BPS2012 · Pharmacology 2: Drug action

Overview

This unit will introduce you to theoretical concepts related to drug action. It includes descriptions of partial and inverse agonists, allosteric modulators and biased ligands. This unit extends beyond drug-receptor interactions to show how signal transduction processes regulate cellular activities. You will engage in problem solving related to pharmacological research questions and communicate the outcomes of such investigations to peers and teaching staff. Topics to be covered include: • Characteristics of ligand interaction with receptors; • How G-protein-coupled and tyrosine kinase receptor interactions with signal transduction systems regulate cell activity; • Ion channel activation and regulation; • Transporter function.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook lists an examination for this unit.

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. Predict how pharmacologically active chemicals might affect living systems through interactions with receptors;
2. Speculate upon the nature of drug action at receptors and likely intracellular signalling mechanisms;
3. Explain how receptor-mediated changes in cellular activity might regulate specific bodily functions;
4. Use our understanding of drug action at a cellular level to predict drug effects upon human health;
5. Record, analyse and critically interpret experimental data and report it in written and visual formats.

Workload

• Twenty-four hours of discovery material (online modules) • Twelve two-hour applied sessions (Q&A) • One four-hour laboratory • Seven 2-hour workshops

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.