João Carlos Silva was awarded with one of the Education Travel Grants of the Orthoregeneration Network (ON) Foundation to participate and share the latest developments of his research work on novel strategies for bone and cartilage tissue engineering in the European Orthopaedic Research Society (EORS) conference meeting 2023, which will be held on the 27th-29th September at the Alfandega Porto Congress Centre, Porto-Portugal.

As part of the celebrations of the International Microorganism Day (September 17th), the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon (ACL) and its Institute of Higher Studies, in collaboration with the Portuguese Society of Microbiology (SPM), organize, on the 18th September, Monday, an afternoon to promote Microbiology. The session includes talks by Isabel Sá-Correia who will moderate the colloquium, and Tinar Keller-Costa, both from DBE and iBB.

In the midst of the climate crisis, the colloquium's theme is: LIFE ON OUR PLANET DEPENDS ON MICROORGANISMS. The session is open and will take place, in a hybrid format, in the ACL session room, as well as on the Zoom platform. The session will take place in Portuguese, with the exception of the last talk which will be in English: SAVE THE MICROBES TO SAVE THE PLANET to be presented by the President of the International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS), it is a call to action to promote the development of sustainable solutions to control infectious agents, preserve global microbial diversity and healthy life on our planet.

The production of piezoelectric constructs in order to address osteoporotic-related fractures holds significant promise. Such scaffolds could be used to mimic the native piezoelectric features of bone as well as assisting electrical stimulation-based therapies, which have been found to accelerate bone repair. In an article recently published in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, iBB researchers Frederico Barbosa, João Silva, Fábio Garrudo, Marta Carvalho, Paola Alberte, Leonor Resina and Frederico Ferreira, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Nottingham and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, developed novel hydroxyapatite-filled PVDF-TrFE nanofibers with enhanced piezoelectrical properties and osteogenic potential.

Magnetic hydrogels have recently been drawing a lot of attention in the scientific community due to their remote controllability and high biocompatibility. By combining these materials with a 3D bioprinting technique, it is possible to fabricate intricate structures responsive to an external magnetic stimulus, thus allowing the tuning of the constructs properties to better recapitulate the microarchitecture of native tissues. In this article recently published in the International Journal of Bioprinting, iBB researchers Duarte Almeida, Paola Sanjuan-Alberte, João C. Silva and Frederico Ferreira provided an overview of the current state of the art of magnetic hydrogels, exploring the production of the magnetic components and their introduction in the hydrogels, and emphasizing the current research made on the applications of these materials for tissue engineering strategies.

Tiago Fernandes, professor at the Bioengineering department (DBE) at Técnico and researcher at the Institute of Bioengineering and Biosciences (iBB), recently spoke about his life path and his experience at Técnico, more specifically on the Taguspark campus.

He characterises Técnico Taguspark as “Welcoming” due to his familiar environment. He considers that people's relationships are closer, and that the peaceful environment helps him concentrate on his work.

Check out Tiago Fernandes' interview here: “Técnico Taguspark in a word”.

Carla C. C. R. de Carvalho and Ricardo Pereira (2BRG-iBB) participated in the annual meeting of the EU funded project FuturEnzyme (https://www.futurenzyme.eu). The 16 partners that integrate the project met during July 6 and 7, in the house of UHAM members, the Institute of Plant Science and Microbiology (IPM, Hamburg, Germany), next to the Botanical Garden. The work carried out during the first 24M of the project was presented and discussed between partners and in the presence of members of the Advisory Board.

Ana Melo delivered an oral presentation at the 1st ML4NGP Meeting on Machine Learning and Non-Globular Proteins, Bratislava- Slovakia (July 2023). Her presentation was focused on mapping the structural transitions of the flanking polyQ regions in huntingtin exon 1 upon membrane binding, and its implications in Huntington´s disease. 

