QUARTAS-FEIRAS :: 12h :: VIDEOCONFERÊNCIA
2025
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
03 de fevereiro
» Deborah Power - "Central and Local Regulatory Processes Regulate Shell Building in Bivalves"
» CCMAR - + Inf
10:00 h | ZOOM
Bivalve resilience across time is clear when considering that the earliest fossil records of bivalves’ date back to at least the early Cambrian period, 530 million years ago.One of the structures proposed to have been crucial for the evolutionary success of bivalves is their hard mineralized shell (a.k.a, valves). The production of the shell and the maintenance of its structure by the mantle in the face of environmental change makes this of central importance in their evolution. The regulation of the mantle and how it controls shell homeostasis will be discussed.
» Rosana Alves - "Genetic manipulation of pathogenic yeasts"
» CBMA - + Inf
11:30 h | ZOOM
The kingdom of Fungi encompasses a diverse range of organisms adapted to various environmental niches, including human, animal, plant and aquatic ecosystems. Some of these organisms serve as essential model systems in basic and applied research and play pivotal roles in biotechnology, biomedical and pharmaceutical research. In this lecture, I will show how CRISPR-Cas9 technologies allow scientists to manipulate a wide array of fungal genomes. Genetic manipulation is essential for inquiries regarding pathogenicity, host-pathogen interactions, and the discovery of novel drug targets.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
28 de janeiro
» Pedro Costa - "Marine Biotechnology: New prospects from omics and bioinformatics for the discovery of novel bioactives and biomaterials"
» UCIBIO - Applied Molecular Biosciences Unit + Inf
10:00 h | ZOOM
The ever-expanding demand for novel bioactives and biomaterials for all sorts of biotechnological and biomedical applications makes the extraordinary biodiversity of oceans an almost unlimited source of high-value novel substances. Consequently, the past decade witnessed a surge in marine bioprospecting for novel chemicals, genes and proteins of biological origin and the European Union holds high hopes for leading ‘Blue Biotechnology’ and the ‘Blue Growth’ revolution. Indeed there are already some approved drugs based on marine biomolecules, from painkillers based on cone snail toxins to tunicate metabolites that are used as anti-cancer drugs. The oceans' extreme biodiversity is, however, both an asset and a handicap. How can we find compounds of interest among so many taxa, especially invertebrates, most of which largely unexplored? How can we identify, isolate and produce in vitro substances from organisms for which genomic resources, such as sequenced and annotated ‘omes’, are scarce or absent? New molecular tools based on next-generation DNA and RNA sequencing plus advances in mass spectrometry, coupled with state-of-the art bioinformatics and databases can tackle these constraints and assist finding novel bioactives and their potential human target receptors for a broad span of applications, from more efficient therapeutics to safer pesticides.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
14 de janeiro
» Sofia Duarte - "Tracing the uninvited: DNA-based tools for non-indigenous species detection in marine and coastal ecosystems"
» CBMA +Inf
11:00 h | DB Auditorium
Invasive species are non-indigenous species (NIS) that can be introduced outside of their natural occurrence/distribution range, posing significant threats to coastal ecosystems and biodiversity. Thus, the early detection of invasive species shortly after their introduction is critical for effective management and mitigation in these vulnerable environments. In European marine waters, most NIS are invertebrates, whose identification using traditional morphology-based methods is often highly challenging and resource-intensive. This talk will highlight the transformative potential of DNA-based tools in the early detection and monitoring of non-indigenous species, showcasing practical applications that underscore their value for safeguarding coastal ecosystems.
» Pilar Cabezas - "Bioinformatics Matters: How pipelines shape metabarcoding results"
» CBMA +Inf
11:30 h | DB Auditorium
Metabarcoding, which combines standardized DNA-barcode markers with high-throughput sequencing, has emerged as a powerful tool for biodiversity assessment, offering higher detection capabilities and greater cost-effectiveness compared to traditional methods. However, this approach generates vast amounts of data that require complex bioinformatics processing. The choice and configuration of bioinformatics pipelines are critical, as they directly affect the accuracy and reliability of biodiversity assessments. Different pipelines can produce varying results from identical raw data, significantly impacting species detection. Therefore, selecting appropriate pipelines and fine-tuning their parameters is essential to ensure robust and reproducible results, as these decisions directly shape the ecological conclusions drawn from metabarcoding analyses.
