Anfitriã: Ana Cristina Pereira (Doutoranda em Ciências Biomédicas no IUCS-CESPU)
Palestrante: Diana Sousa
Afiliação: Universidade Católica Portuguesa- Faculdade de Medicina Dentária (UCP-FMD); Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine (UMIB)-ICBAS
24 de maio | 12h
Campus Universitário de Gandra | Ed. 2 | Sala 2203
ENTRADA LIVRE
Resumo:
Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) are lipid bilayer-enclosed extracellular structures which do not replicate. EVs are released by different types of cells and mediate intercellular communication, with either physiological or pathological relevance. In cancer, a large body of evidence has been demonstrating a great impact of EVs in tumor initiation, progression and relapse.
In this seminar, it will be discussed different features regarding study of EVs derived from tumor cells namely, considerations about different isolation methodologies and key points of EVs characterization. Also, it will be presented findings about different abilities to release and capture EVs by tumor cells with different phenotypes and evidence regarding the distinctive cargo of their EVs. Moreover, it will be also discussed the potential of EVs in precision medicine as tools for the identification of specific molecular signatures of malignancy in adrenocortical carcinoma.
Nota Biográfica:
Diana completed a First Degree in Biochemistry (CESPU, 2009), a Masters Degree in Molecular Genetics (University of Minho, 2011) and obtained the PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Faculty of Pharmacy of University of Porto [FFUP], 2019). In 2009, Diana initiated her scientific activity in Alexandra Gouveia’ s team, at the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology of Faculty of Medicine of University of Porto. There, Diana focused her study on the importance of N-terminus for the trafficking and signalling of melanocortin 5 receptor. Following 2 years, Diana was selected to work on a project entitled "Molecular and nanotecchnology-based approaches to improve the antitumor activity of small molecules", carried out at IPATIMUP. Three years later, Diana initiated her PhD studies funded by FCT. During her PhD, Diana studied the importance of the cargo and the release of extracellular vesicles in tumor multidrug resistance at Cancer Drug Resistance Group, i3S/IPATIMUP, under the supervision of M. Helena Vasconcelos and co-supervision of Raquel T. Lima. During this period, Diana was awarded with two fellowships, from GEIVEX and ME-HAD COST action, which allowed her internationalization at CIC bioGUNE in Bilbao, Spain, collaborating with Juan M. Falcón-Pérez. In 2021, Diana was contracted as Researcher at i3S/IPATIMUP investigating early molecular bases for the diagnosis and treatment of adrenocortical tumors in the era of personalized medicine. In addition, she focused her studies on non-invasive liquid biopsies for the early diagnosis of adrenocortical carcinoma, initially at i3S and currently at Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine-ICBAS. In 2020, Diana initiated teaching activity. She was Invited Professor at FFUP and Santa Maria Health School and currently at Universidade Católica Portuguesa- Viseu.
Diana has published 24 peer-reviewed publications, most in Q1 journals, and has presented her work in national and international meetings.