AM Melo was also elected for co-Leader of Working Group 4 of this ML4NGP COST-action. This group aims to improve the functional characterization of non-globular proteins (NGPs) and to understand the major questions involving NGPs. They include “conformational heterogeneity, evolution, conserved motifs, protein-protein interactions, liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) and involvement in neurodegenerative diseases.”

The biopharmaceutical relevance of producing plasmid DNA at large scale has increased steadily over the years due to the development of a growing number of direct and indirect applications. Be it as biological drugs or as starting materials, plasmids are pervasive across the gene and cell therapy industry of today. In a commentary article in Cell & Gene Therapy Insights, Miguel Prazeres provides an overview of the uses of plasmids, discusses manufacturing challenges, and hints at what the future may bring.

IBB researcher Tina Keller-Costa gave a talk about her research on the coral microbiome entitled "Genome-resolved metagenomics provides novel insights into chitin turnover, metabolic specialization, and niche partitioning in the octocoral microbiome" at ICC15 in Braga this June. She also presented a poster showcasing the marine bacterial culture collection with >1000 strains isolated from marine animals and housed at iBB facilities.

The conference was an excellent opportunity to learn more about important legal and benefit sharing aspects of culture collections and to get in touch with culture collection representatives and organizations around the globe.

Ruben Silva defended his PhD thesis in Biotechnology and Biosciences at Instituto Superior Técnico on July 06th 2023.  His thesis entitled “Uncovering the chitin degradation potential of the microbiomes of marine sponges and octocorals” was developed under the supervision of Prof Rodrigo Costa and Dr Tina Keller-Costa from iBB and Dr Cymon Cox from the Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR) in Faro. During the past years, Ruben studied chitin degradation pathways in culturable and unculturable bacterial symbionts of marine sponges and corals using metagenomics, genomics, and bioassays.  

Advances in bioprocessing technologies have allowed the scalable and reproducible fabrication of tissue engineering (TE) constructs with higher structural complexity and functionality, achieving a closer mimicry of native-like microenvironments. The Research Topic co-edited by iBB researchers Dr. João C. Silva and Dr. Carlos Rodrigues in collaboration with Prof. Eirini Velliou (University College London, UK) and Prof. Diana Massai (Politecnico di Torino, Italy) aims to provide an overview of the major advances in bioprocessing technologies and methods for TE and regenerative medicine applications. Relevant strategies involving bioreactors, microfluidic systems, 3D bio-printed tissues and organ-on-chips that provide biomimetic, monitored, and controlled 3D in vitro culture conditions for the biophysical stimulation of cells or TE constructs towards improved functionality will receive special attention. Novel stem cell bioengineering and biomaterial-based approaches applied to regenerative medicine and in vitro disease modelling are also of special interest, together with new technologies for biological tissue characterization or for identifying and testing innovative pharmacological treatments. Moreover, innovative in silico and AI-based approaches paving the way towards optimized and automated TE strategies are also welcomed.

This Research Topic invites contributions (Original Research articles and Literature Review manuscripts) describing and discussing the most recent and innovative developments in bioprocessing TE strategies for regenerative medicine and disease modelling applications, leveraged by advances in bioreactor systems, novel biomaterials, 3D bioprinting methods, imaging and biosensing, computational modelling, AI and machine learning, among others.

Carla C. C. R. de Carvalho, Kilian Neves and Sebastião Tavares participated in the annual meeting of project Yum Algae, funded by programme Blue Growth of EEA Grants. The Yum Algae researchers from Instituto Superior Técnico, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, and Pagarete Solutions, met at NORCE facilities in Bergen, Norway. The results presented are very promising to improve the sensory quality of microalgae ingredients in foods such as bread and cheese. Future actions were planned for the scale up of the process.

