EXCHANGES

Exchanges of TWIN2PIPSA members to partner institutions



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Jan 15-16, 2024
Science Management Staff Exchange to University of Cambridge

Bárbara Matos, from the Pre-Award Department, and Carla Marques, the head of the Post-award department at FCiências.ID, have traveled to the UK to learn science management strategies and acquire new skill with their peers at the University of Cambridge (UCAM). These training events are expected to help capacitate the science management teams at Ciências ULisboa and improve their outputs within the European Research Area.

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Oct 16-20, 2023
Scientific Exchanges to University of Cambridge

PhD student Sara Ferreira and principal investigator Miguel Machuqueiro went on a Scientific Exchange to the University of Cambridge (UCAM), in UK, in which they had the opportunity to engage in enriching scientific discussions with Profs. Sophie Jackson, Michele Vendruscolo, Jenny Zhang, Paul Barker, and Sir Alan Fersht from the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry.

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Jul 18-23, 2023
Scientific Exchanges to Tel Aviv University. Cláudio M. Gomes, Romana Santos, M Bárbara J. Henriques, Federico Herrera.

TWIN2PIPSA Coordinator Prof. Cláudio M. Gomes, PhD, and PIs Prof. Romana Santos, PhDBárbara J. Henriques, PhD and Prof. Federico Herrera, PhD, visited Tel Aviv University (TAU) in Israel, meeting with Prof. Ehud Gazit, PhD, his team and collaborators. There, they toured labs and visited the BLAVATNIK CENTER for Drug Discovery, while also sharing research and learning new tech transfer strategies. Excellent opportunity for developing new synergies!

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May 30-31, 2023
Exchange: Set-up experimental and computational methodologies for disease variants (UCPH)

Assistant Researcher Bárbara J. Henriques, PhD, part of the TWIN2PIPSA team of researchers based at the Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine Lab (BioISI), went on a Scientific Exchange to the University of Copenhagen (UCPH), meeting there with Prof. Dr. Kresten Lindorff-Larsen and his team to share insights and plan new exciting collaborations.

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May 30-31, 2023
Exchange: Perform computational analysis of disease variants (UCPH)

PhD student Joana Ribeiro went on a Scientific Exchange to the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, learning new computational approaches to study disease variants of proteins associated to rare metabolic disorders from Prof. Dr. Kresten Lindorff-Larsen and his team.

TEAM TALKS & SEMINARS

Talks & seminars given by members of the TWIN2PIPSA team



TWIN2PIPSA_DNE4
Apr 18, 2024
Seminar: In silico methods to capture the pH effects in drug binding to proteins and membranes

Miguel Machuqueiro, the head of the Computational BiopHysics Lab at BioISI and member of the TWIN2PIPSA Ciências ULisboa team, presented the most recent research results of his team in the BioISI Research Seminar. Their novel computational data has provided important clues on how pH can impact on the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic drugs and contribute for chemoresistance.

TWIN2PIPSA_DNE4
Mar 25, 2024
Digital Networking Event: Piezoelectric Biomaterials Toward Energy Harvesting

Post-doctoral researcher Hui Yuan, from Ehud Gazit's lab at University of Tel Aviv, presented their more recent findings that expand the knowledge on the use of amino acids and short peptides as sources of energy that may exploited for the development of wearable and implantable electrical devices.

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Feb 16, 2024
Seminar: Physics of Knotted Proteins

Patrícia Faísca gave a talk on the "Physics of Knotted Proteins" to college students during the Portuguese Meeting of Physics Students (ENEF) that was held 5-18 Feb. at Ciências ULisboa. Aiming to provide a new perspective on physics and its teaching, the TWIN2PIPSA researcher provided an overview of the intricated biophysical features of knotted proteins and their relevance in biology.

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Oct 23, 2023
Digital Networking Event: AlphaFold Prediction of Structural Ensembles of Disordered Proteins

Post-doctoral researcher Faidon Brotzakis, from Michele Vendruscolo's lab at University of Cambridge, presented their more recent findings that expand the knowledge on the use of deep learning methods to predict the structure of disordered proteins.

