AWARDS: Best Poster Presentation | AT Pinto and CL Pereira

Ana Teresa Pinto and Catarina Leite Pereira received the Best Poster Presentation Award on the ADVANCED SUMMER SCHOOL, THE NANO / MEDICINE INTERFACE course that took place on 29TH JUNE - 3RD JULY 2015, in PORTO, PORTUGAL.

The Nano/Medicine interface has been raising considerable interest in recent years. Based on this interface, novel techniques, research and therapeutic approaches are being developed. In this edition of Summer School immunologists, cell biologists, medical doctors and biomaterial scientists discussed what is becoming an exciting and stimulating new interdisciplinary area of research. INEB (Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica), University of Porto, IPATIMUP (Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto) and IBEC (Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya, Barcelona) organized a series of Advanced Summer Schools under the general theme of Interrogations at the Biointerface. IBMC (Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular), University of Porto has recently joined to this rewarding adventure. These Summer Schools run alternatively in Porto and Barcelona.

The poster of Ana, entitled Ionizing radiation enhances the pro-inflammatory phenotype of human macrophages preserving their pro-invasive and pro-angiogenic capacities, focused on Therapy resistance, is still a major challenge in cancer management despite radiotherapy advances. Attention has been paid to components of the tumor microenvironment, as macrophages, which may modulate cancer cell response to therapy. Therefore, our work aims to understand the effect of radiotherapy on macrophage behavior and how irradiated macrophages may modulate cancer cell response to radiotherapy.

Also, Catarina’s Poster entitled Mesenchymal Stem migration in the intervertebral disc: a new route for regeneration through the activation of endogenous cells and increased matrix production, based on the Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration, is characterized by loss of water content and some matrix components. Simulated degenerating IVDs were shown to release chemoattractors that can recruit human mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (hMSCs). Recently our team, showed that hMSCs recruitment towards IVD could be potentiated by the injection of a stromal cell derived factor-1 (SDF-1) delivery system in an ex vivo model of degenerating IVD. Here the goal was to evaluate if hMSCs could contribute to stop and/or revert the degenerative state of IVD, while improving stimulating the endogenous cells and increase de production of IVD healthy matrix.