Citology and Histology

Degree course: 
Corso di First cycle degree in BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Academic year when starting the degree: 
2019/2020
Year: 
1
Academic year in which the course will be held: 
2019/2020
Partizione: 
Cognomi M-Z
Course type: 
Basic compulsory subjects
Credits: 
9
Period: 
First Semester
Standard lectures hours: 
80
Requirements: 

Prerequisites
The course begins with elementary basic knowledge and no specific scientific or biological knowledge is required, other than those provided at the high school level (with the exception of art high school or technical and commercial institutes with no biological background).

Final Examination: 
Orale

The final assessment consists of a practical exam based on the recognition of one or more histological preparations observed in the lessons of the histology laboratory. Only when the test is sufficient (exam approved), the student is admitted to the oral exam. The practical exam, once passed, is valid for 12 months. The oral exam consists of the recognition of one or more photos showing optical or electronic microscopy preparations, chosen from those projected during the course. This recognition will give rise to a series of questions designed to assess the student's ability to contextualize the type of cells relative to the biological tissue to which it belongs, and to describe its function, arriving at detailed cellular mechanisms if required. The final grade is determined by the oral test only

Assessment: 
Voto Finale

Educational goals
The course aims to provide the basis for understanding the morphological and functional characteristics of biological tissue structures, including molecular, supramolecular and subcellular structures present in an animal cell, which are organized in different levels: macromolecules, supramolecular structures, organelles and cellular structures. The practical part of microscopy is aimed at deepening the knowledge of histology.
At the end of the course, the student will have acquired theoretical and practical skills useful for the recognition of histological preparations. Starting from the ultrastructural characteristics, the student will be able to recognize the cellular typology and describe its function in a physiological and / or pathological context. Through the laboratory experiences, the student will be able to work in a group and will have acquired application skills with reference to: methodological and instrumental procedures aimed, above all, at the preparation and observation of histological samples.

The course consists in three parts:
A) Module of Cytology (3,5 CFU: 28 hours)
The animal cell with particular interest in:
Cell size, unit of measure and knowledge of microscopy (optical and electronic), preparation of biological specimens for observation in optical microscopy (light field, fluorescence) and electronics. ( 3 hours)
Chemical components of cells, the chemistry of the molecule of life, sources and use of energy: fundamentals of the laws of thermodynamics. ( 3 hours)
The biological macromolecules (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids): structure, physico-chemical characteristics and functions. ( 3 hours)
Organization, characteristics and function of cellular membrane and of cytoskeleton filaments: intermediate filaments, microtubules and microfilaments. (4 hours)
Cellular compartments and their functions: nucleus, smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, lysosomes, peroxisomes, mitochondria. ( 8 hours)
Protein sorting and transport to cell compartments. ( 3 hours)
Exocytosis, endocytosis and transcytosis processes. ( 1 hour)
Cell division of somatic cell (mitosis) and germ cell (meiosis) and genetic variability. ( 3 hours)
B) Module of Histology (4,5 CFU 36 hours)
How the cells are organized into biological tissues
Epithelial tissues simple and multi-layered: features, functions, distribution (4 hours).Cellular surface specializations (microvilli, cilia, stereo cilia and flagella) and the basolateral specializations (cell-cell junctions and cell-matrix junctions). (6 hours)
Glandular epithelial tissues: morphological and functional classification, tissue distribution. Types of secreting cells and process of secretion. (2 hours)
Characteristics, development, functions and localization of connective tissues: connective tissues dense and loose with particular attention at the extracellular matrix components, and specialized: cartilage, bone and hematopoietic bone marrow. ( 6 ore)
Characteristics, development, function, and localization of skeletal muscle (4 hours), cardiac and smooth muscle tissue with particular attention to the muscle contraction ( 3 hours) process. White, intermediate and red muscle fibers. ( 1 hour)
Characteristics, development, function, and localization of nervous tissue (2 hours) and neuroglia cells. (1 hour)
Action potential and synapses (1 hour)
Characteristics, development, function, and localization of lymphoid organs (spleen and lymph nodes) with outline to the main immune response mechanisms. ( 2 hours)

C) 1 CFU of histology laboratory (1 CFU 16 hours).
The histology laboratory consists of 8 lessons of 2 hours each. In the first lesson the students will learn to use the optical microscope, moreover, every single lesson is preceded by a brief explanation of the argument followed by the observation of histological preparations divide by topic:
- Epithelial tissues
- Glandular epithelia
- Connective tissues
- Cartilage
- Compact and spongy bone
- Adipose tissue
- Blood and lymphoid tissues
- Skeletal muscle tissue
- Cardiac muscle tissue
- Smooth muscle tissue
- Nervous tissue

.

The use of a university book is essential (high school books are not recommended).
For the frontal lessons
“Biologia Cellula e Tessuti” AUTORI VARI, 2° edizione a cura di R. COLOMBO e E. OLMO Editore: EdiErmes Anno edizione: 2014.
The recommended book to learn more about electron microscopy is:
“Bloom & Fawcett trattato di Istologia” D.W. Fawcett, McGraw-Hill XII ed.

For the histology laboratory:
“Istologia ed elementi di anatomia microscopica” AUTORI VARI Editore: EdiSES.
“Anatomia microscopica funzionale dei visceri umani” Manrico Morroni, Editore: EdiErmes
Books from High School have to be avoided
The teaching material, both for frontal lessons and for lessons in the histology laboratory, is periodically updated and consists of the slides that are projected in classroom by the professor.
All the aforementioned educational material is made available to students on the e-learning platform.

Teaching methods:
8 CFU of lessons: the topics are illustrated with help of presentation (also video) projected in classroom.
1 CFU of histology laboratory: the Laboratory module will be held at the microscopy laboratory located at the Padiglione Morselli. At each lesson of the laboratory module, each pair of students will be given a box containing the histological materials (to be returned at the end of the lesson). During the lessons of the histology laboratory, the presence of professor or his assistant and of least one tutor is guaranteed. Students are reminded that attendance is mandatory, and that absence is allowed only for a number of hours not exceeding 25% of the course duration.

The professor is available for clarifications and / or in-depth information by prior appointment both by telephone and by mail. In this last case, the requests will be processed only if received by the student's institutional email.

Professors

RIZZI MANUELA

Parent course