UCAM Exchange MMachuqueiro & SFerreira
Oct 17, 2023
Seminar: Increasing the Realism of MD Simulations of Proteins, Drugs, and Lipid Bilayers by Adding pH Effects

Professor Miguel Machuqueiro, principal investigator from the Computational Biophysics Lab (BioISI), who is also TWIN2PIPSA's Data Management Plan Manager, shared his group's recent work on constant-pH molecular dynamics methods applied to computational simulations for studying aggregation and the behaviour of biologically relevant molecules with a seminar during his Scientific Exchange to Cambridge University.

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Oct 3-6, 2023
Seminar: “The regulation of Aβ42 oligomerization and aggregation by multimers of the S100B chaperone. António J. Figueira (BioISI)

PhD student António J. Figueira, from the Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine Lab (BioISI), attended the 
prestigious EMBO|FEBS Susan Lindquist School on Proteostasis that was held in Ingelheim am Rhein (Germany), where he shared his work with top experts on the field.

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Sep 29, 2023
PhD Review: New underwater sea urchin inspired bioadhesives. Inês Ventura (BioISI/MARE)

PhD student Inês Ventura discussed her most recent work on bio-inspired adhesives with Birgit Lengerer, PhD (University of Innsbruck), top expert in the field of biological adhesion. The open session was also attended by her supervisors Prof. Romana Santos, PhD (MARE) Bárbara J. Henriques, PhD (BioISI) and and Patrick Flammang, PhD (University of Mons). Great job Inês! 

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Jul 19, 2023
Seminar: Anti-S100B nanobodies as modulators of Tau aggregation. Margarida Simões (BioISI)

PhD student Margarida Simões, from the Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine Lab (BioISI), participated in the FEBS Advanced Course on Protein Folding, Aggregation and Compartimentalization at Spetses Island, Greece. There, she was able to meet with top experts on the field while also sharing her current research on anti-S100B nanobodies with a talk, pitch and poster.

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Jul 19, 2023
Seminar: Monitoring protein dynamics in living cells in the context of neurodegenerative disorders. Federico Herrera (BioISI)

Prof. Federico Herrera, PhD, PI from the Cell Structure and Dynamics Lab (BioISI), who is also TWIN2PIPSA's Grant Office Capacity Building Liaison Person, shared his group's recent work on cell models for studying protein aggregation with a seminar during his Scientific Exchange to Tel Aviv University.

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Jul 19, 2023
Seminar: Acyl-CoA metabolites as a regulators of enzyme function through protein acylation. Bárbara J. Henriques (BioISI)

TWIN2PIPSA Dissemination and Communication Manager and PI Bárbara J. Henriques, PhD gave a seminar during her Scientific Exchange to Tel Aviv University, where she shared her team's latest work on rare metabolic disorders.

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Jul 19, 2023
Seminar: Sea urchin inspired adhesives for biotechnological and biomedical applications. Romana Santos (MARE)

TWIN2PIPSA Local Innovation Executive and PI Prof. Romana Santos, PhD, from the Bioadhesion & Biomimicry group at MARE (MARE) gave a seminar on bio-inspired adhesives as part of her Scientific Exchange to Tel Aviv University.

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Jul 19, 2023
Seminar: Novel chaperones counteracting protein aggregation in neurodegeneration. Cláudio M. Gomes (BioISI)

As part of their Scientific Exchange to Tel Aviv University, TWIN2PIPSA Coordinator Prof. Cláudio M. Gomes, PhD, showed his team's latest work with a seminar on anti-aggregation chaperones in neurodegeneration.

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Jul 25, 2023
Seminar: Metalloprotein chaperones: Regulating protein aggregation and metal ion dyshomeostasis in Alzheimer's disease. Cláudio M. Gomes (BioISI)

TWIN2PIPSA Coordinator Prof. Cláudio M. Gomes, PhD, gave a keynote lecture at the annual meeting of the Sociedade Portuguesa de Química (Portuguese Chemical Society) in Aveiro, Portugal. There, he shared his lab latest research on metalloprotein chaperones able to target Zn dyshomeostasis and protein aggregation in the context of Alzheimer's disease.

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Jun 22, 2023
Seminar: Blue biotechnology: from mimicry to application. Inês Ventura (MARE/BioISI)

PhD student Inês Ventura from the Bioadhesion & Biomimicry Lab (MARE) and the Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine Lab (BioISI), shared her work on sea urchin-inspired adhesive proteins at the Beer ISI PhD Seminars.

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May 31, 2023
Seminar: Mechanisms of protein dysfunction in rare metabolic disorders. Bárbara J. Henriques (BioISI)

Assistant researcher Bárbara J. Henriques, PhD, part of the TWIN2PIPSA team of researchers based at the Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine Lab (BioISI), shared her team's work on protein dysfunction in rare metabolic disorders in Copenhagen, Denmark, as part of her Scientific Exchange to UCPH. 

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May 24, 2023
Seminar: A molecular simulation approach towards establishing the early phase of protein aggregation. Patrícia FN Faísca (BioISI)

Prof. Patrícia F. N. Faísca, PhD, part of the TWIN2PIPSA team of researchers and PI of the Biological Physics Lab (BioISI), shared her group's latest work at the Physics Seminar Coffee Talk series.

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May 18, 2023
Seminar: S100B chaperone multimers as novel regulators of protein aggregation and oligomerization in Alzheimer's Disease. António J. Figueira (BioISI)

PhD student António J. Figueira, from the Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine Lab (BioISI), shared his latest results regarding S100B suppressing activity against Aβ42 aggregation and neurotoxic oligomers at the Beer ISI PhD Seminars.

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Apr 21, 2023
Digital Networking Event:
Predicting the early stages of protein aggregation: Dynamics and growth modes of beta-2-microglobulin dimers. João Vitorino (BioISI)

PhD student João Vitorino, from the Molecular Modeling & Simulation Lab at BioISI, presented their latest results on β-2-microglobulin aggregation, where they report a simple computational model to study β2M dimerization.

EXPERT SEMINARS
Invited speakers at FC/ULisboa

TWIN2PIPSA_SRiberio_Seminar
Dec 14, 2023
Targeting Ataxin-3 aggregation: Clues for Machado-Joseph's disease therapy

Prof. Sandra Macedo-Ribeiro, PhD, from the Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, shared with the Ciências ULisboa community 20 years of research expertise on the role of amyloids in Machado Joseph's disease. As the coordinator of PhasAGE, a partner twinning project, additional cooperative discussions were established to promote the sustainability of twinnings.

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Dec 11, 2023
Identify functional residues in proteins at scale

Matteo Cagiada, PhD, from the University of Copenhagen (UCPH), presented a summary on computational strategies to explore the impact of genetic mutations on the structure of disordered proteins. This seminar was given under the scope of the on-site training event promoted by UCPH for ULisboa TWIN2PIPSA researchers. 

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Dec 11, 2023
Understanding intrinsically disordered proteins: from integrative modelling to design

Francesco Pesce, PhD, from the University of Copenhagen (UCPH), presented the latest computational strategies available to explore the structure of intrinsically disordered proteins using different types of experimental data. This seminar was given under the scope of the on-site training event promoted by UCPH for ULisboa TWIN2PIPSA researchers. 

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Dec 6, 2023
Bacteria to the rescue: engineering microorganisms to function as an early-stage living drug discovery platform for protein misfolding diseases

Prof. Georgios Skretas, PhD, from the Alexander Fleming Biomedical Sciences Research Center, and a collaborator of Prof. Cláudio Gomes (ULisboa), presented a new screening platform based on bacteria that can be used to explore strategies to target disease-related aggregation-prone proteins. He also visited some of the laboratories of the TWIN2PIPSA researchers and engaged in exciting discussions for future collaborations.

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Sep 18-19, 2023
Designer biomolecular condensates formed by peptide liquid-liquid phase separation

Prof. Ayala Lampel, PhD, from Tel Aviv University (TAU), visited ULisboa to get to know TWIN2PIPSA's Lisbon-based research groups. She also shared her team's latest work on synthetic biomolecular condensates with a seminar, and engaged in exciting discussions for future collaborations.

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Sep 13, 2023
Interactions and conformational switching of Bcl-2 protein family of apoptotic regulators

Prof. Alexey Ladokhin, PhD, from the University of Kansas Medical Center, colaborator of PI Miguel Machuqueiro, PhD (BioISI), visited FCUL (ULisboa) to present his group's recent research on membrane-induced conformational switching in Bcl-2 proteins and their role in the regulation of apoptosis. 

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May 11, 2023
Normal and abnormal huntingtin protein variants and their role in Huntington’s disease

Prof. Erich E. Wanker, PhD, from the Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin (MDC) in Berlin shared his Lab's latest research on Huntington's disease-associated HTT protein, where they use quantitative multi-OMICs, protein-protein interaction studies and transgenic flies models.

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Apr13, 2023
Multifunctional S100 proteins, from metallo-proteins to therapeutic targets.

Prof. Guenter Fritz, PhD, from the University of Hohenheim, Germany, shared his team's recent research on the world of S100 proteins through a TWIN2PIPSA Digital Networking Event.

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Feb 03, 2023
Understanding the origins of loss of protein function using analyses of protein stability and conservation

Prof. Kresten Lindorff-Larsen, PhD, representative of the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) in the TWIN2PIPSA consortium, showcased his team's work on merging computational methods with experimental data for studying protein dynamics and its relation to their structure and function at TWIN2PIPSA's kick-off meeting in Lisbon, Portugal.

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Feb 02, 2023
Peptide and Metabolite Assembly: Physiology, Pathology, and Nanotechnology

Prof. Ehud Gazit, PhD, representative of Tel Aviv University (TAU) in the TWIN2PIPSA consortium, shared his group's latest work on molecular structure and self-assembly at the nanoscale of peptides and metabolites at TWIN2PIPSA's kick-off meeting in Lisbon, Portugal.

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Feb 01, 2023
Thermodynamic and kinetic approaches for drug discovery to target protein misfolding and aggregation

Prof. Michele Vendruscolo, PhD, representative of the University of Cambridge (UCAM) in the TWIN2PIPSA consortium, shared his team's latest research on protein misfolding and aggregation kinetics at TWIN2PIPSA's kick-off meeting in Lisbon, Portugal.

CONFERENCES

Dissemination at conferences and meetings with the participation of TWIN2PIPSA members



AIMS2024
Apr 16-19, 2024
Meeting: Annual International (Bio)Medical Students meeting

PhD students António Figueira, Margarida Simões, and Guilherme Moreira presented their most recent work exploring the underlying mechanisms of Amyloid-β and TAU aggregates in health and disease at the AIMS 2024 meeting, in Lisbon, Portugal. In addition, PhD student Inês Ventura and TWIN2PIPSA researcher Mariana Santos, and MSc student Andreia Dias discussed new sea urchin-inspired bioadhesives and the features of EARS2 disease-associated mutations.

SPDM_Symposium_2024
Apr 05, 2024
Meeting: 20th International Symposium of the Portuguese Society of Metabolic Disorders

Bárbara J. Henriques was invited to present at the 20th International Symposium of the Portuguese Society of Metabolic Disorders, held in Aveiro, Portugal. Addressing the changing paradigm of inherited metabolic disorders in Portugal, Dr. Henriques showed how her research on mutations in the ETF and ETF:QO flavoprotein coding gene can provide valuable data to inform clinicians how to treat and manage patients with multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MADD), with her seminar titled "Improve management of MADD patients – insights and achievements".

ADPD2024
Mar 05-09, 2024
Congress: AD/PD 2024

Prof. Cláudio Gomes and four PhD students supervised by him, as well as the PhD students Alicia González Díaz and Alexander Röntgen from UCAM, presented their most recent research findings at the ADPD/2024  Alzheimer's & Parkinson's Diseases Conference, in Lisbon, Portugal.

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Sep 05-07, 2023
Meeting: EMBO Workshop on Proteostasis

Prof. Cláudio Gomes gave a talk titled
"Emerging Chaperones for Modulating Protein Aggregation and Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Neurodegeneration" at the 3rd edition of the Prosteostasis EMBO workshop.

