Molecular Mechanisms of the Diseases and Biological Models

Recommended Prerequisites

All areas of life sciences (examples: Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medicine, Biochemistry or Biology).

Teaching Methods

Lectures: students actively engaged in the construction of knowledge, analyzing diverse information in the context of Molecular Mechanism of Disease. Links between a professional context and exploited scientific concepts will thus be established.

 

Autonomous learning: students will be encouraged to, autonomously get actively involved in the construction and development of their knowledge, searching and analyzing information and solving problems, proposed (or not) by the teacher.

 

Problem-solving class: Presentation of  papers selected within the themes of the lectures.

Learning Outcomes

Main learning outocomes are:

• underlying the therapeutic use of biopharmaceuticals in its pre-clinical and clinical aspects (eg, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines and recombinant proteins);

• the regulatory area of advanced technology and biotechnology-based medicines (biopharmaceuticals);

• the storage, dispensing and use in clinical practice of biologics;

The implementation of the objectives described will enable students to develop the following skills: organization and planning; manage information; problem solving; critical thinking; autonomous learning; oral and written communication; concern for quality.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. Introduction to molecular mechanisms of disease. Mechanism, molecular targets, molecular diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, cellular models and transgenic,
2. Introduction to Neurodegenerative diseases,
3. Alzheimer's Disease,
4. disease prions,
5. Parkinson's disease,
6. replications for Disease. Huntington disease and Machado-Joseph disease,
7. Arteriosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease,
8. Osteoarthritis,
9. immune system and immunotherapy Disease,
10. Regulation of appetite, obesity and biological models,
11. Molecular basis of oncological diseases.

Head Lecturer(s)

Luís Fernando Morgado Pereira de Almeida

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Clipping presentation: 20.0%
Presentation: 40.0%
Exam: 40.0%

Bibliography

Encyclopedia of Molecular Mechanisms of Disease  Editors: Lang, Florian (Ed.) © 2009;

Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Fundamentals and Applications Crommelin, Daan J. A., Sindelar, Robert D., Meibohm, Bernd (Eds.) 4th ed. 2013, XXI, 544 p;

Sousa-Ferreira L, de Almeida LP, Cavadas C. Role of hypothalamic neurogenesis in feeding regulation. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2014 Feb;25(2):80-8;

Colby DW, Prusiner SB. De novo generation of prion strains. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2011 Sep 26;9(11):771-7;

Crunkhorn S. Neurodegenerative disorders: restoring the balance. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2011 Aug 1;10(8):576;

Di Paolo G, Kim TW. Linking lipids to Alzheimer's disease: cholesterol and beyond. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2011 May;12(5):284-96;

Harris H, Rubinsztein DC. Control of autophagy as a therapy for neurodegenerative disease. Nat Rev Neurol. 2011 Dec 20;

Nobre RJ and de Almeida LP. Gene Therapy for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Diseases: From the Bench to Clinical Trials. Curr Pharm Des. 2011;17(31):3434-45.