Early-life Immune Defence
Intestinal Epithelium
Immune Sensing
Micronutrients
Innate-like T Cells
Micronutrient Sensing and Early Life Immune Defence
Innate-like T cells and Cancer
Early Life Immune System
Body barriers allow organisms to interact with the surrounding world to sense, breath, reproduce and meet their nutritional needs. However, failure of such borders can lead to infectious diseases and cancer.
In the intestine, a healthy interplay between immune cells, epithelial cells, diet and microbes is key in preserving the intestinal epithelial barrier integrity, while also forming a front line of defence against invading pathogens.
Conventional T cells require about a week upon encounter with antigen to provide effective protection. In contrast, innate-like T cells acquire effector properties preprogrammed during development in thymus being poised for rapid and immediate response to changes at the epithelium. However, how this program is initiated and implemented is currently unclear.
We explore how innate-like T cells sense dietary cues and how such signals are integrated in their development and function. In recent past, the team showed that, in addition to their developmentally regulated genetic program, immune cells are controlled by environmental cues (Nature 2014; Cell Reports 2015 and J Immunol 2016).
Our laboratory mainly focuses on unravelling the mechanisms by which micronutrients shape the development of innate-like T cells and function at mucosal barriers, such as the intestine, exploiting underlying intrinsic molecular pathways in health and disease.
We address these questions combining multi-facetted in vivo- and in vitro-based cellular and molecular technologies. These include state-of-the-art mouse genetics, flow cytometry, confocal and light sheet microscopy, as well as gene expression profiling of immune and epithelial subsets.
::::Publications and Projectos::::
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Jornal Universitário "A Cabra"
Information about journal articles, updated at 03-11-2024, from platform CIÊNCIAVITAE.
(Co-First Author) Maternal retinoids control type 3 innate lymphoid cells and set the offspring immunity (245 citations)
Van De Pavert, S.A.; Ferreira, M.; Domingues, R.G.; Ribeiro, H.; Molenaar, R.; Moreira-Santos, L.; Almeida, F.F.; et al, 2014. Nature. 123 - 127. 1. 508. 2014. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84897480560&partnerID=MN8TOARS . 10.1038/nature13158 . Nature
(Co-First Author) Vitamin A controls the presence of RORgt innate lymphoid cells and lymphoid tissue in the small intestine (47 citations)
Goverse, G.; Labao-Almeida, C.; Ferreira, M.; Molenaar, R.; Wahlen, S.; Konijn, T.; Koning, J.; Veiga-Fernandes, H.; Mebius, R.E., 2016. Journal of Immunology. 5148 - 5155. 12. 196. 2016. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84974801198&partnerID=MN8TOARS . 10.4049/jimmunol.1501106 . Journal of Immunology
Differential RET signaling pathways drive development of the enteric lymphoid and nervous systems (49 citations)
Patel, A.; Harker, N.; Moreira-Santos, L.; Ferreira, M.; Alden, K.; Timmis, J.; Foster, K.; et al, 2012. Science Signaling. 235. 5. 2012. http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/5/235/ra55.long . 10.1126/scisignal.2002734 . Science Signaling
(First Author) An activating ß1 integrin mutation increases the conversion of benign to malignant skin tumors (32 citations)
Ferreira, M.; Fujiwara, H.; Morita, K.; Watt, F.M., 2009. Cancer Research. 1334 - 1342. 4. 69. 2009. http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/69/4/1334.long . 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-08-3051 . Cancer Research
Information about journal articles, updated at 03-11-2024, from platform CIÊNCIAVITAE.
(Senior Corresponding Author) Maternal dietary exposure to mycotoxin aflatoxin B1 promotes intestinal immune alterations and microbiota modifications increasing infection susceptibility in mouse offspring
Patricia Bastos-Amador; Elsa Leclerc Duarte; Júlio Torres; Ana Teresa Caldeira; Inês Silva; Cátia Salvador; Ricardo Assunção; Paula Alvito; Manuela Ferreira, 2023. Food and Chemical Toxicology. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2022.113596 . 10.1016/j.fct.2022.113596 . Food and Chemical Toxicology
Exposição precoce a micotoxinas: o contributo dos projetos MYCOMIX e earlyMYCO
Alvito, Paula; Bastos-Amador, Patricia; Duarte, Elsa L.; Ferreira, Manuela; Nunes, Carla; Martins, Carla; Assunção, Ricardo, 2020. 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/7235 .