External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (ETICS) are frequently used to enhance the energy efficiency of the built environment. However, bio-colonization stains are often detected, causing cladding defacement and altering the building aesthetics. To address which microbiota could contribute to these biodeterioration related color/aesthetic anomalies, Cristina A. Viegas and Leonilde M. Moreira from iBB, in collaboration with researchers from CERIS/DECivil-IST and LNEC, identified the taxonomic diversity and distribution patterns of the microbial communities in stains present on the surface of ETICS facades in three residential sites in Lisbon. This study reveals diverse microbial communities assigned to taxa of the major microbial groups of heterotrophic bacteria, fungi, cyanobacteria, and microalgae (through DNA plastid detection) in color/aesthetic biodeterioration stains of ETICS facades, taking into consideration in-service environmental exposure, facade location/cardinal orientation and ETICS material composition. Results suggest the need to include additional microorganisms in the list of bio-susceptibility testing organisms in ETICS.

The repair of bone defects remains an important challenge in current orthopaedic clinical practice. Novel approaches, including electrical stimulation-based therapies, have been gaining traction due to their encouraging results in both in vivo and in vitro settings. The development of electroconductive scaffolds to assist this type of therapy holds significant promise, as such constructs could be used to guide electrical stimuli directly to the damaged site, therefore increasing the effectiveness of the regeneration process. In an article recently published in the journal International Journal of Molecular Sciences, iBB researchers Frederico Barbosa, João Silva, Fábio Garrudo and Frederico Ferreira, in collaboration with colleagues from Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT) and CERENA, developed mineralized and electroconductive PEDOT:PSS-based nanofibers with bone-like features. This project was developed under the scope of Frederico Barbosa’s PhD thesis, supervised by Frederico Ferreira and João Silva.

PhD students Matilde Marques and Joana Couceiro, under coordination of Tina Keller-Costa, translated the comic magazine “Coral Heroes”, a copyrighted production of SECORE International, Inc, published for educational purposes. It provides information on the value, importance, and the threats to coral reefs around the world. The comic invites children to dive into the world of coral heroes Al, Samy, Jo, and Bran and join them on their adventures in the secret reefs of Towabonga.

It is a free publication, intended to be widely distributed without cost. With the Portuguese version added, the comic is now available in nine languages and can be downloaded here.

The idea to bring “Coral Heroes” to Portuguese-speaking children was born at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Germany in 2022 where Tina met Coral Heroes author Dr Carin Jantzen who leads outreach and public relations for SECORE International.

The Portuguese version premiered in a public school in Lisbon in June 2023, with Tina teaching a class on coral symbionts and her daughter Laura reading the comic to primary school children.

Massive representation of IBB at FEMS 2023, the largest Microbiology meeting in Europe, that took place in Hamburg, 9-13 July 2023. PhD students Sara Gomes (Poster entitled “Evolution of Burkholderia multivorans traits required for persistent infections of the cystic fibrosis lung”), Mirela Ferreira (Poster entitled “Characterization of multicellular aggregates formed by Burkholderia multivorans”), Marta Mota (Co-chairing the Industrial Microbiology and Bioeconomy Session and Offered Talk entitled “Candida boidinii, an oleaginous methylotrophic yeast species attractive as a platform for methanol-based biomanufacturing”), Miguel Antunes (Offered Talk entitled “The Hrk1 kinase as a modulator of ion homeostasis and acetic acid stress tolerance in yeast”) and Inês Costa (Offered Talk entitled “Candida glabrata’s genomic plasticity shapes the clinical evolution of biofilm formation”) have presented their work. Miguel Cacho Teixeira (Member of the Program Committee, Charing the Genetics and Genomics Session and Invited Talk entitled “Drug transporters in pathogenic yeasts: in the crossroad between drug resistance and pathogenesis”) and Isabel Sá-Correia (Co-chairing the Yeast strategies to resist relevant stresses in bioindustries and fungal biology and chemistry Session and Invited Talk entitled “Mechanisms underlying adaptation and tolerance to short-chain fatty acids in yeasts”) were also invited to participate. Altogether, all have enjoyed the conference and the chance to re/connect with colleagues and friends from the European microbiology community.

