EMBO awards grant to research project to combat pneumonia

In the initial phase of the most common pneumonia in children and the elderly, the cells are able to repair the damage and maintain their integrity, stopping the spread of the bacteria throughout the body, but in a more advanced phase of infection the cells end up dying and the infection spreads. This ability of the cell to respond early could be the key to discovering new strategies to combat pneumonia and it is based on this assumption that Joana Maria Pereira is developing her doctoral work and recently won an EMBO Scientific Exchange Grant, which will allow her to complete this work in Boston for three months.

As part of her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology, from the Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), and under the scientific guidance of researcher Sandra Sousa, leader of the “Cell Biology of Bacterial Infections” group, Joana Maria Pereira intends to “unveil the mechanisms of cell plasma membrane repair in response to damage caused by pneumolysin, a pore-forming toxin released during different stages of infection by Streptococcus pneumonia, the bacterium responsible for the largest number of pneumonia cases worldwide, especially in children and elderly”.

At an advanced stage of the infection, explains the researcher, “this bacteria releases large amounts of pneumolysin, which causes cell death and allows the infection to spread throughout the body”. However, she adds, “during my PhD, I discovered that, in response to low levels of pneumolysin, that is, at an early stage of the infection, cells recruit specific proteins to repair damage to the plasma membrane that allows the cells to survive and stop the spread of the bacteria throughout the body”.

In the laboratory of researcher John Leong, from Tufts University in Boston, the student will have the opportunity to validate her results “using complex infection models that include different bacterial strains expressing or not pneumolysin and cells at an air-liquid interface that mimic all the complexity of the lung epithelium”.

This collaboration, adds Joana Maria Pereira, “will allow me to fulfill all the objectives of my doctoral work and will be essential to validate the plasma membrane repair mechanisms described so far in an infection context and their importance in host resistance. to infection. In the long term, molecular knowledge of these mechanisms could be useful for the development of new strategies to combat pneumonia in combination with antibiotics”. At a professional level, this internship will allow Joana Maria Pereira to develop new technical skills that will be an asset to the i3S research group, since, she highlights, “I will acquire knowledge and experience in carrying out infections in more complex lung models and relevant models that will reduce the use of animal models”.

Furthermore, “having a scholarship funded by EMBO and having my work recognized by such a prestigious and world-renowned institution is a privilege and recognition of my project. Having the opportunity to develop part of my PhD in Boston, in a laboratory specialized in infections, to integrate such a different culture and to have an international experience, will certainly be an enriching and unforgettable experience, both on a scientific and personal level”.