(Senior Corresponding Author) Strategies for Cancer Immunotherapy Using Induced Pluripotency Stem Cells-Based Vaccines (2 citations)
Bruno Bernardes de Jesus; Bruno Miguel Neves; Manuela Ferreira; Sandrina Nóbrega-Pereira, 2020. Cancers. 3581 - 3581. 12. 12. 2020. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers12123581 . 10.3390/cancers12123581 . Cancers
(Co-First Author) Vitamin A controls the presence of RORgt innate lymphoid cells and lymphoid tissue in the small intestine (47 citations)
Goverse, G.; Labao-Almeida, C.; Ferreira, M.; Molenaar, R.; Wahlen, S.; Konijn, T.; Koning, J.; Veiga-Fernandes, H.; Mebius, R.E., 2016. Journal of Immunology. 5148 - 5155. 12. 196. 2016. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84974801198&partnerID=MN8TOARS . 10.4049/jimmunol.1501106 . Journal of Immunology
NFIL3 orchestrates the emergence of common helper innate lymphoid cell precursors (124 citations)
Xu, W.; Domingues, R.G.; Fonseca-Pereira, D.; Ferreira, M.; Ribeiro, H.; Lopez-Lastra, S.; Motomura, Y.; et al, 2015. Cell reports. 2043 - 2054. 12. 10. 2015. https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(15)00234-X . 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.02.057 . Cell reports
(Co-First Author) Maternal retinoids control type 3 innate lymphoid cells and set the offspring immunity (245 citations)
Van De Pavert, S.A.; Ferreira, M.; Domingues, R.G.; Ribeiro, H.; Molenaar, R.; Moreira-Santos, L.; Almeida, F.F.; et al, 2014. Nature. 123 - 127. 1. 508. 2014. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84897480560&partnerID=MN8TOARS . 10.1038/nature13158 . Nature
(First Author) Pre-birth world and the development of the immune system: Mum's diet affects our adult health: New insight on how the diet during pregnancy permanently influences offspring health and immune fitness Prospects & Overviews M. Ferreira and H. Veiga-Fernandes (5 citations)
Ferreira, M.; Veiga-Fernandes, H., 2014. BioEssays. 1213 - 1220. 12. 36. 2014. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bies.201400115 . 10.1002/bies.201400115 . BioEssays
Differential RET signaling pathways drive development of the enteric lymphoid and nervous systems (49 citations)
Patel, A.; Harker, N.; Moreira-Santos, L.; Ferreira, M.; Alden, K.; Timmis, J.; Foster, K.; et al, 2012. Science Signaling. 235. 5. 2012. http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/5/235/ra55.long . 10.1126/scisignal.2002734 . Science Signaling
(First Author) Stroma cell priming in enteric lymphoid organ morphogenesis (7 citations)
Ferreira, M.; Domingues, R.G.; Veiga-Fernandes, H., 2012. Frontiers in Immunology. JUL. 3. 2012. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2012.00219/full . 10.3389/fimmu.2012.00219 . Frontiers in Immunology
(Second Author) The basement membrane of hair follicle stem cells is a muscle cell niche (197 citations)
Fujiwara, H.; Ferreira, M.; Donati, G.; Marciano, D.K.; Linton, J.M.; Sato, Y.; Hartner, A.; et al, 2011. Cell. 577 - 589. 4. 144. 2011. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(11)00015-8 . 10.1016/j.cell.2011.01.014 . Cell
Spatial coupling of mTOR and autophagy augments secretory phenotypes (345 citations)
Narita, M.; Young, A.R.J.; Arakawa, S.; Samarajiwa, S.A.; Nakashima, T.; Yoshida, S.; Hong, S.; et al, 2011. Science. 966 - 970. 6032. 332. 2011. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/332/6032/966.long . 10.1126/science.1205407 . Science
TNF-a regulates the effects of irradiation in the mouse bone marrow microenvironment (29 citations)
Cachaço, A.S.; Carvalho, T.; Santos, A.C.; Igreja, C.; Fragoso, R.; Rio, C.O.; Ferreira, M.; et al, 2010. PLoS ONE. 2. 5. 2010. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0008980 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0008980 . PLoS ONE
(First Author) An activating ß1 integrin mutation increases the conversion of benign to malignant skin tumors (32 citations)
Ferreira, M.; Fujiwara, H.; Morita, K.; Watt, F.M., 2009. Cancer Research. 1334 - 1342. 4. 69. 2009. http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/69/4/1334.long . 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-08-3051 . Cancer Research
(3rd Author) Autophagy mediates the mitotic senescence transition (698 citations)
Young, A.R.J.; Narita, M.; Ferreira, M.; Kirschner, K.; Sadaie, M.; Darot, J.F.J.; Tavaré, S.; et al, 2009. Genes and Development. 798 - 803. 7. 23. 2009. http://genesdev.cshlp.org/content/23/7/798.long . 10.1101/gad.519709 . Genes and Development
Bile acids are toxic for isolated cardiac mitochondria - A possible cause for hepatic-derived cardiomyopathies?
Ferreira, M; Coxito, PM; Sardao, VA; Palmeira, CM; Oliveira, PJ, 2005. Cardiovascular Toxicology. 2005. https://publons.com/publon/1828671/ . 10.1385/CT:5:1:063 . Cardiovascular Toxicology
5 15 out of 15 Publications
SPI Best Paper Award 2014 | Portuguese Society of Immunology | PT
2021 Young Investigator Award for Excellence in Basic Research (ESCI)
European Society for Clinical Investigation
2018 Young Investigator Travel Award (Society for Mucosal Immunology)
2013 EMBO Prize Poster Award
2014 SPI Travel Grant | Sociedade Portuguesa de Imunologia
2005 Terry Fox Research Award
2021 Early Career Mentorship Program (Mentor: Dr. Gerard Éberl, Institut Pasteur) (Society for Mucosal Immunology)
2022 Honorable Mention by Maratona da Saúde
https://cnc.uc.pt/en/projeto-do-cnc-uc-distinguido-com-mencao-honrosa-pela-maratona-da-saude
Mulheres na Ciência (October 2022)
Epi_UNCOV: Unravelling how unconventional T cells are regulated by micronutrients and its role in epithelial malignancy (2022.06145.PTDC FCT Grant)
Kinder-GUT: Role of diet-derived retinoids in CD8aa intraepithelial lymphocytes and intestinal defence at early-life (la Caixa Grant HR22-00754)
HR22-00754
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