Biology and Genetics (1st year)

1. The fundamental features of living matter. The cell as a structural and functional unit of living matter. Classification of cells into prokaryotes (Bacteria and Archea) and eukaryotes and main structural differences between them. The derived and polysymbiotic origin of eukaryotic cells
2. Adaptation of different organisms to the environment as a result of a process of natural selection exercised on a range of modifications of information transmitted from one generation to the next. The close link between mechanisms of natural selection and development in animal evolution: EVO-DEVO
3. The cell as a complex system consisting of a very high number of macromolecules, small molecules and ions, which interact with each other to give rise to cellular structures and functions; role of weak bonds (electrostatic attractions, van der Waals forces, hydrogen bonds) in establishing interactions between molecules
4. The flow of information within the cell and from one generation to the next. Transformation of the linear information contained in the DNA nucleotide sequence into the three-dimensional information of proteins and RNAs; modulation of the biological function of proteins in response to intra- or extracellular signals through modifications of their three-dimensional structure
5. Role of domains, modules and motifs in the structure / function of proteins
6. Role of intrinsically disordered proteins / protein regions in the assembly of biomolecular condensates based on demixing of liquid phases
7. The cascade of gene information from DNA to RNA and proteins. Genes: transcriptional units that specify the structure of individual macromolecules (RNA or proteins). Similarities and differences in the organization of bacterial and eukaryotic genes
8. The different organization of the genome in prokaryotes and eukaryotes and the organization of repeated sequences in the eukaryotic genome; concept of gene family and pseudogene
9. The types of RNA present in cells and their differences from DNA with regard to size, chemical and metabolic stability and biological function
10. The mechanism of RNA synthesis (transcription) and the role of different RNA polymerases in the transcription of genes in eukaryotic cells
11. The maturation processes of primary RNA transcripts, with particular regard to splicing, capping and polyadenylation of eukaryotic messenger RNAs. Alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs results in multiple, partially different proteins
12. Regulation of gene expression, and the different levels at which it can occur. Transcription as the main point of regulation.
13. Transcriptional regulation is based on the interaction between specific base sequences present on DNA (elements in cis) and specific proteins that exert a positive or negative control on transcription (factors in trans): model, inducible and repressible prokaryotic systems
14. The regulation of transcription in eukaryotic cells as a result of the cooperation of many elements in cis and factors in trans, which modulate both the level of transcription and tissue-specificity; relationship of the condensation state of chromatin and the degree of DNA methylation with the expression of genes in eukaryotic cells.
15. Post-transcriptional mechanisms of gene expression regulation, with particular reference to the role of microRNAs (miRNAs)
16. Cell differentiation as a differential expression of a single genetic patrimony common to all the cells of an organism
17. The genetic code: deciphering, properties and biological implications
18. Protein synthesis, with reference to the coupling mechanism between amino acids and codon on messenger RNA and to the enzymatic mechanism of polymerization of amino acids. The essential role of aminoacyl-tRNA-synthetases in ensuring matching fidelity.
19. Ribosomes are Brownian motors. The differences between bacterial and eukaryotic ribosomes. Antibiotics that differentially inhibit bacterial and eukaryotic ribosomes, and their possible therapeutic applications
20. The different phases of ribosomal protein synthesis (translation). Codon-anticodon recognition mode and translational wobbling. How the accuracy of the translation process is guaranteed in the absence of proofeading
21. Post-translational modifications of polypeptide chains and cellular site in which they occur; trafficking of proteins between different cellular compartments and main mechanisms of distribution of polypeptide chains towards intracellular, membrane or extracellular sites.
22. Role of ubiquitination in protein degradation via the Ubiquitin-Proteasome system, and in other functional modifications of proteins
23. Mechanisms of fission, fusion and vesicular traffic at the base of the secretory pathway and endocytosis
24. Basic mechanisms of apoptosis
25. The communication between cells in multicellular organisms, the exchange of chemical signals with justacrine, autocrine, paracrine or endocrine action.
26. The mechanisms of signal transduction in eukaryotic cells. The recurrent role played in these processes by protein kinases and antagonistic protein phosphatases, G proteins with the function of ON / OFF switches, adapter proteins and scaffolds, second messengers
27. Examples of signaling pathways: G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) associated receptors, protein kinase-associated receptors (cytokine and interferon receptors), and tyrosine kinase receptors (RTKs)
28. Eukaryotic cell cycle and the main metabolic and cytological events that characterize its phases.
29. Control of progression along the cell cycle (control of growth, proliferation and cell survival) as a result of the interaction between extracellular signals, intracellular mechanisms and systems of detection and response to errors in the cycle (checkpoint)
30. The neoplastic cell: mutations and epigenetic alterations affecting the genes for the positive (proto-oncogenic) or negative (tumor suppressor) controllers of the cell cycle and proliferation at the base of tumorigenesis.
31. Viruses: classification based on the type of nucleic acid and the type of cell infected; viruses as obligate genetic parasites; mechanisms through which oncogenic viruses can alter the mechanisms of regulation of cell proliferation
32. Prions and their mechanism of action in transmissible neurological diseases
33. Principles and technologies of genetic engineering (restriction enzymes, vectors, Southern blotting, PCR) as a means for the isolation and study of genes. The techniques used for the production of recombinant proteins in bacterial, animal and plant cells (cDNA, expression vectors, methods of introduction into cells)
34. Examples of medical-pharmaceutical application of genetic engineering and methodological basis of gene therapy