PATHOLOGICAL MECHANISM OF SKIN DISORDERS

Letizia Fracchia (12 h – 2 ECTS)
In 2004 she received the title of PhD in Environmental Science at the Department of Science and Advanced Technologies (UPO). Currently, she is Assistant Professor of General Microbiology at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UPO). Her main research interests include biosurfactant-based coatings for the inhibition of microbial adhesion and multi-species biofilms on materials for medical use, the lipoaspirate as an antimicrobial and bioactive scaffold in wound healing, activity of cosmetic products preservatives on skin microbiota and the study of the antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activity of Guayule resin.

Academic lecturers: 4

Seminars (guest lecturers): 2

Laboratory: 6

Chiara Porta (18 h – 3 ECTS)
She received her PhD in Biotechnology applied at the Medical Sciences, at the University of Milan in 2003. In 2002 she visited the Laboratorie d’Oncologie Virale, directed by Dr Mounirà Chelbi-Alix, at the Institute André Lwoff, CNRS, Villejuif, France. She worked as Post-Doctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology directed by Professor Sica at Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, at Istituto Clinico Humanitas and at UPO. Since 2011, she is Assistant Professor of Pathology at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UPO). Her research has been mainly focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying the functional link between inflammation and cancer.

Academic lecturers: 13

Seminars (guest lecturers): 5

Laboratory: 0
Title Pathological mechanisms of skin disorders (5 ECTS)
Program

Microbial life on skin: importance for human health and implications in skin diseases

  • Brief introduction about skin as an ecosystem. Definition of Microbiota and Microbiome. Sites of microbial colonisation on the skin and influence of skin components and properties on microbial life. Structure of the healthy human skin microbiota.
  • Intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence the composition of the skin microbiota in space and time. Overview of the principal methodologies to study the human microbiota.
  • Functions of the healthy human skin microbiota. Skin microorganisms or communities with and adverse or sickening effect on their hosts and relations with skin microbiota.
  • Microbial biofilms and skin infections. Skin microbiota in cosmetic industry.

Fracchia L. – 4 hours (frontal lessons)

The good and the bad: a close sight to some microorganisms belonging to skin microbiota and to those involved in skin diseases

Theory and practice of microorganism cultivation on selective media, observation of relevant skin pathogens cultivated on agar plates, Gram-staining and observation of slides by optical microscopy. Isolation and identification of microorganisms from skin surface.

Fracchia L. – 6 hours (laboratory)

Skin microbiota care: the future for cosmetic ingredients – The new frontiers of cosmetic industry
Guest lecturers – 2 hours (seminars)

Skin immunity

Overview of the immunological anatomy of the epidermis and derma biology under steady state, wound healing and skin disorders. Discussion of research articles

Porta C. – 4 hours (frontal lessons)

Infectious skin diseases

Pathogenic mechanisms underpinning the most common bacterial, fungal and viral (HPV, HSV, MCV) skin infections. Discussion of research articles.

Porta C. and guest lecturer – 6 hours (frontal lessons and seminars)

Inflammatory skin disorders

Pathogenesis, current therapeutic options and new potential therapeutic targets of the major autoimmune and inflammatory diseases of the skin and the skin appendages, including alopecia areata, vitiligo, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and acne vulgaris. Discussion of research articles.

Porta C. and guest lecturer – 8 hours (frontal lessons and seminars)
Textbooks
  • The slides of the lectures and additional material, such as selected scientific papers and laboratory protocols will be available to students.
  • Andreas Schwiertz – Microbiota of the Human Body: Implications in Health and Disease -Springer Verlag – 2016 (1st edition) will provide insights into the microbiota topic

For background knowledge, we recommend the following text books:

  • Michael T. Madigan, Kelly S. Bender, Daniel H. Buckley, W. Matthew Sattley, David A. Stahl – Brock Biology of Microorganisms – Pearson – 2018 (15th edition).
  • Abul Abbas Andrew H. Lichtman Shiv Pillai. Cellular and Molecular Immunology, 10th Edition.
  • Lauren Sompayrac. How the Immune System Works. Wiley Blackwell.
Objectives

The course aims to:
– provide students with adequate information about the skin as an ecosystem, the structure and function of the skin microbiota and factors affecting the microbial flora of the skin.

– provide students with the basis for the understanding of the main microbial skin pathogens/host interaction mechanisms, microbial skin infections, microbial life in biofilms and their adverse effects on health.

