534-310 Analytical Pharmacology

Note:

1. Special requirements: Laboratory coat and dissecting instruments.

2. Experiments involving animals are an essential part of this subject; exemption is not possible.

Credit Points:

Coordinator:

Prerequisite/s:

Timetable:

Contact:

Objectives:

By the end of the teaching program in Analytical Pharmacology the student should:

Comprehend:

• the principles of drug action at receptors from the basis of the molecular, receptor binding, in vitro functional, electrophysiological, cell biology and in vivo functional pharmacological approaches;

• the processes involved in drug discovery, how drugs are obtained from nature, by chemical modification, by exploiting side effects of existing drugs or by rational drug design and molecular modelling;

• the use of statistics in the design and analysis of experiments.

Have developed:

• skills to successfully design and carry out laboratory experiments to study the properties of drug receptors using organ bath and receptor binding techniques;

• skills to use recording equipment to record the results of these experiments and be aware of the pitfalls and limitations of this equipment;

• an understanding of the use of statistical methods to analyse the data from these experiments;

• skills to write up the results in the form of a scientific paper: an understanding of modern methods of searching the literature by computerised databases.

Appreciate:

• the importance of the development of good laboratory and theoretical skills in order to design and execute experiments that allow valid conclusions to be reached about the mechanism of action of drugs at receptors.

Content:

Theory and practice of the study of receptors by receptor binding, autoradiography, radioimmunoassay, in vitro functional assays, electrophysiology, in vivo functional assays. Drug discovery, molecular modelling, cell biology, statistics, database search strategies.

Assessment: