WORK
Immune precision medicine as a new opportunity to control canine trypanosomatid diseases - DogIPM PTDC/CVT-CVT/0228/2020
GHTM–Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL), Lisboa, Portugal
Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FMV), CIISA – Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar em Sanidade Animal, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal,
Health Sciences Centre/Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte
(UFRN, Natal, Brasil)
PROJECT OUTCOME
• 1º seminário Outubro 2022
Gabriela Santos Gomes - PhD
Mafalda Meunier - MSc *
Ana Sofia Bolas – PhD
Joana Marques – PhD (*) (**)
Raissa Couto - PhD * (CAPES scholarship, Brazil)
Flávia Martins – MSc *
Sara Shone - MSc *
George Nakhratyan - MSc *
Carolina Lopes - MSc *
Bruna Freitas - MSc *
João Oliveira - MSc **
Ofélia Cruz - MSc *
Maria Mafra - MSc *
Lis Lobo – Post-doc ***
Cláudia Moreno – Post-doc **
Armanda Rodrigues - Post-doc (CEEC)***
* student
** FCT scholarship
*** Post-doctoral research scholarship
Isabel Fonseca - DVM, PhD
Graça Alexandre-Pires - DVM, PhD
José Meireles - DVM, PhD
Marcos Santos - PhD
Joana Gomes - DVM
Ana Reisinho - DVM, MSc
Alexandra Basso - DVM
Marta Monteiro - PhD *
Rodolfo Leal - DVM, PhD
* student
Marcelo Silva - PhD
Felipe Anderson - PhD *
Johny Oliveira - PhD *
Alzira Regina - PhD *
Aline Maria Queiroz - PhD *
Annamairlla Oliveira - PhD *
Kyvia Varela - PhD*
Rosana Macedo - MSc *
Celisa Tavares - MSc *
* student
Ana Valério-Bolas, Mafalda Meunier, Armanda Rodrigues, Joana Palma-Marques, Rui Ferreira, Inês Cardoso, Lis Lobo, Marta Monteiro, Telmo Nunes, Ana Armada, Wilson T. Antunes, Graça Alexandre-Pires, Isabel Pereira da Fonseca, Gabriela Santos-Gomes. Unveiling the interplay between dendritic cells and natural killer cells as key players in Leishmania infection. Journal of Immunology Researche (in press)
de França DA, Zúquete S, Louro M, Kersul MG, Menozzi BD, Fornazari F, Santos-Gomes G, da Fonseca IP, Langoni H. Detection of Leishmania infantum and Leishmania amazonensis in Bats From Endemic and Non-endemic Areas of São Paulo State, Brazil. Zoonoses Public Health. 2024 Dec 8. doi: 10.1111/zph.13201. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39648604.
Rodrigues A, Alexandre-Pires G, Valério-Bolas A, Nunes T, Pereira da Fonseca I, Santos-Gomes G. Kupffer Cells and Hepatocytes: A Key Relation in the Context of Canine Leishmaniasis. Microorganisms. 2024 Sep 13;12(9):1887. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms12091887.
Santos ALED, Souza ROS, Barbosa FEV, Santos MHCD, Grangeiro YA, Martins AMC, Santos-Gomes G, Fonseca IPD, Silva CGLD, Teixeira CS. Concanavalin A, lectin from Canavalia ensiformis seeds has Leishmania infantum antipromastigote activity mediated by carbohydrate recognition domain. Chem Biol Interact. 2024 Aug 25;399:111156.doi: 10.1016/j.cbi.2024.111156.
João Durães-Oliveira; Joana Palma-Marques; Cláudia Moreno et al. Chagas Disease: A Silent Threat for Dogs and Humans. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 25(7):3840, 2024. Doi: 10.3390/ijms25073840.
Rodrigues A, Santos-Gomes G. Editorial: Neglected tropical diseases: tackling the challenges of a global world. Front Toxicol. 30 (6)1417438, 2024. doi: 10.3389/ftox.2024.1417438.
Valério-Bolas A, Meunier M, Palma-Marques J, Rodrigues A, Santos AM, Nunes T, Ferreira R, Armada A, Alves JC, Antunes W, Cardoso I, Mesquita-Gabriel S, Lobo L, Alexandre-Pires G, Marques L, Pereira da Fonseca I, Santos-Gomes G. Exploiting Leishmania-Primed Dendritic Cells as Potential Immunomodulators of Canine Immune Response. Cells. 2024 Mar 3;13(5):445. doi: 10.3390/cells13050445.
de França DA, Louro M, Zúquete S, Zanini DS, Nunes de Moraes G, Rocha GS, Biondo LM, Fornazari F, Menozzi BD, Pereira da Fonseca I, Langoni H. Trypanosoma cruzi in Bats (Chiroptera; Mammalia) from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, São Paulo State. Microorganisms 2024, 12(5), 945; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12050945
Pereira da Fonseca i. Leishmaniose canina: prevenção e Saúde Pública. Saúde e Bem-Estar Animal, Revista Business Portugal. Supl. Diário de Notícias (2024): 56.
