Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência

Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência

IGC campus in Oeiras, Portugal
Headquarters Oeiras, Portugal
Membership
394 staff (March 2016)
Director
 Jonathan Howard
Website www.igc.gulbenkian.pt

The Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) is an international centre for biological and biomedical research and graduate training.[1] Founded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (FCG) in 1961, and still supported by the Foundation, the IGC is organised in small independent research groups that work in an environment designed to encourage interactions with minimal hierarchical structure. The scientific programme is multidisciplinary, including Cell and Developmental biology, Evolutionary biology, Immunology, Host-pathogen interaction, Disease Genetics, Plant Biology, Neurosciences, Theoretical and Computational biology.[2]

Currently, the IGC hosts 42 Research Groups. Further 29 research groups develop their research at external associated institutes and research centres, maintaining strong scientific collaborations with IGC groups, and access to IGC facilities. Around 394 researchers (students, postdocs, technicians and group leaders), from 32 different countries work at the IGC.[3]

In October 2012, Jonathan Howard took over as Director of the IGC succeeding António Coutinho, who has been Director since 1998.

The IGC is located in Oeiras, Portugal.

Contributions to Research

Recently:

- Moisés Mallo and his research group have discovered the key factor that regulates trunk development in vertebrates and explains why snakes have such a strikingly different body. These findings published in Developmental Cell in August 2016, contributed to understand the origin of the exceptionally long trunks that characterize the body of snakes and may open new avenues to the study of spinal cord regeneration.[4][5]

- A research team at IGC led by Mónica Bettencourt Dias shed light upon the critical mechanism of how oocytes, the maternal gametes, lose centrioles and the importance of doing so for female fertility. The results published in the scientific journal Science in May 2016 showed that centrioles normally have a coating that protects them and that this coat is lost inside the oocyte, hence centrioles are eliminated. They further show that if the centrioles are not eliminated, those mothers are sterile.[6]

- IGC scientists led by Miguel Godinho Ferreira found that certain organs, such as the gut, start to age before other tissues because its cells have a "timekeeper" with a faster pace. The results published in the open access journal PLoS Genetics in January 2016 also showed that monitoring the pace of these timekeepers can be a good indicator for the aging of the whole organism since the appearance of local age-related lesions anticipates the onset of age-associated diseases, such as cancer.[7]

- Research led by Raquel Oliveira, has elucidated how cells are almost blind to chromosome cohesion defects. The results published in Cell Reports in October 2015 uncovered how these defects, often associated with cancer development, congenital diseases and infertility, evade the strict surveillance of the checkpoint mechanisms that ensure faithful genome segregation.[8][9]

- Ana Domingos and her group have shown that fat tissue is innervated and that direct stimulation of neurons in fat is sufficient to induce fat breakdown. These results published in September 2015 in the journal Cell, set up the stage for developing novel anti-obesity therapies.[10][11]

- Studies on the bacteria Wolbachia conducted by Luis Teixeira and his research group at IGC revealed that a single genomic change can turn beneficial bacteria into pathogenic bacteria, by boosting bacterial density inside the host. Wolbachia is a bacterium commonly present in insect species that can protect their hosts against viruses, including the dengue fever virus. This is the first study linking genes and their functions in the Wolbachia bacterium, and it provides a unique point of entry for the understanding of the widespread insect-Wolbachia symbiosis. These findings were published in the scientific journal PLoS Biology in February 2015.[12]

- In a study published on the scientific journal Cell in December 2014, a research team at IGC led by Miguel P. Soares discovered that specific bacterial components in the human gut microbiota can trigger a natural defence mechanism that is highly protective against malaria transmission.[13][14][15]

- Three research groups at IGC lead by Jocelyne Demengeot, Karina Xavier and Isabel Gordo joint efforts to unveil how the bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli), one of the first species to colonize the human gut at birth, adapts and evolves in the mouse intestine. The study published in PLoS Genetics in March 2014, showed that E. coli with different advantageous mutations rapidly emerge and, consequently, a large genetic variation in this species is generated over time demonstrating how rich the evolutionary dynamics of each bacteria is in a healthy animal.[16]

