T lymphocytes play crucial roles in cellular immunity against pathogens and tumors. On the other hand, deregulated T cell responses also contribute to inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. We are interested in the processes of generation, activation and regulation of T lymphocytes. Using state-of-the-art research tools and methods, we envisage the identification of molecules involved in those processes and their integration in cellular mechanisms, which may be translated into new treatments for cancer, and infectious or autoimmune diseases.

Bruno Silva-Santos (CV) 
PhD Immunology, Cancer Research/University College London, UK (1998 - 2002)
Post-Doctor, King’s College London, UK (2002 - 2005)
Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon (since 2005)
Group leader at IMM (since 2006)

2007-2011 European Molecular Biology Organization Installation Grant. EMBO Young Investigator Programme Project no. 1440, “Innate Mechanisms of Tumor Immunosurveillance”.

2008-2010 Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portuguese Ministry of Science and Technology. PTDC/BIA-BCM/71663/2006, “Identification of ligands for γδ T cell receptors: a genomics/ transcriptomics approach”.

 

2010-2011 Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portuguese Ministry of Science and Technology. PTDC/SAU-MII/104158/2008, “Regulation of T cell differentiation and activation by CD27-CD70 receptor-ligand interactions in the thymus and in the periphery”.

 

2010-2015 European Research Council, Starting Grant. Project no. 260352,
“Differentiation of pro-inflammatory T cell subsets in vivo”.
 

Prof. Adrian Hayday, King's College London, UK

Dr. Daniel Pennington, Queen Mary College, London, UK

Dr. Jannie Borst, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Dr. Antonella Viola, Instituto Humanitas, Milan, Italy.

Receive school visits in the lab to promote science divulgation, namely to students of the second grade.

 

Science communications to the media (press, radio and television).
 

2010 Honorable mention of the CESPU award (to J.C.R., A.deB. and B.S.-S.)

 

2009  Pfizer/ Society of Biomedical Sciences Award in Clinical Research (to B.S.-S.)

2009  International Cytokine Society “Young Investigator Award” (2nd place, B.S.-S.)
 

2009 International Cytokine Society “Post-Doctoral Award” (1st place, J.C.R.) 
 

2009 Portuguese Society of Immunology “Best Paper Award” (to J.C.R. et al.)
 

2006 European Molecular Biology Organization “Installation Grant” (to B.S.-S.)

2005 King’s College London “Young Researcher of the Year” (to B.S.-S.)
 

- Ribot J. C., Chaves-Ferreira M., d’Orey F., Wencker M., Gonçalves-Sousa N., Decalf J., Simas J. P., Hayday A. C. and Silva-Santos B. (2010), Cutting Edge: “Adaptive versus innate receptor signals selectively control the pool sizes of murine IFN-γ- or IL-17-producing γδ T cells upon infection”, J. Immunol, 185(11):6421-6425.

 

- deBarros A., Chaves-Ferreira M., d’Orey F., Ribot J. C. and Silva-Santos B. (2010), “CD70-CD27 interactions provide survival and proliferative signals that regulate T cell receptor-driven activation of human γδ peripheral blood lymphocytes”, Eur. J. Immunol, 41(1):195-201.

 

- Lança T., Correia D. V., Moita C. F., Raquel H., Ferreira C., Ramalho J. S., Barata J. T., Moita L. F., Gomes A. Q. and Silva-Santos B. (2010), “The MHC class Ib protein ULBP1 is a non-redundant determinant of leukemia/ lymphoma susceptibility to γδ T-cell cytotoxicity”, Blood: 115(12):2407-11.

 

- Gomes A. Q.*, Correia D. V.*, Grosso A. R., Lança T., Ferreira C., Lacerda J. F., Barata J. T., Gomes da Silva M. and Silva-Santos B. (2010), “Identification of a panel of ten cell surface protein antigens associated with immunotargeting of leukemias and lymphomas by peripheral blood γδ T cells”, Haematologica: 95(8):1397-404. (* Co-first authors).

 

- Gonçalves-Sousa N., Ribot J. C., deBarros A., Correia D. V., Caramalho I. and Silva-Santos B. (2010), “Inhibition of murine γδ lymphocyte expansion and effector function by regulatory αβ T-cells is cell-contact dependent and sensitive to GITR modulation”, Eur. J. Immunol: 40(1): 61-70.

 

- Ribot J. C., deBarros A., Pang D. J., Neves J. F., Peperzak V., Girardi M., Borst J., Hayday A. C., Pennington D. J. and Silva-Santos B. (2009), “CD27 is a thymic determinant of the balance between IFN-γ- and IL-17-producing γδ T cell subsets”, Nature Immunology 10: 427-36.

 

- Correia D. V., d´Orey F., Cardoso B. A., Lança T. , Grosso A. R., deBarros A., Martins L. R., Barata J. T. and Silva-Santos B. (2009), “Highly active microbial phosphoantigen induces rapid yet sustained MEK/ Erk- and PI-3K/ Akt-mediated signal transduction in anti-tumor human γδ T cells”, PloS ONE: e5657.

 

- Gomes A. Q., Correia D. V. and Silva-Santos B. (2007), “Non-classical MHC proteins as determinants of tumor immunosurveillance”, EMBO Reports 8: 1024-30.

 

- Pennington D.J., Silva-Santos B., Escorcio-Correia M., Silberzahn T. and Hayday A.C. (2006), “Early events in the thymus affect the balance of effector and regulatory T cells”. Nature 444, 7122: 1073-7.

 

- Silva-Santos B.*, Pennington D.J.*, and Hayday A.C. (2005), “Lymphotoxin-mediated regulation of  role of γδ cell differentiation by αβ T cell progenitors”. Science 307: 925-928. (* Co-first authors)

 

- Pennington D.J.*, Silva-Santos B.*, Shires J., Theodoridis E., Pollit C., Wise E.L., Tigelaar R.E., Owen M.J. and Hayday A.C. (2003), “The inter-relatedness and interdependence of mouse T cell receptor γδ+ and αβ+ cells”. Nature Immunology 4, 10: 991-999. (* Co-first authors)