Istologia dei tessuti umani e biologia e applicazioni cliniche di cellule staminali

Anno accademico 2012/2013

Obiettivi formativi del corso

The Course “Histology of Human Tissues and Biology and Clinical Applications of Stem Cells”, abbreviated ITUBACCS ("Istologia dei Tessuti Umani, Biologia e Applicazioni Cliniche delle Cellule Staminali"), represents a unique and highly innovative Course within the Italian University System. It is an interactive Course open to students of the second level of education, or higher, and is characterized by an integration of functional histology and the biology of stem cells. While solidly dwelling upon the fundamentals of the structure and organization of human tissues, the Course aims at imparting notions about the functional and molecular bases for the architecture, maintenance and remodeling of tissues and how this is assured by the purporting of the stem/progenitor cells residing in specific niches. The Course has therefore the objective to allow students to acquire a comprehensive view of how homeostasis of human tissues is controlled by a delicate balance between a precise arrangement of their cellular and extracellular matrix elements and the regeneration capabilities that the endogenous progenitor/stem cells may possess. Ultimately, the student is expected to gain a global understanding of the intimate association between tissue structure (morphology) and homeostatic dynamics (function).

Risultati dell'apprendimento

To ascertain that students will grasp the elementary notions about the above mentioned structure-functional relationship governing tissue homeostasis, the Course discusses conventional and more advanced methods for the analysis of tissue and extracellular matrix assembly, the modes of maintenance of such structures, and the mechanisms governing tissue regeneration. How stem/progenitor cells may contribute to these processes will be at the focus of attention. The Course has thereby the following primary goals:

I) impart basic notions about morphology, cellular organization and molecular charcateristics of human tissues;

II) discuss in detail the endogenous regeneration capabilities of different human tissues/organs; 

(III) discuss in detail the cellular and molecular traits of the different stem cell populations discovered in the various tissues/organs of the human body;

(IV) treat the functional properties of these cells and how properties have been established experimentally;

(V) exemplify how various stem cell types may be exploited in therapeutic settings for tissue reconstruction approaches and for the treatment of a variety of pathological conditions, including chronic inflammation, degenerative and autoimmune diseases, and cancer.

Note

Course evaluation is based upon a combined written-practical exam and the delivery of a short Power Point presentation on an issue of particular relevance to the stem cell field. The subject of the presentation is randomly extracted for each student at the end of the course.

The image in the upper right corner shows a section of the intestine of a transgenic multicolor Cre reporter transgenic mouse in which different stem and progenitor cell populations of spontaneously forming adenomas are fluorescently traced in vivo. For detailed explanation see Shepers et al., Science Vol 337, 730-735, 2012. 

Programma

Topics of the entire ITUBACCS Course for the total of 9 CFU are as follows:

1. Methods, instruments and approaches for the analysis of tissue structure and composition.

2. Structural diversity and regeneration capability of epithelial tissues and the skin model of wound-healing.

3. Structural-functional traits of skeletal and cardiac muscles and their regenerative potentials.

4. The hematopoietic system: its morpho-functional features, its stem/progenitor cells, its reconstitution pattern and the process of lymphocyte recycling.

5. The characteristics of vascular structures, the process of angiogenesis, and the nature and traits of multipotent perivascular cells.

6. The unique morpho-functional organization of the Central (CNS) and Peripheral (PNS) Nervous Systems and the phenomenon of axon regrowth.

7. The concepts of “stemness”, asymmetric division, self-renewal and multipotency from a molecular standpoint.

8. The procedures and limitations in the in vivo tracing of stem cells and their progenies after transplantation.

9. The characteristics of the prototype stem cell – the hematopoietic stem cell and its clinical use.

10. The cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling stromal/mesenchymal stem cells and their clinical exploitation potential.

11. The cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling neural stem cells and their clinical exploitation potential.

12. The identification and characteristics of cardiac stem cells and vascular progenitor cells.

13. The potential of embryonic stem cells, epigenetics of stem cells and the “birth” and exploitation potential of iPS cells (“induced Pluripotent Stem cells).

The course content for students pursuing only 6 CFU entails the above toipcs 5 through 13.  

Testi consigliati e bibliografia

The recommended text book is Functional Histology, 2nd Edition; Author: Jeffrey B. Kerr; Edited by Mobsy Elsevier Health Science. This book will primarily serve as a support for the first part of the Course treating basic histology.  An alternative textbook is Histology: A Text and Atlas; Author Micheal H. Ross, Wojciech Pawlina; Editeb by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Because of its integrated nature and because of the lack of a more comprehensive text book, especially one covering an exhaustive manner the biology of stem cells and their medical application potentials, it is absolutely mandatory for the students to attend the lectures. Other course material is in the form of review articles published in the major scientific journals. The comprehensive list of these articles is reported below.

1. Yildirimer L, Thanh NT, Seifalian AM. Skin regeneration scaffolds: a multimodal bottom-up approach. Trends Biotechnol. 2012 Sep 13. pii: S0167-7799(12)00134-5. doi:
10.1016/j.tibtech.2012.08.004. [Epub ahead of print];

2. Arwert EN, Hoste E, Watt FM. Epithelial stem cells, wound healing and cancer. Nat Rev Cancer. 2012 Feb 24;12(3):170-80.