Carla CCR de Carvalho and the Ph.D. student Ricardo FS Pereira presented their work during the FEMS2023 congress in Hamburg, Germany. The congress organized by Federation of European Microbiological Societies is the largest event in the field of microbiology in Europe. Carla de Carvalho presented the talk entitled “Development of efficient bioprocesses using isolated marine bacteria” in the Industrial Microbiology and Bioeconomy session. Ricardo Pereira did a flash presentation entitled “Marine bioprocess development: targeting the production of prodigiosin” during the Biotechnology & Synthetic Microbiology session.

The perspective article entitled "Harnessing the microbiome to prevent biodiversity loss", an international collaboration uniting renowned scientists active in the fields of symbiosis and microbial ecology and evolution, was included in a collection of articles from nature’s portfolio that address challenges for achieving United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The perspective, led by Raquel Peixoto at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), counted on expert contributions by Rodrigo Costa and Tina Keller-Costa on microbiome manipulation strategies in aquaculture and coral reef ecosystems. The initiative was launched by a round table headed by the Beneficial Microorganisms for Marine Organisms (BMMO) network during the 15th Symposium on Bacterial Genetics and Ecology (BAGECO15, Lisbon 2019) chaired by Rodrigo Costa.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small membrane bound structures released by cells into the extracellular space. They have been shown to transport different molecules such as proteins, nucleic acids and lipids to other cells, serving as vehicles of intracellular communication. EVs have also been shown to play important roles during viral and bacterial infection. Viruses can hijack the biogenesis of EVs to promote viral spreading. Additionally, these EVs are also important mediators in inflammation and immune responses during both bacterial and viral infections. A recent publication in the journal Pharmaceutics, by Diogo Gonçalves, Sandra Pinto and Fábio Fernandes (from iBB/IST), reviews these mechanisms and described the impact of bacterial EVs in regulating immune. Finally, the review also focuses on the potential and challenges of using EVs to tackle infectious diseases.

PhD students Joao Couceiro, João Almeida, Matilde Marques, and Laurence Meunier presented posters about their marine microbiome and symbiosis research at BAGECO2023.  

DBE Faculty member and IBB researcher Rodrigo Costa, part of the scientific committee of BAGECO, chaired a full day of sessions on Host-Microbe Interactions and gave the talk entitled "Natural product biosynthetic potential reflects macroevolutionary diversification within a widely distributed bacterial taxon".

It was an excellent opportunity to network and connect with fellow scientists, foster new collaborations, and build lasting friendships.

Sandra Silva defended her PhD thesis in Biotechnology and Biosciences at Instituto Superior Técnico, receiving the highest mentioning “Distinction and Honour”.  Her thesis entitled “Secondary metabolite biosynthesis by Aquimarina species: emerging properties and bioactivities from the rare marine biosphere” was developed under the supervision of Rodrigo Costa and Tina Keller-Costa from iBB and DBE. During the past four years, Sandra combined genomics, experimental microbiology, metabolomics, and analytical chemistry to explore marine host-associated bacteria as a source of novel natural products with antimicrobial activities.

In the past 22nd and 23rd of May, PhD students from the Biotechnology and Biosciences doctoral program, Luís Sousa and Ricardo Pereira, attended the First Workshop on Computational Enzyme Bioprospecting and Engineering at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC). As a part of a joint program between two European projects, Oxipro (DOI 10.3030/101000607) and FuturEnzyme (DOI 10.3030/101000327), the last where IST-ID is a working partner headed by  Carla C. C. R. de Carvalho (iBB), the attendees were able to use the leading softwares for computational protein engineering. With Galaxy, attendees were able to create and develop their own workflows for Computational Bioprospecting, HMM routines, and basic sequence similarity analysis. For Protein Engineering, the Schrodinger Suite and the AsiteDesign Galaxy were made available to perform analysis and visualization of enzyme structures, perform tasks such as system preparation, visualization, sitemap calculations, ligand docking and enzyme redesign. The workshop promoted interdisciplinary thinking and collaboration between different fields, highlighted the real-world applications of computational protein engineering, and its importance in advancing our understanding of biological systems and developing new solutions for global challenges.