– provide students with the instruments for the application of some of the principal methods concerning bacterial and fungal cells cultivation and microscopic observation.

– provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of skin immunity and of the pathological mechanisms underpinning the most common skin disorders.

– provide students with the competences to address unmet clinical needs by suggesting experimental approaches that could be taken to identify new targets/approaches and to analyse their therapeutic potential.
Prerequisites

Basic knowledge of microbial cell biology, genetic and metabolism that can be acquired by studying the textbook “Brock Biology of Microorganisms”.

Basic knowledge of cell biology and immunology is mandatory and can be acquired by pre-course intensive tutoring.

Anatomy, physiology and molecular biology are recommended.
Teaching methods Lectures, seminars held by experts in the field, flipped classroom based on journal club discussion, lab practicals.
Expected Results

At the end of the course, the student will acquire theoretical knowledge and understanding about the composition and the role of the physiological human skin microbiota as well as about the skin microorganisms or communities with adverse effect on human health and the main strategies to limit microbial invasion.

The student will acquire the instruments for the application of the acquired knowledge to critically analyse and discuss clinical and experimental themes in the field of skin microbial diseases and for the application of some of the principal methods for cultivation and observation of microorganisms.

The student will gain independence of judgment on the different topics addressed during the course, knowledge of their possible applications and repercussions in other scientific fields and skills regarding the verbal and written communication by the use of specific scientific and technical language.

The student will acquire theoretical knowledge and understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms underpinning cutaneous immunity, pathogenesis of inflammatory and infectious skin disorders.

The student will acquire the specific scientific terminology and application of the acquired knowledge to critically analyse and discuss clinical and experimental data in the field of skin immunity and disorders.

Finally, the student will gain competence to conceptually design small research projects aimed to: 1) discover new targets, 2) study the therapeutic potential of a given target 3) evaluate new approaches to target key pathogenic events.
Exam modality

The exam will be aimed at evaluating the knowledge and notions acquired during the lectures and selected seminars.

The exam will be a written test composed of 4 open questions (answers of 150-200 words maximum) and 10 multiple choices and true/false questions (with one true answer). The questions will be aimed at evaluating knowledge and understanding of the topics addressed during the lecturers and the ability to discuss the topics critically and concisely by using specific scientific and technical language.At each open question a maximum score of 5 points will be assigned. For multiple choice and true/false questions, 1 point will be obtained for the correct answer, whereas wrong or blank answers will be evaluated 0 points (maximum score will be 30 points).

Teams composed of 3-4 students/each will have to prepare a journal club presentation. A list of research manuscripts that falls into the topics discussed during skin pathology lectures will be provided. However, students might discuss additional original research articles, provided that the manuscript is approved by lecturer.

The scientific paper will be discussed with all classmates – who will gain valuable insights into the different topics – and lecturer, who will evaluate the students work. Each student might be awarded with a maximum score of 3 points that will be added to the score of the written test.

TITLE

Pathological mechanisms of skin disorders (5 ECTS)

 

PROGRAM

Microbial life on skin: importance for human health and implications in skin diseases.

Brief introduction about skin as an ecosystem. Definition of Microbiota and Microbiome. Sites of microbial colonisation on the skin and influence of skin components and properties on microbial life. Structure of the healthy human skin microbiota.
Intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence the composition of the skin microbiota in space and time. Overview of the principal methodologies to study the human microbiota.
Functions of the healthy human skin microbiota. Skin microorganisms or communities with and adverse or sickening effect on their hosts and relations with skin microbiota.
Microbial biofilms and skin infections. Skin microbiota in cosmetic industry.

Fracchia L. – 4 hours (frontal lessons)

The good and the bad: a close sight to some microorganisms belonging to skin microbiota and to those involved in skin diseases.

Theory and practice of microorganism cultivation on selective media, observation of relevant skin pathogens cultivated on agar plates, Gram-staining and observation of slides by optical microscopy. Isolation and identification of microorganisms from skin surface.

Fracchia L. – 6 hours (laboratory)

Skin microbiota care: the future for cosmetic ingredients – The new frontiers of cosmetic industry.
Guest lecturers – 2 hours (seminars)

Skin immunity.

Overview of the immunological anatomy of the epidermis and derma biology under steady state, wound healing and skin disorders. Discussion of research articles

Porta C. – 4 hours (frontal lessons)

Infectious skin diseases.

Pathogenic mechanisms underpinning the most common bacterial, fungal and viral (HPV, HSV, MCV) skin infections. Discussion of research articles.