Pereira, Maria A., Rute Santos, Carmen Nóbrega, Cristina Mega, Rita Cruz, Fernando Esteves, Carla Santos, Catarina Coelho, João R. Mesquita, Helena Vala, and Gabriela Santos-Gomes. 2022. "A Questionnaire-Based Survey on the Long-Term Management of Canine Leishmaniosis by Veterinary Practitioners" Animals 12, no. 6: 731. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12060731
Weber JI, Rodrigues AV, Valério-Bolas A, Nunes T, Carvalheiro MC, Antunes W, Alexandre-Pires G, Pereira-da-Fonseca I, Santos-Gomes G. 2023. Insights on host-parasite immunomodulation mediated by extracellular vesicles of cutaneous Leishmania shawi and Leishmania guyanensis. Cells, 12 (8): 1101 DOI: 10.3390/cells12081101
Tatiana Dias-Guerreiro, Joana Palma-Marques, Patrícia Mourata-Gonçalves, Graça Alexandre-Pires, Ana Valério-Bolas, Áurea Gabriel, Telmo Nunes, Wilson Antunes, Isabel Pereira da Fonseca, Marcelo Sousa-Silva, Gabriela Santos-Gomes (2021). African Trypanosomiasis: Extracellular vesicles shed by Trypanosoma brucei brucei manipulate host mononuclear cells. Biomedicines, 9(8): 1056.
C. Moreno, A. Valério-Bolas, G. Santos-Gomes, J.Palma-Marques
J. Palma-Marques
J. Weber
The researcher from RJ – Mariana Hetch Adjunct Professor at the University of Brasília, Brazil.
Prof. Doctor Mariana Machado Hecht was on a technical visit at the Laboratory of Parasitic Immunology and Vaccine Development at the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine of Universidade Nova de Lisboa (IHMT NOVA) from 11/01/2021 to 12/09/2021. A investigadora do RJ – Mariana Hetch Professora Adjunta da Universidade de Brasília, Brasil.
Open day: Basic Education Students from Moura Visit IHMT
On February 3, IHMT received 9th-grade students from the Moura School Group. The main objectives of the visit were: to raise awareness of the importance of scientific research carried out at the institution for understanding and solving global problems in the area of health; and to arouse the interest of younger people in this area of study. The article is available at: https://www.ihmt.unl.pt/ihmt-recebe-estudantes-de-moura/
Professor Isabel Fonseca (PI) Podcast participation
Professor Isabel Fonseca (Co-PI) participated in Podcast Leishmaniasis: Getting to the tutor is the best weapon for prevention, available at https://www.veterinaria-atual.pt/podcast-one-health/.
R. Furtado
F. Barbosa
On November 26 th , 2024 IHMT received undergraduates’ students of Vasco da Gama University School from Coimbra (EUVG). The main objectives of the visit were: to raise awareness of the importance of scientific research carried out at the institution for understanding and solving global problems in health including veterinarian practice; and to arouse the interest of younger people in this area of study.
On May10th, 2024 IHMT welcomed students to an open day as part of a conversation with scientists. The primary objectives of the visit were to emphatically raise awareness of the vital scientific research carried out at the institution and to passionately ignite the interest of younger people in this area of study through probing questions and engaging interactive activities.
On April 4th, 2024, IHMT received undergraduates’ students of Vasco da Gama University School from Coimbra. The main objectives of the visit were: to raise awareness of the importance of scientific research carried out at the institution for understanding and solving global problems in health including veterinarian practice; and to arouse the interest of younger people in this area of study.
The partnership between Portuguese [Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHMT), Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (HMT-NOVA) and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (FMV/ULisboa)] and Brazilian institutions [Health Sciences Center of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN)] resulted in the project DogIPM, financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. which aims to use dendritic cells (DCs) to modulate T lymphocyte activity in canine trypanosomoses.
Annually there are an estimated 700 000 - 1 million new cases of infection with Leishmania in humans, and 20 000 new cases per year of infection with Trypanosoma cruzi.
L. infantum is the etiologic agent of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis and canine leishmaniasis that occur throughout the Mediterranean basin, the Middle East, and in some parts of Asia and Latin America. Canine leishmaniasis appears to be spreading to other latitudes due to several factors associated with climate change and globalization.
Trypanosoma cruzi parasite causes Chagas disease in humans, wild and domestic animals, constituting an important public health problem in Central and South America. Due to globalization, this neglected tropical disease has been spreading to other geographic areas, such as North America, Japan, Oceania, and Europe, becoming an emerging disease of global concern. So far, there is no vaccine available to prevent ChD or targeted animal therapy.
The project DogIPM represents a first step in precision immune medicine applied to canine diseases caused by trypanosomatids. These tools will make it possible to control the infection, reduce the amount, frequency of administration and toxicity of non-specific therapy currently used, improve treatment adherence, and achieve clinical and parasitic cure.
The researchers of the DogIPM project thus hope to make a valid contribution to controlling Leishmania and Trypanosoma infection, with the development of vaccines to prevent the infection or inducing the most adequate immune response to cure. Controlling neglected parasitic diseases will contribute to improving the health care available to animals and people and will have a positive impact on the evolution of society.
FCT – Immune precision medicine as a new opportunity to control canine trypanosomatid diseases – DogIPM PTDC/CVT-CVT/0228/2020
PI
Prof. Gabriela Santos-Gomes
SantosGomes@ihmt.unl.pt
co-PI
Prof. Isabel Pereira da Fonseca
ifonseca@fmv.ulisboa.pt
