Issue 3
July 2015

  Highlights

· MD PhD student from ECS/ICVS
  discovers a gene that regulates sleep
· 2nd Joint Meeting ICVS/UMinho –
  Thomas Jefferson University
· ICVS International Seminar Series

  More in this issue

· Representative Research Papers
· International Postgraduate Program
· PhD Thesis

A team of Thomas Jefferson University discovered a gene, TARANIS, that regulates sleep in Drosophila. Importantly, TARANIS has a related gene in mammals, which may work in a similar manner, although more studies need to be performed. Using a forward genetic screen (random mutations), researchers were able to identify genes that disturbed sleep in flies. One of the most interesting genes identified was TARANIS; mutants for this gene only get about 25% of their daily sleep. Authors suggest that TARANIS controls sleep amount by regulating CycA protein levels and inhibiting Cdk1 activity in specific neurons.

The team was lead by Dr Koh from TJU, and includes two MD PhD students of ECS/ICVS, UMinho: Dinis Afonso (1st author), and Daniel Machado.

This work was highlighted in Time magazine.

Researchers from ICVS/Uminho and the Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University gathered with the goal of consolidating existing scientific collaborations between the two groups and promote further work. The meeting covered different topics in the Neuroscience field, ranging from basic/fundamental to clinical research.

The “ICVS International Seminars Series” is back with its second edition: the “Spring Series”. Participants have unique opportunities to interact and discuss critical scientific developments and breakthroughs with distinguished and internationally renowned speakers in many areas of life and health sciences. For this Series our guests are: Magdalena Götz (Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany); Kai Simons (Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany); Massimiliano Mazzone (Vesalius Research Center, KULeuven, Belgium) Joshua Gordon (Columbia University Medical Center, USA).

Human and Murine Clonal CD8+ T Cell Expansions Arise
during Tuberculosis Because of TCR Selection (2015 May)
Nunes-Alves C, Booty MG, Carpenter SM, Rothchild AC, Martin CJ,
Desjardins D, Steblenko K, Kløverpris HN, Madansein R, Ramsuran D,
Leslie A, Correia-Neves M, Behar SM.
PLoS Pathog. 2015 May 6;11(5):e1004849

The choroid plexus transcriptome reveals changes in type I and II
interferon responses in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (2015 June)
Mesquita SD, Ferreira AC, Gao F, Coppola G, Geschwind DH, Sousa JC,
Correia-Neves M, Sousa N, Palha JA, Marques F
Brain Behav Immun. 2015 Jun 16. pii: S0889-1591(15)00161-0

Monocarboxylate transport inhibition potentiates the cytotoxic effect
of 5-fluorouracil in colorectal cancer cells (2015 Jan 08)
Amorim R, Pinheiro C, Miranda-Gonçalves V, Pereira H, Moyer MP, Preto A, Baltazar F
Cancer Lett. 2015 Aug 28;365(1):68-78

In collaboration with: CNRS FR 3636, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, FR
NF-KB pathway controls mitochondrial dynamics (2014 Mar 11)
Laforge M, Rodrigues V, Silvestre R*, Gautier C, Weil R, Corti O, Estaquier J
Cell Death Differ. 2015 May 29
*ECS/ICVS Researcher


other research papers

International Postgraduate Program
July to September ‘15

Training in Clinical Sciences
FUNDAMENTALS IN RHINOSEPTOPLASTY (4th Edition)
July 8, 2015

ENDOSCOPIC SINUS SURGERY (4th Edition)
July 9-10, 2015

TRANSNASAL ENDOSCOPIC SKULL BASE
AND BRAIN SURGERY (1st Edition)
July 10, 2015

SURGERY FOR SNORING AND OSAS (4th Edition)
July 11, 2015

FETAL AND NEONATAL ENDOSCOPIC SURGERY (7th Edition)
September 7-9, 2015

PEDIATRIC ENDOSCOPY (5th Edition)
September 10-11, 2015

Training in Biomedical Sciences
FUNDAMENTALS IN NEUROSCIENCE (8th Edition)
September 14-25, 2015

FUNDAMENTALS IN IMMUNOLOGY
AND INFECTION (7th Edition)
September 28 - October 9, 2015










more information

July 17th, 2015
Aging and Alzheimer's disease: searching for novel molecular cues
Candidate: Sandro Dá Mesquita
Supervisors: Prof. Fernanda Marques and Prof. Joana Palha

July 22nd, 2015
Enteroscopia por Cápsula e Doença de Crohn: caminhos para a otimização
Candidate: José de Almeida Berkeley Cotter
Supervisors: Prof. Nuno Sousa, Prof. Miguel Mascaranhas Saraiva