Researchers at the IGC co-authored a 2012 review in Science on a largely overlooked strategy for treating infectious diseases - tolerance to infection;[17] uncovered is a very simple, neat mechanism whereby the cell couples DNA duplication, cell division and centromere assembly (published in Developmental Cell, December 2011);[18] been part of the multinational team that sequenced the genome of the tiny spider mite (published in Nature, November 2011);[19] shown that one of the proteins that regulates the skeleton of the cell also acts to block activation of genes that promote cell survival and proliferation (published in Development, April 2011);[20] discovered how sickle cell anemia protects against malaria (published in the journal Cell, April 2011);[21] shown that pollen grains communicate with the female pistil via Glutamate receptor-like channels, common in the animal nervous system (published in Science, March 2011);[22] shown that the heme group in hemoglobin plays a toxic role in severe sepsis which can be overcome by a naturally-occurring anti-oxidant (published in PNAS September 2010);[23] solved a paradox in cell cycle regulation - how telomeres, at the tips of chromosomes, are not recognised as sites of DNA damage that need to be repaired (published in Nature, September 2010).[24]

Mission

The IGC operates as a host institution, offering state-of-the-art facilities and services to foreign and Portuguese research groups or individual scientists, in particular to young post-doctoral fellows who are expected to develop their projects and form their groups in complete financial and intellectual autonomy, in a spirit of institutional responsibility.[25]

The IGC hosts a number of graduate education and training programmes, including different PhD programmes,[26] and an international seminar series.[27]

The IGC Campus

The IGC is located in the campus of Oeiras, on the Tagus bank, some 20 km from Lisbon. The campus includes other research institutes working in biology, biotechnology and chemistry, such as the Institute for Chemical and Biological Technology (ITQB) of the New University of Lisbon and the Institute for Experimental Biology and Technology (IBET), with complementary research interests and facilities: protein structure and design, synthesis and theory of chemicals with biological interest, molecular microbiology, plant biotechnology, biotechnology, downstream processing, etc.)

Research Areas

Research at the IGC spans several areas: evolutionary biology, genetics of complex diseases and of resistance to infections, cell biology, cell cycle and DNA repair, inflammation, immunity and auto-immune diseases, developmental biology in animals and plants, neuroscience, theoretical and computational biology.[28] Research is multidisciplinary, making use of several experimental models including plants, yeast, flies, fish, and mice, as well as theoretical and bioinformatic approaches.[2]

Research Infrastructure

The IGC offers library and bio-computing services, animal SPF (Specific Pathogen Free) facilities for mice and rats including a "germ-free" unit, a service for production of genetically manipulated animals, high-speed cell sorting, electron and confocal (multiphoton) microscopy, automated DNA sequencing and "genoptyping", GeneChipTM technology, monoclonal antibody preparation, and Biosafety Level 3 laboratory (P3).[29]

Highlights (1998 to present)

