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
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.
Extracellular vesicles: evolving the therapeutics of tomorrow for Leishmaniasis.
Armanda Rodrigues, Juliana Weber, Graça Alexandre-Pires, Ana Valério-Bolas, Telmo Nunes, Isabel Pereira da Fonseca, and Gabriela Santos-Gomes.
XLVII Annual Meeting of the Portuguese Society for Immunology. Reitoria da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal, 20-22 April 2022
Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: Exploring Leishmania sp. extracellular vesicles as host skin immune system immunomodulators.
Maria Armanda Rodrigues, George Nakhratyan, Juliana Weber, Graça Alexandre-Pires, Ana Valério-Bolas, Telmo Nunes, Isabel Pereira da Fonseca, and Gabriela Santos-Gomes.
15th International Congress of Parasitology (ICOPA). Copenhagen, Denmark, 21-26 August 2022
Liver involvement in canine visceral leishmaniasis: an immunological perspective.
Armanda Rodrigues, Graça Alexandre-Pires, Ana Valério-Bolas, Maria Aires Pereira, Telmo Nunes, Isabel Pereira da Fonseca, and Gabriela Santos-Gomes.
3rd International Caparica Conference on Leishmaniasis. Caparica, Portugal, 24th – 26th October 2022.
Canine leishmaniosis: exploring the activity of dendritic cells from dogs under different antileishmanial prophylaxis strategies.
Marta Monteiro, Ana Valério-Bolas, Mafalda Meunier, Armanda Rodrigues, Graça Alexandre- Pires, Rodolfo Leal, Gabriela Santos-Gomes and Isabel Pereira da Fonseca.
CIISA Congress 2022 - Innovation in Animal Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Research. FMV-ULisboa from 11-12 November 2022. Abstract book page 131.
Exploiting the immunomodulatory potential of Leishmania extracellular vesicles.
Armanda Rodrigues; Ana Valério-Bolas, Graça Alexandre-Pires; Maria A. Pereira; Telmo Nunes; Dário Ligeiro; Isabel Pereira da Fonseca, and Gabriela Santos-Gomes.
XLVIII Annual Meeting of the Portuguese Society for Immunology. Aveiro Congress Center, 29-31 March 2023.
Leishmaniose canina: Iniciação da resposta imunitária por células dendríticas derivadas de monócitos caninos.
Valério-Bolas, S. Mesquita-Gabriel, M. Meunier, J. Marques, L. Lobo, A. Rodrigues, A. Armada, R. Ferreira, I. Cardoso, G. Alexandre-Pires, I. Pereira da Fonseca, G. Santos-Gomes.
XI Jornadas Científicas HMT-NOVA, 10 de dezembro de 2020. Abstract book page 4.
Modulation of dendritic cells derived from canine monocytes by parasites of the genus Leishmania.
A. Valério-Bolas, S. Mesquita-Gabriel, M. Meunier, J. Marques, L. Lobo, A. Rodrigues, A. Armada, R. Ferreira, I. Cardoso, G. Alexandre-Pires, I. Pereira da Fonseca, G. Santos-Gomes.
Encontro Ciência 2021. 28 a 30 junho. Centro de Congressos de Lisboa, Junqueira - Portugal
Leishmania infantum and canine macrophages: new insights on host-parasite immune co-evolution *
Armanda Rodrigues; Ana Valério-Bolas, Graça Alexandre-Pires; Maria A. Pereira; Telmo Nunes; Dário Ligeiro; Isabel Pereira da Fonseca, and Gabriela Santos-Gomes.
Cytokine gene expression and lymphocyte immunophenotyping in Dogs with Leishmaniosis *
Marcos Santos; Marta Monteiro; Ana Valério-Bolas; Graça Alexandre-Pires; Maria A. Pereira3, Armanda V. Rodrigues; Gabriela Santos-Gomes, and Isabel Pereira da Fonseca.
Immunomodulation of Canine monocyte-derived dendritic cells by L.eishmania Infantum and L. amazonensis *
Ana Valério-Bolas; Mafalda Meunier; Rosa Direito; Joana PalmaMarques; Lis Lobo; Armanda Rodrigues; Marta Monteiro; Rui Ferreira; Inês Cardoso; Graça Alexandre-Pires; Isabel Pereira da Fonseca and Gabriela Santos-Gomes.
Connecting the dots: A cartoon network that peeks into Leishmania Spp infection and evasion *
Graça Alexandre-Pires; Beatriz Martins; Maria Pereira; ArmandaRodrigues; Ana Valério-Bolas; Juliana Weber; Bruna Freitas; Telmo Nunes; Wilson Talhão Antunes; Isabel Pereira da Fonseca and Gabriela Santos-Gomes.
* WorldLeish7. Cartagena, Colombia from August 1-6 2022:
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/.
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
