Molecular and Biochemical Pharmacology

This course aims at enhancing the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction between certain ligands and their receptors using methods of biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, structural biology, cell biology, and cell physiology. The course also focuses on the mechanisms of drug action and how drugs influence the organs/organism. It also aims at elucidating the molecular basis for drug actions, interactions between drug molecules, the cell and pathophysiological mechanisms that pave way for further drug discovery.  In this course various methods of molecular pharmacology are used to understand how cells respond to hormones and/or pharmacologic agents, and how chemical structure correlates with biological activity. These methods include physical, chemical, mathematical, molecular biological and all biochemical and cell biological techniques.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Objectives:

• To review fundamentals of various aspects of Pharmacology
• To impart knowledge about drug action, interactions and dynamics at a molecular level
• Explicate how cells respond to hormones or pharmacologic agents, to impact cellular response or biological activity.