See also

References

  1. ↑ IGCiencia (2014-05-21), IGC | A Special Place to Be, retrieved 2016-10-26
  2. 1 2 "IGC | Research | About IGC Research". www.igc.gulbenkian.pt. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  3. ↑ "IGC | Facts and Figures". www.igc.gulbenkian.pt. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  4. ↑ Aires, Rita; Jurberg, Arnon D.; Leal, Francisca; Nóvoa, Ana; Cohn, Martin J.; Mallo, Moisés (2016-08-08). "Oct4 Is a Key Regulator of Vertebrate Trunk Length Diversity". Developmental Cell. 38 (3): 262–274. doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2016.06.021. ISSN 1878-1551. PMID 27453501.
  5. ↑ Shylo, Natalia A.; Weatherbee, Scott D. (2016-08-08). "Of Mice and Snakes: A Tail of Oct4". Developmental Cell. 38 (3): 224–226. doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2016.07.020. ISSN 1878-1551. PMID 27505413.
  6. ↑ Pimenta-Marques, A.; Bento, I.; Lopes, C. a. M.; Duarte, P.; Jana, S. C.; Bettencourt-Dias, M. (2016-07-01). "A mechanism for the elimination of the female gamete centrosome in Drosophila melanogaster". Science. 353 (6294): aaf4866. doi:10.1126/science.aaf4866. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 27229142.
  7. ↑ Carneiro, Madalena C.; Henriques, Catarina M.; Nabais, Joana; Ferreira, Tânia; Carvalho, Tânia; Ferreira, Miguel Godinho (2016-01-20). "Short Telomeres in Key Tissues Initiate Local and Systemic Aging in Zebrafish". PLOS Genet. 12 (1): e1005798. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1005798. ISSN 1553-7404. PMC 4720274Freely accessible. PMID 26789415.
  8. ↑ Mirkovic, Mihailo; Hutter, Lukas H.; Novák, Béla; Oliveira, Raquel A. (2015-10-20). "Premature Sister Chromatid Separation Is Poorly Detected by the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint as a Result of System-Level Feedback". Cell Reports. 13 (3): 470–478. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2015.09.020. ISSN 2211-1247. PMID 26456822.
  9. ↑ Drpic, Danica; Pereira, António J.; Barisic, Marin; Maresca, Thomas J.; Maiato, Helder (2015-10-20). "Polar Ejection Forces Promote the Conversion from Lateral to End-on Kinetochore-Microtubule Attachments on Mono-oriented Chromosomes". Cell Reports. 13 (3): 460–469. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2015.08.008. ISSN 2211-1247. PMC 4623360Freely accessible. PMID 26456825.
  10. ↑ Zeng, Wenwen; Pirzgalska, Roksana M.; Pereira, Mafalda M. A.; Kubasova, Nadiya; Barateiro, Andreia; Seixas, Elsa; Lu, Yi-Hsueh; Kozlova, Albina; Voss, Henning (2015-09-24). "Sympathetic neuro-adipose connections mediate leptin-driven lipolysis". Cell. 163 (1): 84–94. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2015.08.055. ISSN 1097-4172. PMID 26406372.
  11. ↑ "Neuronal Connection Between Fat and the Brain Visualized | The Scientist Magazine®". The Scientist. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  12. ↑ Chrostek, Ewa; Teixeira, Luis (2015-02-01). "Mutualism breakdown by amplification of Wolbachia genes". PLoS biology. 13 (2): e1002065. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002065. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 4323108Freely accessible. PMID 25668031.
  13. ↑ Yilmaz, Bahtiyar; Portugal, Silvia; Tran, Tuan M.; Gozzelino, Raffaella; Ramos, Susana; Gomes, Joana; Regalado, Ana; Cowan, Peter J.; d'Apice, Anthony J. F. (2014-12-04). "Gut microbiota elicits a protective immune response against malaria transmission". Cell. 159 (6): 1277–1289. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2014.10.053. ISSN 1097-4172. PMC 4261137Freely accessible. PMID 25480293.
  14. ↑ Bordon, Yvonne (2015-01-01). "Microbiota: Gut bacteria cross malaria". Nature Reviews. Immunology. 15 (1): 1. doi:10.1038/nri3796. ISSN 1474-1741. PMID 25534616.
  15. ↑ IGCiencia (2014-12-05), How gut bacteria are protective against malaria - Video animation, retrieved 2016-11-04