Porta C. and guest lecturer – 6 hours (frontal lessons and seminars)

Inflammatory skin disorders.

Pathogenesis, current therapeutic options and new potential therapeutic targets of the major autoimmune and inflammatory diseases of the skin and the skin appendages, including alopecia areata, vitiligo, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and acne vulgaris. Discussion of research articles.

Porta C. and guest lecturer – 8 hours (frontal lessons and seminars)

TEXTBOOKS

  • The slides of the lectures and additional material, such as selected scientific papers and laboratory protocols will be available to students.
  • Andreas Schwiertz – Microbiota of the Human Body: Implications in Health and Disease -Springer Verlag – 2016 (1st edition) will provide insights into the microbiota topic

For background knowledge, we recommend the following text books:

  • Michael T. Madigan, Kelly S. Bender, Daniel H. Buckley, W. Matthew Sattley, David A. Stahl – Brock Biology of Microorganisms – Pearson – 2018 (15th edition).
  • Abul Abbas Andrew H. Lichtman Shiv Pillai. Cellular and Molecular Immunology, 10th Edition.
  • Lauren Sompayrac. How the Immune System Works. Wiley Blackwell.

OBJECTIVES

The course aims to:
– provide students with adequate information about the skin as an ecosystem, the structure and function of the skin microbiota and factors affecting the microbial flora of the skin.

– provide students with the basis for the understanding of the main microbial skin pathogens/host interaction mechanisms, microbial skin infections, microbial life in biofilms and their adverse effects on health.

– provide students with the instruments for the application of some of the principal methods concerning bacterial and fungal cells cultivation and microscopic observation.

– provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of skin immunity and of the pathological mechanisms underpinning the most common skin disorders.

– provide students with the competences to address unmet clinical needs by suggesting experimental approaches that could be taken to identify new targets/approaches and to analyse their therapeutic potential.

PREREQUISITES

Basic knowledge of microbial cell biology, genetic and metabolism that can be acquired by studying the textbook “Brock Biology of Microorganisms”.

Basic knowledge of cell biology and immunology is mandatory and can be acquired by pre-course intensive tutoring.

Anatomy, physiology and molecular biology are recommended.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures, seminars held by experts in the field, flipped classroom based on journal club discussion, lab practicals.

EXPECTED RESULTS

At the end of the course, the student will acquire theoretical knowledge and understanding about the composition and the role of the physiological human skin microbiota as well as about the skin microorganisms or communities with adverse effect on human health and the main strategies to limit microbial invasion.

The student will acquire the instruments for the application of the acquired knowledge to critically analyse and discuss clinical and experimental themes in the field of skin microbial diseases and for the application of some of the principal methods for cultivation and observation of microorganisms.

The student will gain independence of judgment on the different topics addressed during the course, knowledge of their possible applications and repercussions in other scientific fields and skills regarding the verbal and written communication by the use of specific scientific and technical language.

The student will acquire theoretical knowledge and understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms underpinning cutaneous immunity, pathogenesis of inflammatory and infectious skin disorders.

The student will acquire the specific scientific terminology and application of the acquired knowledge to critically analyse and discuss clinical and experimental data in the field of skin immunity and disorders.

Finally, the student will gain competence to conceptually design small research projects aimed to: 1) discover new targets, 2) study the therapeutic potential of a given target 3) evaluate new approaches to target key pathogenic events.

EXAM MODALITY

The exam will be aimed at evaluating the knowledge and notions acquired during the lectures and selected seminars.

The exam will be a written test composed of 4 open questions (answers of 150-200 words maximum) and 10 multiple choices and true/false questions (with one true answer). The questions will be aimed at evaluating knowledge and understanding of the topics addressed during the lecturers and the ability to discuss the topics critically and concisely by using specific scientific and technical language.
At each open question a maximum score of 5 points will be assigned. For multiple choice and true/false questions, 1 point will be obtained for the correct answer, whereas wrong or blank answers will be evaluated 0 points (maximum score will be 30 points).

Teams composed of 3-4 students/each will have to prepare a journal club presentation. A list of research manuscripts that falls into the topics discussed during skin pathology lectures will be provided. However, students might discuss additional original research articles, provided that the manuscript is approved by lecturer.

The scientific paper will be discussed with all classmates – who will gain valuable insights into the different topics – and lecturer, who will evaluate the students work. Each student might be awarded with a maximum score of 3 points that will be added to the score of the written test.

Last modified: September 08, 2023

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