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| PHYL0320-4 | General physiology
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| Duration : | 20h Th, 5h Pr, 6h SEM |
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| Number of credits : |
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| Lecturer : | Didier Cataldo |
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Language(s) of instruction :
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| French language |
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Course contents :
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| Teaching : Professor D. Cataldo
The definition of General Physiology is the study of the properties which are common to all cells and living being.
The ability for a cell to keep its internal environment constant in the presence of variations of the external environment is a very important property common to all cells. This constance is favorable for good biochemical reactions. This property is called homeostasis and is also studied by General Physiology.
Homeostasis includes the possibility for a cell to detect a modification in its environment or an external information and to respond appropriately. However all cells or all cells in a living organism are not identical. They are able to provide particular function and thus, have specific and different internal environment given their function. In consequence, cells have to dialog with each other and the integration of all these informations at the cellular level is also the purpose of General Physiology.
The general objectives of this lecture are:
1) To understand the need to maintain a constant internal environment in order to keep the good conditions for biochemical reactions. Moreover, the internal environment could be a little bit different in various cell compartments (lysosomes, nucleus, ...).
2) To understand how molecules move across a compartment or through a biological membrane.
3) To understand the impact on the osmotic pressure of the diffusion of molecules.
4) To understand the phenomenon of osmosis in cell in which the molecule concentration in cytoplasm is higher than in the external fluid. This situation requires to make the cell membrane impermeant to sodium.
5) To understand the consequences on the membrane potential of the inhomogenous distribution of various ionic species on both sides of a biological membrane.
6) To understand how living beings have used the existence of this membrane potential to signalize, particularly in the nervous system.
7) To apply all these concepts to the muscular contraction. |
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Learning outcomes of the course :
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| - To be able to explain how the cell structure is maintained meanwhile this cell assume a particular function (cell membrane permeability, cellular volume regulation, muscle contraction, transmission of nervous information ...).
- To be able to give a molecular explanation to the phenomenon characterizing the living organisms.
- To be able to give a global explanation about the complexity of the coordination system regulating the interactions between the various systems of the organism.
- To be able to describe the relationships between specific metabolic pathways and the environmental properties.
- To be able to use all these informations to start in good conditions the study of Human Physiology. |
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Prerequisites and co-requisites/ Recommended optional programme components :
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| Upstream : Biology and Biochemistry. |
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Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
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| Lectures will be ex cathedra. Two sessions of laboratory works will be organized. At the end of each session, students have to submit a report which will be evaluated identically to the evaluation of the reports in General Biochemistry. |
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Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
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| 1. General introduction, homeostasis.
1. Homeostasis of internal environment.
2. Physico-chemical basis of internal regulation.
2. Diffusion and cell membrane permeability.
3. Osmotic pressure and water displacements.
3. Ionic channels and excitable membranes.
4. Ionic channels.
5. Electrical consequences of ionic gradients.
6. Passive electrical properties of cell membranes. 7. Action potential onset and propagation.
8. Ionic channels diversity.
4. Solutes transports.9. Electrochemical potential energy
10. Passive transport of solutes
11. Active transport.
5. Message Transduction.
12. Ligand-receptor couple and second messengers. |
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Recommended or required readings :
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| Syllabus is available on the eCampus portal.
All the files used for lectures (slides) will also be available after each lectures.
All the recent books dedicated to General Physiology or Cellular Physiology can be used. For example :
- Physiologie des Régulations par E. Schoffeniels et G. Moonen, Masson
- Cell Biology, T.D Pollard and W.C. Earnshaw, 2004, Saunders
- Cellular Physiology, M.P. Blaustein, J.P.Y. Kao and D.R. Matteson, 2004, Elsevier Mosby.
- Molecular Cell Biology, Lodish, Berk, Zipursky, Matsudeira, Baltimore and Darnell, 4th edition, Freeman.
- Cell Physiology Sourcebook, a molecular approach. Ed by Nicholas Sperelakis, 3rd edition, 2001, Academic Press. |
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Assessment methods and criteria :
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| The exam will comprise open questions and multiple choice questions. Specific questions will be dedicated to various aspects developped during the laboratory work. |
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Contacts :
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| Teaching: Professor D. Cataldo
Laboratory of Tumours and Developmental Biology and Department of Respiratory Diseases
GIGA-Research
Tower of Pathology (B23) level 0
Didier.Cataldo@ulg.ac.be
Assistant : Sabine Wislet (S.Wislet@ulg.ac.be) and Maud Guéders (Maud.Gueders@ulg.ac.be)
Secretary : Sabrina DeIuliis (04 366 3538 or Sabrina.DeIuliis@ulg.ac.be). |
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