Ana Paula Pêgo got her Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Biomaterials from the University of Twente, the Netherlands, in 2002. In 2003 she moved to INEB – Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, where she became a Principal Investigator in 2012. In 2015, INEB joined the i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (Universidade do Porto), where Ana Paula Pêgo leads the nanoBiomaterials for Targeted Therapies (nBTT) Group.
By using nanomedicine strategies the nBTT Group, aims at providing in situ and in a targeted manner the required signals to promote nervous tissue regeneration. The research on new biomaterials for application in neurosciences includes the development of new polymers for the design of alternative vectors to viruses for efficient nucleic acid delivery, the preparation of nerve grafts for spinal cord injury treatment and the design of brain tissue engineered platforms. Societal and ethical issues that concern Regenerative Medicine and NanoMedicine are also topics in which Ana Paula Pêgo is involved.
She has been appointed the Scientific Director of the Bioimaging Centre for Biomaterials and Regenerative Therapies of INEB and she is an Invited Associate Professor at the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS) of the University of Porto.
Currently Ana Paula Pêgo is a member of the Board of Directors of i3S, being the Head of Strategy & Creation of Value Unit, is the President of the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB), serves as an Associate Editor of Biomaterials (Elsevier journal) and is part of the Board of Reviewing Editors of Science (AAAS).
Selected Publications
It takes two to remyelinate: A bioengineered platform to study astrocyte-oligodendrocyte crosstalk and potential therapeutic targets in remyelination. Biomaterials Advances151:, 2023. [Journal: Article] [CI: 1] [IF: 5.5]
DOI: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2023.213429 SCOPUS: 85154606054
Leiro V., Spencer A.P., Magalhães N., Pêgo A.P.
Versatile fully biodegradable dendritic nanotherapeutics. Biomaterials281:, 2022. [Journal: Article] [CI: 7] [IF: 14]
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.121356 SCOPUS: 85122615698
Moreno P.M.D., Cortinhas J., Martins A.S., Peĝo A.P.
Engineering a Novel Self-Assembled Multi-siRNA Nanocaged Architecture with Controlled Enzyme-Mediated siRNA Release. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces14(51):56483-56497, 2022. [Journal: Article] [IF: 9,5]
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c15086 SCOPUS: 85144279266
Gulino M., Santos S.D., Pêgo A.P.
Biocompatibility of Platinum Nanoparticles in Brain ex vivo Models in Physiological and Pathological Conditions. Frontiers in Neuroscience15:, 2021. [Journal: Article] [CI: 11] [IF: 5,2]
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.787518 SCOPUS: 85121988659
Barros D., Parreira P., Furtado J., Ferreira-da-Silva F., Conde-Sousa E., García A.J., Martins M.C.L., Amaral I.F., Pêgo A.P.
An affinity-based approach to engineer laminin-presenting cell instructive microenvironments. Biomaterials192:601-611, 2019. [Journal: Article] [CI: 12] [IF: 10,3]
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2018.10.039 SCOPUS: 85059918479
Santos S., Xavier M., Leite D., Moreira D., Custódio B., Torrado M., Castro R., Leiro V., Rodrigues J., Tomás H., Pêgo A.
PAMAM dendrimers: blood-brain barrier transport and neuronal uptake after focal brain ischemia. Journal of Controlled Release291:65-79, 2018. [Journal: Article] [CI: 65] [IF: 7,9]
DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2018.10.006 SCOPUS: 85055160262
Moreno P.M.D., Ferreira A.R., Salvador D., Rodrigues M.T., Torrado M., Carvalho E.D., Tedebark U., Sousa M.M., Amaral I.F., Wengel J., Pêgo A.P.
Hydrogel-Assisted Antisense LNA Gapmer Delivery for In Situ Gene Silencing in Spinal Cord Injury. Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acids11:393-406, 2018. [Journal: Article] [CI: 14] [IF: 5,9]
DOI: 10.1016/j.omtn.2018.03.009 SCOPUS: 85045213607
Leiro V., Duque Santos S., Lopes C.D.F., Paula Pêgo A.
Dendrimers as Powerful Building Blocks in Central Nervous System Disease: Headed for Successful Nanomedicine. Advanced Functional Materials28(12):, 2018. [Journal: Article] [CI: 32] [IF: 15,6]
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201700313 SCOPUS: 85019665316
Lopes C.D.F., Gonçalves N.P., Gomes C.P., Saraiva M.J., Pêgo A.P.
BDNF gene delivery mediated by neuron-targeted nanoparticles is neuroprotective in peripheral nerve injury. Biomaterials121:83-96, 2017. [Journal: Article] [CI: 86] [IF: 8,8]
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2016.12.025 SCOPUS: 85008958194
Gomes C.P., Lopes C.D.F., Leitner M., Ebner A., Hinterdorfer P., Pêgo A.P.
Atomic Force Microscopy as a Tool to Assess the Specificity of Targeted Nanoparticles in Biological Models of High Complexity. Advanced Healthcare Materials6(21):, 2017. [Journal: Article] [CI: 6] [IF: 5,6]
DOI: 10.1002/adhm.201700597 SCOPUS: 85026363665
Leiro V., Garcia J.P., Moreno P.M.D., Spencer A.P., Fernandez-Villamarin M., Riguera R., Fernandez-Megia E., Paula Pêgo A.
Biodegradable PEG-dendritic block copolymers: Synthesis and biofunctionality assessment as vectors of siRNA. Journal of Materials Chemistry B5(25):4901-4917, 2017. [Journal: Article] [CI: 18] [IF: 4,8]
DOI: 10.1039/c7tb00279c SCOPUS: 85021637380
Silva J., Bento A.R., Barros D., Laundos T.L., Sousa S.R., Quelhas P., Sousa M.M., Pêgo A.P., Amaral I.F.
Fibrin functionalization with synthetic adhesive ligands interacting with α6β1 integrin receptor enhance neurite outgrowth of embryonic stem cell-derived neural stem/progenitors. Acta Biomaterialia59:243-256, 2017. [Journal: Article] [CI: 16] [IF: 6,4]
DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2017.07.013 SCOPUS: 85023776762
Moreno P.M.D., Santos J.C., Gomes C.P., Varela-Moreira A., Costa A., Leiro V., Mansur H., Peîgo A.P.
Delivery of Splice Switching Oligonucleotides by Amphiphilic Chitosan-Based Nanoparticles. Molecular Pharmaceutics13(2):344-356, 2016. [Journal: Article] [CI: 16] [IF: 4,4]
DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.5b00538 SCOPUS: 84957309922
Lopes C.D.F., Gomes C.P., Neto E., Sampaio P., Aguiar P., Pêgo A.P.
Microfluidic-based platform to mimic the in vivo peripheral administration of neurotropic nanoparticles. Nanomedicine11(24):3205-3221, 2016. [Journal: Article] [CI: 13] [IF: 4,7]
DOI: 10.2217/nnm-2016-0247 SCOPUS: 84998705753
Rocha D., Ferraz-Nogueira J., Barrias C., Relvas J., Pêgo A.
Extracellular environment contribution to astrogliosis—lessons learned from a tissue engineered 3D model of the glial scar. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience9(SEPTEMBER):, 2015. [Journal: Article] [CI: 29] [IF: 4,6]
DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2015.00377 SCOPUS: 84944455274