PHD DEGREE AWARDED TO SARVESH KUMAR

Sarvesh Kumar earned his PhD degree from Universidade NOVA de Lisboa after viva’s examination on July 15th.

Enrolled in the Radiation Biology and Biophysics Doctoral Training Programme at FCT NOVA since 2018, the research work developed by Sravesh Kumar focused on negative ion formation in charge transfer processes from collisions of neutral potassium atoms with key selected neutral molecules. The crossed molecular beam set up used to obtain the anion yields as a function of the collision energy as well as relevant information about the lowest-lying anionic states that are accessed in the temporary negative ion formation, is fully equipped with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer and an energy loss analyser.

Sravesh Kumar presented his research work, entitled “Electron Transfer Processes in Biologically Relevant Molecules”, to an evaluation committee: head José Paulo Mota, professor at the Universidade NOVA de Lisboa and formed by Alexander Dorn, senior scientist at the Max-Planck Institute, Heidelberg, Juraj Fedor, researcher at the J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry, Prague, Gustavo García, professor at the Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Alice S. Pereira, professor at the Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Pedro J. S. Pereira, professor at Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Paulo Limão-Vieira, professor at the Universidade NOVA de Lisboa.

NEW STUDY UNVEILS STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS OF PROTEINS INVOLVED IN OXIDATIVE STRESS AND RADIATION RESISTANCE

Mini-ferritins are a group of proteins that can protect DNA through binding. These are proteins only found in bacteria which confer resistance in stress conditions by preventing the formation of radicals and other toxic species, thus raising bacterial capacity to survive.  

RaBBiT’s student João P. L. Guerra was able to subclone and express one mini-ferritin protein from Deinococcus grandis. This organism is a radioresistant bacterium isolated from freshwater fish (carps) in Japan which has the ability to grow either in the presence or absence of oxygen.

In studying the mini-ferritin protein, João discovered that the protein structure is dependent on salt concentration and possesses iron binding sites which can also regulate its conformation which can regulate the DNA protection function.

The work has been published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

ANIONIC STATES OF HEXACHLOROBENZENE PROBED IN ELECTRON TRANSFER EXPERIMENTS

Hexachlorobenzene (HCB, C6Cl6) has been used as a pesticide and fungicide. Widely used in the end of last century, HCB production has been terminated in several countries. However, it is still a well known byproduct during the manufacture of other chemicals. Several studies show that long-term oral exposure to HCB will cause liver diseases with associated skin leasures and increased cancer incidence. Additionally, it was found in animal studies that oral exposure to HCB can cause cancer of the liver, thyroid, and kidney which led it to be classified  as a probable human carcinogen by different cancer research and environmental agencies. 

The first comprehensive investigation on the negative ion states of such molecule probed by electron transfer experiments. The most accessible electronic state is at ~ 3.8 eV above the neutral ground-state. This state yields an efficient bond-break yielding Cl- formation. This studies will enable further knowledge regarding the role of HCB in environmental impact.

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 24 (2022) 366.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE SPECTROSCOPIC TOOLS USED IN THE ANALYSIS OF SMALL TO LARGE BIOMOLECULES

Alice Pereira and Pedro Tavares, co-lab leaders of the Molecular Biophysics Lab at UCIBIO – FCT NOVA, together with Paulo Limão-Vieira lab leader of the Atomic and Molecular Collisions Laboratory at CEFITEC - FCT NOVA, are editors of the most recent book from Springer-Nature: Radiation in Bioanalysis - Spectroscopic Techniques and Theoretical Methods.

The publication aims at attracting a broad scope of readers in their different fields of expertise, and results from the research work that has been developed in the scope of the Radi­ati­on Bi­ology & Biophysics Doctoral Programme (RaBBIT).

This book presents a unique overview of the spectroscopic tools used in the analysis of small to large biomolecules, as well as it reviews the latest advances, such as electronic valence and inner shell as well as nuclear spectroscopies. It also combines experimental results with state-of-the-art modelling techniques and exploits complementary methodologies furthering the uses and data interpretation of spectroscopic tools.

1ST NOVA BIOPHYSICA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

The NOVA Rectorate Building welcomed 100 participants to the first NOVA Biophysica International Conference, which took place between the 4th and 6th of September, 2019.

This multidisciplinary scientific event was organized by researchers from UCIBIO (Alice S. Pereira and Pedro Tavares) and CEFITEC (Paulo Limão-Vieira) FCT NOVA R&D Units, along with students from the International Radiation Biology and Biophysics Doctoral Programme (RaBBiT), which is coordinated by both units.

The main scope of NOVA Biophysica was to present the most recent developments and advanced topics in modern Biophysics to the scientific community. The three-day conference involved  Keynote Sessions and Master Classes, delivered by researchers and experts in advanced techniques, from several European institutions as well as an Industry Life panel where the worlds of Academia and Industry were bridged through personal testimonies of knowledgeable international speakers. Additionally, between these lectures there were also shorter presentations from the younger Biophysics community which together with the two Poster Sessions allowed numerous PhD Students and Post-Docs to showcase their work.

NOVA Biophysica brought together researchers and students from different national and international universities and institutes which enhanced the opportunity to establish new collaborations, discuss current topics and spark new research ideas.

The Thermo Unicam Best Poster Award was given to Catarina Pinto from the Centro para Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares (C2TN) - Instituto Superior Técnico.

The Springer-Nature Best Talk Award was given to Tomás Fernandes from UCIBIO’s Biochemistry and Bioenergetics of Heme Proteins Lab at UCIBIO - FCT NOVA. Tomás received a copy of the book “Radiation in Bioanalysis - Spectroscopic Techniques and Theoretical Methods”, edited by Alice S. Pereira, Pedro Tavares and Paulo Limão-Vieira, scheduled to be released in November 2019.