagnetic). Main types of corpuscular radiations. Electromagnetic radiations. Direct and indirect effects. Effects on the cells and tissues. Burns and frostbite. Mechanical pathogens: trauma. Wound healing: regeneration and repair. Skin wound repair as a model; first and second intention healing. Bone fractures. Growth factors and their role in wound healing. Pathological aspects of wound healing. Chemical pathogens. Biotransformation, detoxification and bioactivation of xenobiotics. Environmental pathology: origin and pathogenic action of the main polluting agents. Mechanisms at the origin of oxidative stress and pathological effects of free radicals.
Cellular Pathology - Regressive processes: atrophy. Vacuolar degeneration. Mitochondrial swelling. Fatty degeneration. Protein accumulations. Progressive processes: Hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Notes on the alterations of differentiation: metaplasia, dysplasia and anaplasia. Amyloidosis. Reversible and irreversible cell damage. Biochemistry of cell damage. Hypoxia and ischemia. Cell death: necrosis, apoptosis, necroptosis and other modalities. Necrosis: coagulative, colliquative, caseous, gangrenous, steatonecrosis. Histo- and cytological characteristics of cell damage. Markers of necrosis. Apoptosis.
Inflammation - Vascular phenomena of acute inflammation. Cells and chemical mediators of acute inflammation. Adhesion, chemotaxis and phagocytosis. Mechanisms of formation of the different types of exudates. Wound repair and scar formation. Causes of chronicization of inflammatory processes. Chronic nonspecific and granulomatous inflammations. Histopathological characteristics of inflammatory processes. Systemic response to inflammation.
Neoplasms - General aspects. Type of growth of benign and malignant neoplasms. Macroscopic, microscopic and ultrastructural morphological aspects. Loss of differentiation and contact inhibition. Histological classification criteria. Epidemiological aspects: genetic, environmental and cultural factors. Chemical carcinogenesis models in experimental animals: concepts of initiation and promotion of neoplasms. Molecular basis of neoplastic transformation: viral oncogenes, proto-oncogenes and cellular oncogenes. Molecular factors in the origin of the metastatic capacity of neoplastic cells. Mechanisms, cells and mediators in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The tumor microenvironment. Origin and evolution of pre-metastatic niches. Anoikosis. Type of diffusion of metastases: lymphatic, blood, transcelomatic, by contact and by contiguity. Organotropism of metastases: molecular basis and examples. Tumor neoangiogenesis: main chemical mediators involved. Neoplastic progression concept: morphological and molecular aspects. Effects of the neoplasm on the host organism. Prognosis of malignancies (notes on graduation and staging of malignancies).
MODULE OF: MECHANISMS Of BACTERIAL PATHOGENICITY (3 CFU)
The normal flora of man: definitions, acquisition, distribution, properties. The intestinal microbiota. Beneficial effects of normal flora: protective, trophic, metabolic function. Negative consequences associated with the alteration of the normal flora; the case of Clostridium difficile. Probiotics, prebiotics and symbionts. Intestinal dysmicrobism and morbid conditions. Stool transplant.
The opportunistic pathogens: definitions and examples.
Higly pathogenic bacteria. Koch's postulates and their extension. Genetics of pathogenicity. Door of entry, infectious dose, lethal dose. Measurement of the DL50. Pathogenic mechanisms: invasiveness; evasion from the mechanisms of natural immunity with particular reference to phagocytosis; evasion from the mechanisms of specific immunity; bacterial invasins. Bacterial toxins. Comparison of exotoxins and endotoxins. Classification of exotoxins and examples. Biological effects of endotoxins. Stages of the infectious process. Exogenous and endogenous infections.
Biofilms: definition. Stages of biofilm formation. Structure of biofilms. Properties of cells in biofilms with respect to planktonic life. Types of microbial interactions. Medical importance of biofilms. Clostridium tetani and tetanus: general characteristics of the genus Clostridium; C. tetani: morphological characters, tetanus toxin, pathogenesis of tetanus, clinical forms, vaccine prophylaxis, immunoprophylaxis.
Non-fermenting Gram-negative bacilli. Pseudomonas aeruginosa: morphological and metabolic characters, cultivation, diffusion. Cellular and secreted virulence factors. Infections in humans. P. aeruginosa and cystic fibrosis. Evolution of mucoid strains and their adaptation to the lung environment. Outline of laboratory diagnosis. The drug resistance of P. aeruginosa.
Genus Neisseria: Neisseria meningitidis and cerebro-spinal-epidemic meningitis. General characteristics of microorganisms belonging to the genus Neisseria. Serogroups and serotypes of Neisseria meningitidis. Virulence factors. Epidemiology. Immunity. Pathogenesis of meningitis. Vaccines. Laboratory diagnosis
General characteristics of Helicobacter pylori. The story of its discovery. Epidemiology of H. pylori infections. Possible evolutions of the infection. Virulence and pathogenicity factors of H. pylori. Host factors influencing the consequences of infection.
Microorganisms belonging to the genus Streptococcus; general properties and classification. Streptococcus pyogenes: structural and secreted pathogenic determinants, pathologies associated with streptococcal infection, acute localized and systemic infections, post-streptococic diseases. Streptococcus mutans and caries. Determinants of pathogenicity of cariogenic bacteria. Anticaries vaccines.
General characteristics of the genus Mycobacterium. Staining properties. Cultivation. The wall of mycobacteria. Epidemiology of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis control measures. Pathogenesis of tuberculosis. The tuberculous granuloma or tubercle. Lymphocyte populations participating in protection. The tuberculin test. Macrophage survival mechanisms. Main methodologies used for the identification and study of M. tuberculosis virulence genes. The tuberculosis vaccine: advantages and limitations. The ESX-1 secretion system and the main virulence factors of M. tuberculosis.
The microorganisms belonging to the genus Chlamydia: general properties, structure, main pathogenic species for humans, the dimorphic life cycle
Testi di riferimento
1) Pontieri, Russo, Frati – Patologia Generale e Fisiopatologia generale, 1° volume (Ed. Piccin)
2) Robbins – Fondamenti di Patologia e di Fisiopatologia (Ed. Edra Masson)
3) Sherris “Microbiologia medica”, EMSI
4) Antonelli, Clementi, Pozzi, Rossolini; “Principi di Microbiologia medica” Casa Editrice ambrosiana
Altro
Power Point delle lezioni
Recommended textbook for GENERAL PATHOLOGY (one of the following):
Pontieri, Russo, Frati: Patologia generale e fisiopatologia generale, I volume (Ed. Piccin)
Robbins - Basic Pathology (Ed. Elsevier)
Recommended textbook for MECHANISMS Of BACTERIAL PATHOGENICITY:
Piccin MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY: with STUDENT CONSULT, Patrick R. Murray, Ken S. Rosenthal, Michael A. Pfaller, 7th edition.
Principi di MICROBIOLOGIA MEDICA, Guido Antonelli, Massimo Clementi, Gianni Pozzi, Gian Maria Rossolini, CASA EDITRICE AMBROSIANA, edizione 2012.
LE BASI DELLA MICROBIOLOGIA, con approfondimenti clinici, Richard A. Harvey, Pamela C. Champe, Bruce D. Fisher, ZANICHELLI
Esame orale che prevede un colloquio sugli argomenti trattati a lezione
Oral exam
Commissione d’esame: Alessandro Corti (presidente), Giovanna Batoni (membro e presidente supplente). Membri supplenti: Maria Franzini, Semih Esin.