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Sep 05-07, 2023
Symposium: 5th International Symposium on Pathomechanisms of Amyloid Diseases

PhD student António J. Figueira and TWIN2PIPSA Coordinator Prof. Cláudio M. Gomes, PhD, from the Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine Lab (BioISI), attended the 5th International Symposium on Pathomechanisms of Amyloid Diseases in Bordeaux, France; where they talked about their most recent work on S100 chaperones and their role in the regulation of protein aggregation in Alzheimer's Disease.

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Jul 31-Aug 04, 2023
Congress: EBSA 2023

PhD student Joana Ribeiro, together with PIs Bárbara J. Henriques, PhD and Prof. Cláudio M. Gomes, PhD, from the Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine Lab (BioISI) attended the European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA) 2023 Congress in Stockholm, Sweden. There, with a talk and posters, they showcased their team's recent work on protein biophysics for rare metabolic disorders.

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Jul 13, 2023
Meeting: 3rd Chem&Biochem Students Meeting (ULisboa)

Our PhD, MSc and BSc students participated in the 3rd Chem&Biochem Students Meeting at the Faculty of Sciences from ULisboa. There, they were able to showcase their projects in posters, flash and oral presentations, to more than 200 researchers. Also, PhD student António J. Figueira and MSc student Mariana Santos won Best Oral Presentation and Best Poster, respectively. Excellent job!

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Jul 06-12, 2023
Poster: Chaperone regulation of tau liquid-liquid phase separation. Guilherme G. Moreira (BioISI)

PhD student Guilherme G. Moreira from the Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine Lab (BioISI) presented his research on tau liquid-liquid phase separation at the 47th FEBS Congress 2023 and the associated 2023 FEBS Young Scientists’ Forum in Tours, France. He was awarded the BioFactors Poster Prize and was also a FEBS Letters Poster Prize Winner. Congratulations Guilherme! 

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May 23-25, 2023
Poster: A sticky research: sea urchin bioinspired adhesive proteins. Inês Ventura (MARE/BioISI)

PhD student Inês Ventura from the Bioadhesion & Biomimicry Lab (MARE) and the Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine Lab (BioISI), participated at The Global Synthetic Biology Conference (SynBioBeta 2023) in California, USA, where she shared her research on bioadhesives inspired on sea urchin's proteins with potential biotechnological applications.

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Apr 27-28, 2023
Meeting: Eurotau meetings 2023

TWIN2PIPSA participated in the Eurotau meetings 2023, with a talk by Prof. Cláudio M. Gomes, PhD, on the modulation of tau aggregation and condensation by chaperones, together with posters presented by PhD students Guilherme G. Moreira and Margarida Simões from his Lab.

• Best Oral Presentation Award to António J. Figueira at the 3rd Chem&Biochem Students Meeting at the Faculty of Sciences from ULisboa
• Best Poster Presentation Award to Mariana Santos at the 3rd Chem&Biochem Students Meeting at the Faculty of Sciences from ULisboa
• BioFactors Best Poster Award to Guilherme G. Moreira at the 22nd FEBS Young Scientists’ Forum
• Poster Prize of the Day from FEBS Letters to Guilherme G. Moreira at the 47th FEBS Congress

• FEBS Young Scientists’ Forum grant to Ant´ to attend the 47th FEBS Congress/22nd FEBS Young Scientists’ Forum
• EMBO|FEBS Travel Grant and Registration Fee Waiver to António J. Figueira to attend the EMBO|FEBS Susan Lindquist School on Proteostasis
• FEBS Youth Travel Grant to Margarida Simões to attend the FEBS Advanced Course on Protein Folding, Aggregation and Compartimentalization
• Portuguese Biophysics Society (SPBf) Travel Grant to Joana Ribeiro to attend the European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA) 2023 Congress
• FEBS Young Scientists’ Forum grant to Guilherme G. Moreira to attend the 47th FEBS Congress/22nd FEBS Young Scientists’ Forum 
• Travel and Attendance Grant to Inês Ventura to attend the 2023 SynBioBeta conference

EVENTS

Organization or participation in events for the general public, industry and researchers.

