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CELLULAR, MOLECULAR AND THERAPEUTIC TECHNOLOGIES - BIOLOGY, GENOMICS, HUMAN AND MEDICAL GENETICS
Module TECNOLOGIE CELLULARI, MOLECOLARI - BIOLOGIA E GENOMICA

Academic Year 2024/2025 - Teacher: DAVIDE BARBAGALLO

Expected Learning Outcomes

1) Knowledge and understanding 
At the end of the course, the student will have to demonstrate knowledge of the theoretical and experimental bases of the main cellular and molecular technologies. The student will have to demonstrate to know in general terms the main technologies for the study of genomics and epigenomics and to apply the latter for the integrated study of the cell and living organisms purposes of translability. 

2) Practical application of acquired knowledge 
At the end of the course, the student must be able to identify the essential elements of a biological experiment and hypothesize the best technologies for carrying it out.

Course Structure

The course is organized in 35 hours of frontal teaching through lessons with the help of slides and videos and 12 hours of laboratory exercise. Theoretical-practical activities and exercises organized with the support of tutors If the teaching is given in mixed mode or at a distance, the necessary variations may be introduced with respect to what was previously declared, in order to comply with the program provided and reported in the syllabus.The course is organized in 35 hours of frontal teaching through lessons with the help of slides and videos and 12 hours of laboratory exercise. Theoretical-practical activities and exercises organized with the support of tutors If the teaching is given in mixed mode or at a distance, the necessary variations may be introduced with respect to what was previously declared, in order to comply with the program provided and reported in the syllabus.

Required Prerequisites

Knowledge of the structure and function of cells, genome and cellular epigenome

Attendance of Lessons

Mandatory attendance

Detailed Course Content

· CELL BIOLOGY TECHNIQUES: 

- Preparation and life of a cell culture
- cultures of primary and immortalized cell lines
- techniques for the transfection of mammalian cells by physical and chemical methods
- general principles of microscopy 

· MOLECULAR TECHNIQUES: · NUCLEIC ACID ANALYSIS AND SEPARATION TECHNIQUES  
- Extraction and purification of nucleic acids from cell lines, biological fluids and biopsies ·       
- Spectrophotometric techniques for DNA and RNA analysis · 

· CLONING VECTORS
- definition and role of the main components of prokaryotic plasmids and eukaryotes. 

· QUANTIFICATION OF GENE EXPRESSION BY PCR AND REAL-TIME PCR     
- Low- and high-throughput methods and data analysis 

· QUANTIFICATION OF GENE EXPRESSION BY ddPCR 

· METHODS FOR THE STUDY OF DNA METHYLATION    
- Non-specific methods ·       Specific methods ·       DNA modifications with bisulfite ·       Pyrosequencing 

· METHODS FOR THE STUDY OF HISTONE CHANGES ·       
Chip ·       Nuclease hypersensitive sites 

· TECHNIQUES FOR THE STUDY OF NON-CODING RNAs       
- microRNAs, circRNAs and lncRNAs
- Identification of ncRNAs through in vitro and in silico methods 
- ncRNA extraction and analysis 

· INTERACTIONS BETWEEN BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
- RNA binding proteins
- Interactions between RBPs and ncRNAs
- Physical and functional interactions between ncRNAs

BIOINFORMATICS ANALYSIS FOR THE STUDY OF GENOMES AND TRANSCRIPTOMES

MOLECULAR EVOLUTION OF GENES AND GENOMES 

LABORATORY EXERCISES 

Contribution of teaching to the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Goal No. 3: Health and well-being

Target 3.d: Strengthen the capacity of all countries, especially developing countries, to prevent, reduce and manage national and global health risks

Modality:

·         Lectures

·         Laboratory exercise

Textbook Information

1. Francesco Amaldi, Piero Benedetti, Graziano Pesole, Paolo Plevani. Techniques and methods for molecular biology. Zanichelli (Italy) 
2. Massimo Romani. Epigenetics. Zanichelli (Italy) 

NOTE: It is necessary to use the most recent edition of the reference texts.


AuthorTitlePublisherYearISBN
Francesco Amaldi, Piero Benedetti, Graziano Pesole, Paolo Plevani.Tecniche e metodi per la biologia molecolareZanichelli2021
Massimo Romani. EpigeneticaZanichelli2022

Course Planning

 SubjectsText References
1CELL BIOLOGY TECHNIQUESMaterial provided by the teacher
2NUCLEIC ACID ANALYSIS AND SEPARATION TECHNIQUESAmaldi et al.
3CLONING VECTORSAmaldi et al.
4QUANTIFICATION OF GENE EXPRESSION BY PCR AND REAL-TIME PCRAmaldi et al.
5METHODS FOR THE STUDY OF DNA METHYLATIONRomani
6METHODS FOR THE STUDY OF HISTONE MODIFICATIONSRomani

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

Oral exam The test consists of an interview in which 3 questions will be asked that focus on at least 3 different topics of the program. The test allows to verify: i) the level of knowledge of the integrated study of the cell and living organisms, as well as of advanced biomolecular technologies, including recombinant technologies and the use of transgenic animals, and of classical and molecular genetics; ii) the ability to apply this knowledge for the resolution of specific problems inherent in the study of Biology and Genomics (problem solving and autonomy of judgment); (iii) clarity of presentation; iv) the property of scientific language. For the assignment of the final grade, the following parameters will be taken into account: Grade 29-30 laude: the student has an in-depth knowledge of Biology and Genomics, can promptly and correctly integrate and critically analyze the situations presented, independently solving problems even of high complexity; has excellent communication skills and masters scientific language. Grade 26-28: the student has a good knowledge of Biology and Genomics, manages to integrate and analyze in a critical and linear way the situations presented, manages to solve complex problems quite autonomously and exposes the topics clearly using an appropriate scientific language; Grade 22-25: the student has a good knowledge of Biology and Genomics, although limited to the main topics; manages to integrate and analyze in a critical but not always linear way the situations presented and exposes the arguments in a fairly clear way with a discrete language property; Grade 18-21: the student has the minimum knowledge of Biology and Genomics, has a modest ability to integrate and critically analyze the situations presented and exposes the topics in a sufficiently clear way although the property of language is poorly developed; Exam not passed: the student does not have the minimum required knowledge of the main contents of the course. The ability to use the specific language is very little or nothing and is not able to independently apply the acquired knowledge. The assessment of learning can also be carried out electronically, if the conditions require it.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

Describe the main nucleic acid purification techniques Describe the main cell culture techniques What is the transfection technique and how it can be used to deduce the function of a gene Main techniques used for the study of epigenetics Bioinformatics applications for the study of the evolution of a genome
VERSIONE IN ITALIANO