» Catarina Gomes - "Finely tuned glycoengineering to unravel cancer cell behavior and test new glycan drugs"
» i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde + Inf
12:00 h | DB Auditorium
Cancer is a major health concern, being one of the leading causes of death globally. Apart of being a genetic disease, it is well established that cancer cells present altered glycosylation with expression of aberrant profiles of cellular glycans. Increased expression of both terminal sialylated structures (such as SLeX) and glycosaminoglycans or expression of truncated O-glycans, has been vastly documented in tumors from the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The complexity associated with the glycosylation process, and lack of specific methodologies to study it, have long hampered progress. Nevertheless, recent advances in new methodologies, such as glycoengineering of cells, have opened new avenues to study the complexity associated with the glycosylation process. In this presentation, I will show how glycoengineering, using CRISPR/Cas9 methodologies, can assist the study of glycosylation and the complex role of aberrant glycans in cancer. For instance, by employing KO and activation CRISPR/Cas9 systems we elucidated the role of ST3GalIV in the expression of the cancer-associated glycan SLeX, and its associated malignant properties in GI cancer cells. Additionally, using different KO models, we showed the important role of Syndcan 4 in cancer cell invasion and communication, and the role of HER2 terminal α2,6 sialylation in the resistance of trastuzumab therapy in gastric cancer. Finally, we also used glycoengineered cell models to test novel cancer drugs that target glycosylation in cancer.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10 de janeiro
» Ana Osório Oliveira - "Bridging Research, Career Development & Professional Growth, and Science Communication"
» Instituto Karolinska (Suécia)
10:00 h | DB Auditorium
Ana Osório é licenciada em Biologia Aplicada pela Universidade do Minho e doutorada em Neurociências pela Universidade de Califórnia São Francisco e Universidade de Lisboa. É atualmente investigadora no Instituto Karolinska, onde lidera oKI Career Service Internship Program. Como Gestora de Programa noKI External Engagement Officee como consultora de Carreira em Ciências da Vida na Chaperone, apoia estudantes de doutoramento e investigadores no seu desenvolvimento de carreira e objetivos profissionais, fornecendo ferramentas e recursos para os seus percursos profissionais dentro e fora da Academia.
A organização e abertura do seminário estarão a cargo do Vice-Reitor para a Investigação e Inovação, Eugénio Campos Ferreira, e da Pró-Reitora para os Projetos Científicos e Gestão da Investigação, Sandra Paiva. Estará ainda presente a Diretora do Departamento de Biologia da Escola de Ciências, Maria João Sousa.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7 de janeiro
» Humberto Castro - "SUMO is a conserved protein modifier and a hallmark of the environmental stress response"
» CIBIO-InBIO
12:00 h | DB Auditorium
Outline
SUMO is a conserved protein modifier and a hallmark of the environmental stress response
Living organisms must quickly adapt to transient adverse environmental conditions. Many strategies for reacting to environmental stress operate at the molecular level, remodeling essential protein activity and gene expression. One such mechanism involves the Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier (SUMO), a peptide essential to all eukaryotes that acts as a fast and reversible protein modifier. SUMO is covalently attached to different proteins through an enzymatic cascade, known as SUMOylation, employing Ubiquitin-Like Proteases (ULP)-dependent maturation, E1-activation, E2-conjugation, and assisted by E3 ligases. In response to environmental stimuli, many proteins involved in the stress response are promptly SUMOylated and then deconjugated by ULPs in a recovery phase. During this seminar, I will navigate through different experimental evidence that shows SUMO as a critical player in the stress response in eukaryotes. The work will be anchored mainly in Arabidopsis thaliana as a model organism and a cross-kingdom comparison of SUMO-regulated molecular processes will be briefly overviewed. The work decisively established SUMO as a universal stress marker in eukaryotes and supports the biotechnological application of optimized SUMO components to create organisms, including novel crop variants, resilient to harsh climate scenarios.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
