DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY UNIT

Official website at http://www.imm.fm.ul.pt/web/imm/developmentalbiology

The Developmental Biology Unit was created in October 1997, as part of the University of Lisbon Medical School' Biology and Molecular Pathology Centre (CEBIP), integrated in the Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM) in 2001. The main scientific purpose of the Developmental Biology Unit is to investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate the generation and maintenance of stem cells in vertebrate animals, with particular emphasis on the cells that originate the vertebrate nervous system. Functional studies make use of gene manipulation techniques in both avian and mammalian embryos.

Domingos Henrique, PhD - Auxiliary Professor, FML

Evguenia Bekman, PhD - Post-Doc Fellowship
Elsa Abranches, PhD - Post-Doc Fellowship
Catarina Ramos, PhD - Post-Doc Fellowship
Cláudia Gaspar, PhD - Post-Doc Fellowship
Filipe Vilas-Boas - PhD Fellowship
Aida Costa - PhD Fellowship
Sara Ferreira - Technician
Ana Margarida Cristóvão - Technician

- Nervous System development
- Neural Stem Cell Biology
- Neuroepithelial cell polarity
- Vasculogenesis and Angiogenesis

2007/10 - Stem cell based therapy for inner ear hair cell regeneration (PTDC/SAU-NEU/71310).
2007/10 - Notch signaling and regulatory mechanisms during mammalian neurogenesis (PTDC/SAU-OBD/75106).
2007/10 - NEURAL TALK - Scaffold-driven stem-cell regenerative therapy for the spinal cord injury. Biomimeting neurogenesis in the CNS. Em colaboração com INEB, Porto (PTDC/SAU-BEB/65328).

Differentiating neurons in the chick neural tube, labelled with an anti-tubulin antibody, neuron-specific.

Neural Progenitor cells dividing, within the chick embryo neural tube. DNA is stained in blue and a cell-adhesion molecule is shown in red. Note that mitosis happens close to the lumen of the neural epithelium.

in vitro ES-derived neural progenitors organize into neural tube-like rosette structures with well-defined lumenal (“apical”) side (anti-PAR3 immunostaining in green) and differentiating HuC/D+ neurons (red) on the periphery (“basal” side)

Dr. Isabel Varela-Nieto and Prof. Fernando Giraldez (Inner Ear Neurogenesis during embryonic development - ICCTI/CSIC Cooperation Programme)
Laboratório do Dr. Olivier Pourquié (A via de sinalização Notch durante a formação de sómitos e durante o desenvolvimento vascular - PICS-Programa Internacional de Cooperação Científica Luso-Francês CNRS/ICCTI)

- Masters Degree in Neurosciences, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa: Developmental Neurosciences course
- Gulbenkian PhD Programme in Biology
- PhD Programme in Experimental Biology and Biomedicine, Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC), Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal

Participates in the “Programa Ciência Viva de Ocupação Científica de Jovens nas Férias”. The Developmental Biology Group received 4 students during the months of July to September.

Gulbenkian Prize of Science 1997, with Isabel Palmeirim, David Ish-Horowicz and Olivier Pourquié.

- Duarte, S., Hirashima, M., Benedito, R., Trindade, S., Diniz, P., Bekman, E., Costa, L., Henrique, D. and Rossant, J. (2004) Dosage-sensitive requirement for mouse D114 in artery development. Genes & Development (em impressão)

- Alsina, B., Abelló, G., Ulloa, E., Henrique, D., Pujades, C., Giraldez, F. (2004) FGF signalling is required for determination of otic neuroblasts in the chick embryo. Dev. Biology 267:119-134.

- Kawakami, Y., Rodríguez-León, J., Koth, C., Büschen, D., Itoh, T., Raya, A., Ng, J., Esteban, C., Henrique, D., Takahashi, S., Asahara, H., Belmonte, J.C. (2003) MKP3 Mediates the Cellular Response to FGF8 Signalling in the Vertebrate Limb. Nature Cell Biology 5:513-19.

- Henrique, D., Schweisguth, F. (2003) Cell Polarity: the ups and downs of the Par6 aPKC complex. Current Opinion on Genetics & Development 13:341-350.

- Bekman, E., Henrique, D. (2002) Embryonic expression of three murine genes with homology to the Drosophila prickle gene. Mechanisms of Development (GEP) 2:73-77.

- Henrique, D. (2001) On equivalence groups and Notch signaling. Em Stem Cell Biology edited by Daniel R. Marshak, Richard L. Gardner, and David Gottlieb, Cold Spring Harbour Press.

This area is just for members of the UBD group and has restricted access.
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