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Maria Manuel Mota
Maria Manuel Mota is a Portuguese malariologist and executive director of the Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Lisbon. Education Maria Mota, a native of Vila Nova de Gaia, graduated from her undergraduate degree in Biology in 1992 and received her master's degree in immunology in 1994 from the University of Porto. She received her PhD in molecular parasitology in 1998 from University College London, working at the affiliated National Institute for Medical Research with Will Jarra and Anthony Holder. Career Mota moved to the United States after her PhD to postdoc at the New York University Medical Center in the lab of Victor Nussenzweig. In 2002 she set up her first research group at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal. In 2005 Mota was made a professor at the University of Lisbon. She has been executive director at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM) in Lisbon since 2014, and still leads the Biology and Physiology of M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malariologist
Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, fatigue (medical), tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, Epileptic seizure, seizures, coma, or death. Symptoms usually begin ten to fifteen days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. If not properly treated, people may have recurrences of the disease months later. In those who have recently survived an infection, reinfection usually causes milder symptoms. This partial Immunity (medical), resistance disappears over months to years if the person has no continuing exposure to malaria. Malaria is caused by protozoa, single-celled microorganisms of the ''Plasmodium'' group. It is spread exclusively through bites of infected ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. The mosquito bite introduces the parasites from the mosquito's saliva into a person's blood. The parasites trav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruth Nussenzweig
Ruth Sonntag Nussenzweig (20 June 1928 – 1 April 2018) was an Austrian-Brazilian immunologist specializing in the development of malaria vaccines. In a career spanning over 60 years, she was primarily affiliated with New York University (NYU). She served as C.V. Starr Professor of Medical and Molecular Parasitology at Langone Medical Center, Research Professor at the NYU Department of Pathology, and finally Professor Emerita of Microbiology and Pathology at the NYU Department of Microbiology. Biography Dr. Nussenzweig was born Ruth Sonntag in Vienna, Austria, to a secular Jewish family in which both of her parents were physicians. In 1939, after the Anschluss, the Sonntags fled to São Paulo, Brazil. While attending the University of São Paulo School of Medicine, she became involved in leftist politics and met Victor Nussenzweig, her future husband and lifelong research partner. After receiving her M.D., Nussenzweig moved to Paris for a research fellowship. In 1963, she did f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira. It features the westernmost point in continental Europe, and its Iberian portion is bordered to the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean and to the north and east by Spain, the sole country to have a land border with Portugal. Its two archipelagos form two autonomous regions with their own regional governments. Lisbon is the capital and largest city by population. Portugal is the oldest continuously existing nation state on the Iberian Peninsula and one of the oldest in Europe, its territory having been continuously settled, invaded and fought over since prehistoric times. It was inhabited by pre-Celtic and Celtic peoples who had contact with Phoenicians and Ancient Greek traders, it was ruled by the Ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order Of Prince Henry
The Order of Prince Henry ( pt, Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique) is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. Minor reforms of the constitution of the Order occurred in 1962 and 1980. It is a five-tier order, whose titles are awarded for relevant services to Portugal and for services in the expansion of the Portuguese culture, its history and its values (with a particular focus on its maritime history). The number of members in each grade is restricted by its constitution, and titles are conferred by special decree by the Grand Master of the Order, i.e., the President of Portugal. Grades The order includes several classes; in decreasing order of seniority, these are: * Grand Collar (''Grande-Colar'' – GColIH) * Grand Cross (''Grã-Cruz'' – GCIH) * Grand Officer (''Grande-Oficial'' – GOIH) * Commander (''Comenda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Science Foundation
The European Science Foundation (ESF) is an association of 11 member organizations devoted to scientific research in 8 European countries. ESF is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organisation that promotes the highest quality science in Europe. It was established in 1974 and its offices are located in Strasbourg, France (headquarters). ESF Member Organisations are research-performing and research-funding organisations, academies and learned societies across Europe. After four decades of success in stimulating European research through its networking, ESF undertook a re-alignment and re-calibration of its strategic vision and focus. The launch of its Expert division "Science Connect" beginning of 2017 marks the next phase of its evolution and has been born out of a deep understanding of the science landscape, funding context and the needs of the research community. Past Activities Up to 2015 ESF provided a platform for research scoping, planning and networking on a E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene Knockout
A gene knockout (abbreviation: KO) is a genetic technique in which one of an organism's genes is made inoperative ("knocked out" of the organism). However, KO can also refer to the gene that is knocked out or the organism that carries the gene knockout. Knockout organisms or simply knockouts are used to study gene function, usually by investigating the effect of gene loss. Researchers draw inferences from the difference between the knockout organism and normal individuals. The KO technique is essentially the opposite of a gene knock-in. Knocking out two genes simultaneously in an organism is known as a double knockout (DKO). Similarly the terms triple knockout (TKO) and quadruple knockouts (QKO) are used to describe three or four knocked out genes, respectively. However, one needs to distinguish between heterozygous and homozygous KOs. In the former, only one of two gene copies (alleles) is knocked out, in the latter both are knocked out. Methods Knockouts are accomplished throu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kinase
