creating a
healthier future
Nuno Santarém
Team Member

Nuno Santarém has a basic formation in Biochemistry (Faculty of Sciences, Porto University) and worked for the last 15 years on several aspects of Leishmania biology and infection (including Master and Doctoral studies). During these years published several papers that reflect a multidisciplinary approach to Leishmania biology (Basic Biology of the parasite, Diagnostic, Immune response associated to the parasite, Iron uptake, Exoproteome, Extra-Cellular Vesicles, Vaccination approaches). During undergraduate studies worked in the characterization of the immune response against two Leishmania peroxiredoxins. Eventually one of these proteins revealed great promises for the serological diagnosis of Canine leishmaniasis in asymptomatic dogs. This delving into diagnostic of canine leishmaniasis was for some years a “side project” that was developed with significant success. This work was the cornerstone for the development of a diagnostic kit that the is under development. The research developed for the master degree (Molecular Parasitology, University Aveiro) involved iron uptake by axenic amastigotes. Performed growth curves and uptake/binding experiments with different iron sources that relevant for the parasite. During PhD reported a novel approach to study the Leishmania exoproteome using a media that was developed for this effect. In fact, was among the first persons to postulate and confirm the existence of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in these parasites. In postdoctoral studies, worked on the basic characterization of Leishmania EVs and their potential as immunomodulatory elements for the infection. Eventually in the last years was a research assistant associated to two FP7projects, being mostly involved in work packages associated with in vitro and in vivo studies (using in vivo infection models) with promising chemical entities against the parasites. In the last 5 years also became proficient in the manipulation of Trypanosoma brucei model being involved in virulence factor validation.

Selected Publications

Belo R., Santarém N., Pereira C., Pérez-Cabezas B., Macedo F., Leite-de-Moraes M., Cordeiro-da-Silva A.
Leishmania infantum exoproducts inhibit human invariant NKT cell expansion and activation. Frontiers in Immunology8(JUN):, 2017. [Journal: Article] [CI: 10] [IF: 5,5]
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00710 SCOPUS: 85021244202

Faria J., Loureiro I., Santarém N., Ceclio P., Macedo-Ribeiro S., Tavares J., Cordeiro-da-Silva A.
Disclosing the essentiality of ribose-5-phosphate isomerase B in Trypanosomatids. Scientific Reports6:, 2016. [Journal: Article] [CI: 28] [IF: 4,3]
DOI: 10.1038/srep26937 SCOPUS: 84971221975

Borsari C., Lucian R., Pozzi C., Poehner I., Henrich S., Trande M., Cordeiro-Da-silva A., Santarem N., Baptista C., Tait A., Di Pisa F., Iacono L.D., Landi G., Gul S., Wolf M., Kuzikov M., Ellinger B., Reinshagen J., Witt G., Gribbon P., Kohler M., Keminer O., Behrens B., Costantino L., Nevado P.T., Bifeld E., Eick J., Clos J., Torrado J., Jiménez-Antón M.D., Corral M.J., Alunda J.M., Pellati F., Wade R.C., Ferrari S., Mangani S., Costi M.P.
Profiling of flavonol derivatives for the development of antitrypanosomatidic drugs. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry59(16):7598-7616, 2016. [Journal: Article] [CI: 42] [IF: 6,3]
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b00698 SCOPUS: 84983672148

Loureiro I., Faria J., Clayton C., Macedo-Ribeiro S., Santarém N., Roy N., Cordeiro-da-Siva A., Tavares J.
Ribose 5-Phosphate Isomerase B Knockdown Compromises Trypanosoma brucei Bloodstream Form Infectivity. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases9(1):, 2015. [Journal: Article] [CI: 21] [IF: 3,9]
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003430 SCOPUS: 84922219276

Yáñez-Mó M., Siljander P.R.M., Andreu Z., Zavec A.B., Borràs F.E., Buzas E.I., Buzas K., Casal E., Cappello F., Carvalho J., Colás E., Cordeiro-Da Silva A., Fais S., Falcon-Perez J.M., Ghobrial I.M., Giebel B., Gimona M., Graner M., Gursel I., Gursel M., Heegaard N.H.H., Hendrix A., Kierulf P., Kokubun K., Kosanovic M., Kralj-Iglic V., Krämer-Albers E.M., Laitinen S., Lässer C., Lener T., Ligeti E., Line A., Lipps G., Llorente A., Lötvall J., Manček-Keber M., Marcilla A., Mittelbrunn M., Nazarenko I., Nolte-'t Hoen E.N.M., Nyman T.A., O'Driscoll L., Olivan M., Oliveira C., Pállinger É., Del Portillo H.A., Reventós J., Rigau M., Rohde E., Sammar M., Sánchez-Madrid F., Santarém N., Schallmoser K., Ostenfeld M.S., Stoorvogel W., Stukelj R., Van Der Grein S.G., Helena Vasconcelos M., Wauben M.H.M., De Wever O.
Biological properties of extracellular vesicles and their physiological functions. Journal of Extracellular Vesicles4(2015):1-60, 2015. [Journal: Review] [CI: 4023]
DOI: 10.3402/jev.v4.27066 SCOPUS: 85014619748

Cecílio P., Pérez-Cabezas B., Santarém N., Maciel J., Rodrigues V., da Silva A.
Deception and manipulation: The arms of Leishmania, a successful parasite. Frontiers in Immunology5(OCT):, 2014. [Journal: Review] [CI: 81]
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2014.00480 SCOPUS: 84918800322

Santarém N., Racine G., Silvestre R., Cordeiro-da-Silva A., Ouellette M.
Exoproteome dynamics in Leishmania infantum. Journal of Proteomics84:106-118, 2013. [Journal: Article] [CI: 38] [IF: 3,9]
DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2013.03.012 SCOPUS: 84877062495

Moreira D., Santarém N., Loureiro I., Tavares J., Silva A.M., Amorim A.M., Ouaissi A., Cordeiro-da-Silva A., Silvestre R.
Impact of continuous axenic cultivation in Leishmania infantum virulence. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases6(1):, 2012. [Journal: Article] [CI: 64] [IF: 4,6]
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001469 SCOPUS: 84856584576

Loureiro I., Faria J., Clayton C., Ribeiro S.M., Roy N., Santarém N., Tavares J., Cordeiro-da-Silva A.
Knockdown of Asparagine Synthetase A Renders Trypanosoma brucei Auxotrophic to Asparagine. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases7(12):, 2013. [Journal: Article] [CI: 17] [IF: 4,5]
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002578 SCOPUS: 84892749573

Santarém N., Silvestre R., Cardoso L., Schallig H., Reed S.G., Cordeiro-da-Silva A.
Application of an improved enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method for serological diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis. Journal of Clinical Microbiology48(5):1866-1874, 2010. [Journal: Article] [CI: 34] [IF: 4,2]
DOI: 10.1128/JCM.02402-09 SCOPUS: 77951783796