TWIN2PIPSA_BiotechEvent
Apr 12, 2024
Event: Bridging opportunities and forging partnerships with biotech/industrial stakeholders

Several Ciências ULisboa members of the TWIN2PIPSA project, who also belong to the 3D-BioInfo-PT community, hosted a workshop on Computational Structural Biology. Free energy perturbation, enhanced sampling, and peptide binder design methods were presented to and discussed with early-stage researchers from other national research centers.

TWIN2PIPSA_BiotechEvent
Apr 10, 2024
Visit of Students from The Netherlands

Biopharmaceutical sciences undergraduate students from Leiden University visited Ciências ULisboa, including the Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine lab and the Cell Structure and Dynamics Lab. They had the opportunity to see and learn what the TWIN2PIPSA teams lead by Federico Herrera, Cláudio Gomes, and Bárbara Henriques investigate and what techniques they use.

TWIN2PIPSA_BiotechEvent
Apr 10, 2024
Jobshop Ciências 2024

TWIN2PIPSA was present at the Jobshop Ciências 2024, an annual event that aims to present the diverse professional possibilities available to college students undergoing their studies at Ciências ULisboa. Represented by Inês Ventura and Mariana Santos, the TWIN2PIPSA project highlighted the a professional path in research in the universe of the biophysics of protein self-assembly and interactions.

TWIN2PIPSA_BiotechEvent
Feb 20, 2024
Event: Bridging opportunities and forging partnerships with biotech/industrial stakeholders

The TWIN2PIPSA team along with Tec Labs, the Innovation Center of Ciências ULisboa, hosted an event aiming to cultivate synergies and forge strategic partnerships with biotech and industrial stakeholders, focusing on advancements in protein-based technologies, biologics, and products. During this event the participants had the opportunity to know more about the infrastructures and technology available in the TWIN2PIPSA laboratories, and discover National and International biotech companies.

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Jan 9, 2024
High-school students visit Ciências ULisboa 

Students from Escola Secundária de Cascais visited the Ciências ULisboa, including several TWIN2PIPSA research laboratories. The students had the opportunity to learn more about the computational and experimental methodologies used by the labs of Federico Herrera, Miguel Machuqueiro, Paulo Costa, Cláudio Gomes, and Bárbara Henriques to explore the features of normal, mutated, and misfolded proteins in human health and disease.

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Dec 6, 2023
Workshop: Navigating EU Research & Innovation Funding: Leveraging Current Experiences for Future Opportunities

Promoted by the TWIN2PIPSA, this workshop will provide a strategic vision on consortium participation in key EU funding program calls to the FCiências.ID/ULisboa and Ciências ULisboa community.

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Oct 24, 2023
Ciências Research and Innovation Day 2023

Prof. Cláudio Gomes and the PhD students Nuno Oliveira, Margarida Simões, Fernanda Murtinheira, and Inês Ventura presented the most recent findings of the TWIN2PIPSA ULisboa team at the 5th edition of Ciências Research & Innovation Day, an event that aims to showcase the best science made in Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa.

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Sep 29, 2023
European Researchers' Night - Lisboa

TWIN2PIPSA was at the 2023 European Researchers' Night in Lisbon. Visitants could talk with Prof. Romana Santos, PhD and her team about marine-inspired biomaterials; learn about computational modelling of biomolecules with Miguel Machuqueiro, PhD and Paulo Costa, PhD; and discover how human cells behave in disease with Prof. Federico Herrera, PhD.

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May 03, 2023
Ciências Open Day 2023

T2P participated at the Ciências Open Day 2023 at the Faculty of Sciences of ULisboa. Here, we were able to showcase our research and its impact on protein science to early career researchers and high-school students looking to enter into STEM.

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Apr 18, 2023
Jobshop Ciências 2023

TWIN2PIPSA was present at the Jobshop Ciências 2023, where we talked about our goals and research activities, as well as networking opportunities for scientific collaboration and industry partnerships.