In biochemistry, a kinase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of phosphate groups from high-energy, phosphate-donating molecules to specific substrates. This process is known as phosphorylation, where the high-energy ATP molecule donates a phosphate group to the substrate molecule. This transesterification produces a phosphorylated substrate and ADP. Conversely, it is referred to as dephosphorylation when the phosphorylated substrate donates a phosphate group and ADP gains a phosphate group (producing a dephosphorylated substrate and the high energy molecule of ATP). These two processes, phosphorylation and dephosphorylation, occur four times during glycolysis. Kinases are part of the larger family of phosphotransferases. Kinases should not be confused with phosphorylases, which catalyze the addition of inorganic phosphate groups to an acceptor, nor with phosphatases, which remove phosphate groups (dephosphorylation). The phosphorylation state of a molecule, whet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plasmodium Berghei
''Plasmodium berghei'' is a species in the genus ''Plasmodium'' subgenus ''Vinckeia''. It is a protozoan parasite that causes malaria in certain rodents. Originally, isolated from thicket rats in Central Africa, ''P. berghei'' is one of four ''Plasmodium'' species that have been described in African murine rodents, the others being '' P. chabaudi'', '' P. vinckei'', and '' P. yoelii''. Due to its ability to infect rodents and relative ease of genetic engineering, ''P. berghei'' is a popular model organism for the study of human malaria. Biology Like all malaria parasites of mammals, including the four human malaria parasites, ''P. berghei'' is transmitted by ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes and it infects the liver after being injected into the bloodstream by a bite of an infected female mosquito. After a short period (a few days) of development and multiplication, these parasites leave the liver and invade erythrocytes (red blood cells). The multiplication of the parasite in the bloo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hepcidin
Hepcidin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''HAMP'' gene. Hepcidin is a key regulator of the entry of iron into the circulation in mammals. During conditions in which the hepcidin level is abnormally high, such as inflammation, serum iron falls due to iron trapping within macrophages and liver cells and decreased gut iron absorption. This typically leads to anemia due to an inadequate amount of serum iron being available for developing red blood cells. When the hepcidin level is abnormally low such as in hemochromatosis, iron overload occurs due to increased ferroportin mediated iron efflux from storage and increased gut iron absorption. Structure Hepcidin exists as a preprohormone (84 amino acids), prohormone (60 amino acids), and hormone (25 amino acids). Twenty- and 22-amino acid metabolites of hepcidin also exist in the urine. Deletion of 5 ''N''-terminal amino acids results in loss of function. The conversion of prohepcidin to hepcidin is mediated by the pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superinfection
A superinfection is a second infection superimposed on an earlier one, especially by a different microbial agent of exogenous or endogenous origin, that is resistant to the treatment being used against the first infection. Examples of this in bacteriology are the overgrowth of endogenous '' Clostridium difficile'' that occurs following treatment with a broad-spectrum antibiotic, and pneumonia or sepsis from ''Pseudomonas aeruginosa'' in some immunocompromised patients. In virology, the definition is slightly different. Superinfection is the process by which a cell that has previously been infected by one virus gets co-infected with a different strain of the virus, or another virus, at a later point in time. In some cases viral superinfections may be resistant to the antiviral drug or drugs that were being used to treat the original infection. Viral superinfections may also be less susceptible to the host's immune response. In Zika virus infection, there is some evidence that prim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microtubule-associated Protein
In cell biology, microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) are proteins that interact with the microtubules of the cellular cytoskeleton. MAPs are integral to: the stability of the cell and its internal structures and the transport of components within the cell Function MAPs bind to the tubulin subunits that make up microtubules to regulate their stability. A large variety of MAPs have been identified in many different cell types, and they have been found to carry out a wide range of functions. These include both stabilizing and destabilizing microtubules, guiding microtubules towards specific cellular locations, cross-linking microtubules and mediating the interactions of microtubules with other proteins in the cell. Within the cell, MAPs bind directly to the tubulin dimers of microtubules. This binding can occur with either polymerized or depolymerized tubulin, and in most cases leads to the stabilization of microtubule structure, further encouraging polymerization. Usually, it is th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autophagy
Autophagy (or autophagocytosis; from the Ancient Greek , , meaning "self-devouring" and , , meaning "hollow") is the natural, conserved degradation of the cell that removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components through a lysosome-dependent regulated mechanism. It allows the orderly degradation and recycling of cellular components. Although initially characterized as a primordial degradation pathway induced to protect against starvation, it has become increasingly clear that autophagy also plays a major role in the homeostasis of non-starved cells. Defects in autophagy have been linked to various human diseases, including neurodegeneration and cancer, and interest in modulating autophagy as a potential treatment for these diseases has grown rapidly. Four forms of autophagy have been identified: macroautophagy, microautophagy, chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), and crinophagy. In macroautophagy (the most thoroughly researched form of autophagy), cytoplasmic components (like mit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
