Category: Latest News

EpiViral Final Conference – the last one

Unfortunately, this project is coming to an end.

To wrap up the work developed over the last three years, we organized our final conference on RNA biology in host-pathogen interactions.

The EpiViral conference was held in Porto, Portugal, from June 4th to 7th, 2024. During this event, speakers and attendees explored the contributions from the RNA biology field to the understanding of pathogen-host cell interactions. It provided a unique environment for fostering interdisciplinary collaborations and discussing innovative ideas related to novel druggable targets.

We want to congratulate the winners of the best poster/flash talk/oral presentations, and which were sponsored by the RNA Society:
– Best Poster Presentation: Jorn Stok
– Best Flash Talk Presentation: Lea Gaucherand
– Best Oral Presentation: Edith Janssens

Leiden EpiViral Retreat

This year’s EpiViral retreat was organized by our partners at LUMC in Leiden, The Netherlands. Scientific pitches and presentations were followed by a scientific team building activity at Keukenhof Garden.

It was a fantastic retreat!

Ana Soares’ teamwork highlighted on the media

A recent publication by Ana Soares, one of the coordinators of the EpiViral project, in collaboration with Stefanie Kaiser from the partner institution University of Frankfurt, has been highlighted in various national media outlets.

In this work, Ana Soares and her team show that the expression of an enzyme called ELP3, responsible for making specific chemical changes in tRNA molecules, is reduced in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), as well as in animal and cellular models of the disease.

This reduction leads to a decrease in the level of chemical modifications that this enzyme catalyzes, in specific tRNAs. This hypomodification of tRNAs consequently causes problems in the production of proteins.

The altered ELP3 levels in AD may be the key for an earlier diagnosis as a potencial biomarker of the disease. Additionally, the manipulation of ELP3 levels may also be a novel and promising therapeutic strategy for AD.

Click to read the manuscript

Sic Notícias: Universidade de Aveiro faz descoberta para diagnóstico e tratamento de Alzheimer

TVI: Universidade de Aveiro faz descoberta para diagnóstico e tratamento de Alzheimer

Jornal de Notícias: Universidade de Aveiro faz descoberta para diagnóstico e tratamento de Alzheimer

Correio da Manhã: Universidade de Aveiro faz descoberta para diagnóstico e tratamento de Alzheimer

Jornal UA: Descoberta da UA abre caminho a novos diagnósticos e tratamentos da Doença de Alzheimer

Nicolas Locker @iBiMED-UAVR

We had the pleasure to welcome Nicolas Locker at the University of Aveiro, where he gave a seminar on “Friends or Foes? The Many Routes Viruses Use to Manipulate RNA Granule“. Following his talk at iBiMED/DCM Seminars, we dived into discussions about our ongoing lab groups projects.

It was a day full of insightful conversations!

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