Nuno Rodrigues dos Santos

Intercellular Communication and Cancer

Senior Researcher

Research Fellow (Investigador Auxiliar) and Team Leader in Molecular Biology of Leukemia at i3S since 2016.

He obtained his PhD degree at the Radboud University Nijmegen (NL), under supervision of Prof. Ad Geurts van Kessel, and perfomed post-doctoral research at the Jacques Ghysdael group in Institut Curie (Orsay, FR). He became an independent researcher in 2008, when establishing a research group at the Centre for Biomedical Research of the University of Algarve (Faro, PT).

The main objectives of his reserch team are to uncover the molecular and cellular mechanisms of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and identify potential therapeutic targets.

Over the years, he has investigated the role of T-cell receptor signaling in T-cell leukemia (Blood 2007; Cancer Discovery 2016) and his group is investigating TCR mechanisms to prevent disease dissemination or to kill leukemic cells. He has also uncovered a role for microenvironmental cells in assisting T-cell leukemia development (PLoS One 2008; Br J Haematol 2015; Carcinogenesis 2018) and his group is investigating the role of lymphotoxin signaling in microenvironmental cells.

https://sites.google.com/site/nunordossantos/

Selected Publications

Catarino T.A., Pacheco-Leyva I., Al-Dalali F., Ghezzo M.N., Fernandes M.T., Costa T., dos Santos N.R.,

Cdkn2a inactivation promotes malignant transformation of mouse immature thymocytes before the ß-selection checkpoint. Experimental Hematology116:30-36, 2022. [Journal: Article] [IF: 2,6]
DOI: 10.1016/j.exphem.2022.10.001 SCOPUS: 85141834507.

Pereira J.L., Cavaco P., da Silva R.C., Pacheco-Leyva I., Mereiter S., Pinto R., Reis C.A., dos Santos N.R.,

P-selectin glycoprotein ligand 1 promotes T cell lymphoma development and dissemination. Translational Oncology14(8):, 2021. [Journal: Article] [CI: 3] [IF: 4,8]
DOI: 10.1016/j.tranon.2021.101125 SCOPUS: 85107136274.

Fernandes M.T., Caroço L.S., Pacheco-Leyva I., dos Santos N.R.,

NF-κB-dependent RANKL expression in a mouse model of immature T-cell leukemia. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications510(2):272-277, 2019. [Journal: Article] [IF: 3]
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2019.01.089 SCOPUS: 85060714173.

Ghezzo M.N., Fernandes M.T., Pacheco-Leyva I., Rodrigues P.M., Machado R.S., Araújo M.A.S., Kalathur R.K., Futschik M.E., Alves N.L., Dos Santos N.R.,

FoxN1-dependent thymic epithelial cells promote T-cell leukemia development. Carcinogenesis39(12):1463-1476, 2018. [Journal: Article] [CI: 8] [IF: 4]
DOI: 10.1093/carcin/bgy127 SCOPUS: 85059494778.

Trinquand A., Dos Santos N.R., Quang C.T., Rocchetti F., Zaniboni B., Belhocine M., De Jesus C.D.C., Lhermitte L., Tesio M., Dussiot M., Cosset F.L., Verhoeyen E., Pflumio F., Ifrah N., Dombret H., Spicuglia S., Chatenoud L., Gross D.A., Hermine O., Macintyre E., Ghysdael J., Asnafi V.,

Triggering the TCR developmental checkpoint activates a therapeutically targetable tumor suppressive pathway in T-cell leukemia. Cancer Discovery6(9):973-985, 2016. [Journal: Article] [CI: 33] [IF: 20]
DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-15-0675 SCOPUS: 85012044290.

Fernandes M.T., Dejardin E., dos Santos N.R.,

Context-dependent roles for lymphotoxin-ß receptor signaling in cancer development. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Reviews on Cancer1865(2):204-219, 2016. [Journal: Review] [CI: 27] [IF: 9,5]
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2016.02.005 SCOPUS: 84962019175.

Fernandes M.T., Ghezzo M.N., Silveira A.B., Kalathur R.K., Póvoa V., Ribeiro A.R., Brandalise S.R., Dejardin E., Alves N.L., Ghysdael J., Barata J.T., Yunes J.A., dos Santos N.R.,

Lymphotoxin-ß receptor in microenvironmental cells promotes the development of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia with cortical/mature immunophenotype. British Journal of Haematology171(5):736-751, 2015. [Journal: Article] [CI: 17] [IF: 5,4]
DOI: 10.1111/bjh.13760 SCOPUS: 84955381960.

dos Santos N.R., Williame M., Gachet S., Cormier F., Janin A., Weih D., Weih F., Ghysdael J.,

RelB-dependent stromal cells promote T-cell leukemogenesis. PLoS ONE3(7):, 2008. [Journal: Article] [CI: 21]
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002555 SCOPUS: 49749145583.

Medyouf H., Alcalde H., Berthier C., Guillemin M.C., Dos Santos N.R., Janin A., Decaudin D., De Thé H., Ghysdael J.,

Targeting calcineurin activation as a therapeutic strategy for T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Nature Medicine13(6):736-741, 2007. [Journal: Article] [CI: 125] [IF: 26,4]
DOI: 10.1038/nm1588 SCOPUS: 34250025396.

Dos Santos N.R., Rickman D.S., De Reynies A., Cormier F., Williame M., Blanchard C., Stern M.H., Ghysdael J.,

Pre-TCR expression cooperates with TEL-JAK2 to transform immature thymocytes and induce T-cell leukemia. Blood109(9):3972-3981, 2007. [Journal: Article] [CI: 30] [IF: 10,9]
DOI: 10.1182/blood-2006-09-048801 SCOPUS: 34247326918.

dos Santos N.R., Ghysdael J.,

A transgenic mouse model for TEL-JAK2-induced B-cell lymphoma/leukemia [21]. Leukemia20(1):182-185, 2006. [Journal: Letter] [CI: 20] [IF: 6,1]
DOI: 10.1038/sj.leu.2404026 SCOPUS: 33644976909.