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Feb 01-03, 2023
TWIN2PIPSA Kick-off Meeting

TWIN2PIPSA's kick-off meeting was held at Lisbon, Portugal. This 3-day meeting counted with the participation of the entire network of students, researchers and PIs involved in the project, where they shared their research, showcased available infrastructure and engaged in discussions. We also had three plenary lectures from partners Dr. Michele Vendruscolo (UCAM), Dr. Kresten Lindorff-Larsen (UCPH) and Dr. Ehud Gazit (TAU).

Training Schools

T2P_Training School 1
Integrating experimental and computational approaches in protein self-assembly
Training School 1 | Nov 13-16, 2023

Introduce the ULisboa team to the advanced experimental and computational techniques used by UCPH researchers for the study of proteins and their interactions, and their relationships to function and disease.

TWIN2PIPSA TS2
From pathological protein aggregation to drug discovery
Training School 2 | Jan 15-17, 2024

Introduce the ULisboa team to the expertise of UCAM researchers and provide hands-on practice on pathological protein aggregation in protein conformational diseases and the development of therapeutic and diagnostic (small molecule and biologics) tools.

TWIN2PIPSA TS3
From protein nano-assemblies and biomaterials to biotechnology
Training School 3 | (upcoming)

Introduce the ULisboa team to the conceptual and methodological expertise of TAU researchers underlying functional amyloids, peptide and metabolite assemblies, and protein-based biomaterials, with focus on their biotechnological potential and applicability.

PUBLICATIONS

Scientific articles published by the TWIN2PIPSA team

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2024
Secondary Modification of S100B Influences Anti Amyloid-β Aggregation Activity and Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology

Led by Cláudio Gomes, ULisboa researchers and collaborators published a study in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences that sheds light on the role of S100B pro-inflammatory protein in the regulation of amyloid-β aggregation and the progression of Alzheimer's disease. 

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2023
Interfacial Dynamics and Growth Modes of β2-Microglobulin Dimers

PhD students Nuno F. B. Oliveira, Filipe E. P. Rodrigues and João N. M. Vitorino together with the principal investigators Patrícia F. N. Faísca and Miguel Machuqueiro, published their research on β2-Microglobulin dimer’s growth modes using computational modulations. Moreover, their paper was featured in the front cover of the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling.

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2023
S100B chaperone multimers suppress the formation of oligomers during Aβ42 aggregation

S100B, a Ca2+-binding protein with holdase-like chaperone activity was evidenced to inhibit Aβ42 oligomerization and aggregation both as a dimer and tetramer, as shown in the paper published by PhD student António J. Figueira on Frontiers in Neuroscience.

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2023
Unraveling the Aquaporin-3 Inhibitory Effect of Rottlerin by Experimental and Computational Approaches

A paper published by Inês Paccetti-Alves on the International Journal of Molecular Sciences shows that Rottlerin (RoT) is able to inhibit human Aquaporin 3 (AQP3) activity, a relevant player in cancer and metastasis, unveiling RoT as an potential anticancer drug where AQP3 is highly expressed.

Find out more about our publications

• (In Press) Mortelecque J, Zejneli O, Bégard S, Simões MC, ElHajjar L, Nguyen M, Cantrelle FX, Hanoulle X, Rain JC, Colin M, Gomes CM, Buée L, Landrieu I, Danis C, Dupré E. A selection and optimization strategy for single-domain antibodies targeting the PHF6 linear peptide within the Tau intrinsically disordered protein. J Bio Chem. 2024; XX:XXX–XXX. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107163
• (In Press) Fortuna A, Suzano PMS, Machuqueiro M, Costa PJ. Influence of Iodine Merz-Singh-Kollman Radius on the Calculated Charges and Hydration Free Energies of Iodinated Molecule. J Comput Biophys Chem. 2024;XX:XXX–XXX. https://doi.org/10.1142/S2737416523500722
• Fernandes PMP, Guedes RA, Victor BL, Salvador JAR, Guedes RC. Decoding the secrets: how conformational and structural regulators inhibit the human 20S proteasome. Front Chem. 2024;11:1322628. https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2023.1322628
• Coelho R, De Benedictis CA, Sauer AK, Figueira AJ, Faustino H, Grabrucker AM, Gomes CM. Secondary Modification of S100B Influences Anti Amyloid-β Aggregation Activity and Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology. Int J Mol Sci. 2024;25(3):1787. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25031787

• Diallo M, Pimenta C, Murtinheira F, Martins-Alves D, Pinto FR, da Costa AA, Letra-Vilela R, Martin V, Rodriguez C, Rodrigues MS, Herrera F. Asymmetric post-translational modifications regulate the nuclear translocation of STAT3 homodimers in response to leukemia inhibitory factor. Cell Oncol. 2023;XX:XXX–XXX. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13402-023-00911-9
• Fortuna A, Costa PJ. Assessment of Halogen Off-Center Point-Charge Models Using Explicit Solvent Simulations. J Chem Inf Model. 2023;63(23):7464–7475. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01561
• Neto V, Victor B, Galamba N. Cyclic Peptides as Aggregation Inhibitors for Sickle Cell Disease. J Med Chem. 2023;66(23):16062–16074. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c01484
• Alves I, Batista MSP, Pimpão C, Victor BL, Soveral G. Unraveling the Aquaporin-3 Inhibitory Effect of Rottlerin by Experimental and Computational Approaches. Int J Mol Sci. 2023;24:6004. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24066004
• Ahonen T, Ng CP, Farinha B, Almeida B, Victor BL, Reynolds C, Kalso E, Yli-Kauhaluoma J, Greaves J, Moreira VM. Probing the Interactions of Thiazole Abietane Inhibitors with the Human Serine Hydrolases ABHD16A and ABHD12. ACS Med Chem Lett. 2023;14(10):1404–1410. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.3c00313
• Ferreira-Peralta P, França B, Murtinheira F, Rodrigues MS, Herrera F. Is spastic ataxia 8 a protein misfolding disorder? Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis. 2023;1870(1):166882. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbadis.2023.166882
• Figueira AJ, Saavedra J, Cardoso I, Gomes CM. S100B chaperone multimers suppress the formation of oligomers during Aβ42 aggregation. Front Neurosci. 2023;17:1162741. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1162741
• Gomes AMM, Costa PJ, Machuqueiro M. Recent advances on molecular dynamics-based techniques to address drug membrane permeability with atomistic detail. BBA Adv. 2023;4:100099. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbadva.2023.100099
• Sivickyte O, Costa PJ. Intrinsic bond strength index as a halogen bond interaction energy predictor. Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2023;25:17535. https://doi.or.pt/10.1039/d2cp04786a


(Pre-prints)
• Brás AR, Lopes A, Mendes N, Costa PJ, Ferreira A, Granja S, Silva AP, Tortosa F, Baltazar F, Gärtner F, Sousa MJ, Valente A, Preto A. Shifting KRAS hotspot mutations inhibition paradigm in colorectal cancer. bioRxiv 2023.08.09.552513. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.08.09.552513

Interviews/News Publications

Communications for the general public by the TWIN2PIPSA team

  • "O mar é uma loja de ideias" (in Portuguese)
    Webinar by Romana Santos, 23 January 2024 🔗 
  • Antena 2 Ciência podcast, Ep. 39 (in Portuguese)
    Interview to Cláudio Gomes, 27 November 2023 🔗 
  • Proteína S100B: um potencial alvo terapêutico para combater a doença de Alzheimer by Guilherme Gil Moreira (in Portuguese)
    in "Conta-nos a tua Ciência", Público newspaper, 15 August 2023 🔗
  • À procura de analgésicos potentes alternativos aos opioides by João Sequeira (in Portuguese)
    in "Conta-nos a tua Ciência", Público newspaper, 9 August 2023 🔗
  • As proteínas que impedem a formação de lixo na doença de Alzheimer by António J. Figueira (in Portuguese)
    in "Conta-nos a tua Ciência", Público newspaper, 20 June 2023 🔗
  • European project promotes top-notch research in biochemistry and biophysics
    Press release in AZoLifeSciences, 15 November 2022 🔗
  • Newly funded Twinning project on protein biophysics will support innovation in biomedicine and biotechnology
    Press release in Eurekalert, 14 November 2022 🔗

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