  16. ↑ Barroso-Batista, João; Sousa, Ana; Lourenço, Marta; Bergman, Marie-Louise; Sobral, Daniel; Demengeot, Jocelyne; Xavier, Karina B.; Gordo, Isabel (2014-03-01). "The first steps of adaptation of Escherichia coli to the gut are dominated by soft sweeps". PLoS genetics. 10 (3): e1004182. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1004182. ISSN 1553-7404. PMC 3945185Freely accessible. PMID 24603313.
  17. ↑ Medzhitov, Ruslan; Schneider, David S.; Soares, Miguel P. (2012-02-24). "Disease Tolerance as a Defense Strategy". Science. 335 (6071): 936–941. doi:10.1126/science.1214935. ISSN 0036-8075. PMC 3564547Freely accessible. PMID 22363001.
  18. ↑ Silva, Mariana C.C.; Bodor, Dani L.; Stellfox, Madison E.; Martins, Nuno M.C.; Hochegger, Helfrid; Foltz, Daniel R.; Jansen, Lars E.T. "Cdk Activity Couples Epigenetic Centromere Inheritance to Cell Cycle Progression". Developmental Cell. 22 (1): 52–63. doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2011.10.014.
  19. ↑ Grbić, Miodrag; Van Leeuwen, Thomas; Clark, Richard M.; Rombauts, Stephane; Rouzé, Pierre; Grbić, Vojislava; Osborne, Edward J.; Dermauw, Wannes; Thi Ngoc, Phuong Cao (2011-11-24). "The genome of Tetranychus urticae reveals herbivorous pest adaptations". Nature. 479 (7374): 487–492. doi:10.1038/nature10640. ISSN 0028-0836. PMC 4856440Freely accessible. PMID 22113690.
  20. ↑ Fernández, Beatriz García; Gaspar, Pedro; Brás-Pereira, Catarina; Jezowska, Barbara; Rebelo, Sofia Raquel; Janody, Florence (2011-06-01). "Actin-Capping Protein and the Hippo pathway regulate F-actin and tissue growth in Drosophila". Development. 138 (11): 2337–2346. doi:10.1242/dev.063545. ISSN 0950-1991. PMID 21525075.
  21. ↑ Ferreira, Ana; Marguti, Ivo; Bechmann, Ingo; Jeney, Viktória; Chora, Ângelo; Palha, Nuno R.; Rebelo, Sofia; Henri, Annie; Beuzard, Yves. "Sickle Hemoglobin Confers Tolerance to Plasmodium Infection". Cell. 145 (3): 398–409. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2011.03.049.
  22. ↑ Michard, Erwan; Lima, Pedro T.; Borges, Filipe; Silva, Ana Catarina; Portes, Maria Teresa; Carvalho, João E.; Gilliham, Matthew; Liu, Lai-Hua; Obermeyer, Gerhard (2011-04-22). "Glutamate Receptor–Like Genes Form Ca2+ Channels in Pollen Tubes and Are Regulated by Pistil d-Serine". Science. 332 (6028): 434–437. doi:10.1126/science.1201101. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 21415319.
  23. ↑ Larsen, Rasmus; Gozzelino, Raffaella; Jeney, Viktória; Tokaji, László; Bozza, Fernando A.; Japiassú, André M.; Bonaparte, Dolores; Cavalcante, Moisés Marinho; Chora, Ângelo (2010-09-29). "A Central Role for Free Heme in the Pathogenesis of Severe Sepsis". Science Translational Medicine. 2 (51): 51ra71–51ra71. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.3001118. ISSN 1946-6234. PMID 20881280.
  24. ↑ Carneiro, Tiago; Khair, Lyne; Reis, Clara C.; Borges, Vanessa; Moser, Bettina A.; Nakamura, Toru M.; Ferreira, Miguel Godinho. "Telomeres avoid end detection by severing the checkpoint signal transduction pathway". Nature. 467 (7312): 228–232. doi:10.1038/nature09353. PMC 3196630Freely accessible. PMID 20829797.
  25. ↑ "IGC | Overview". www.igc.gulbenkian.pt. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  26. ↑ "IGC | Education and Training | IGC PhD Programme - IBB". www.igc.gulbenkian.pt. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  27. ↑ "IGC | Events | Seminars". www.igc.gulbenkian.pt. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  28. ↑ "IGC | Research | In-House Groups". www.igc.gulbenkian.pt. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  29. ↑ "IGC - Facilities Webpage". facilities.igc.gulbenkian.pt. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  30. ↑ http://www.igc.gulbenkian.pt/media/article/91
  31. ↑ http://www.igc.gulbenkian.pt/media/article/90
  32. ↑ "Best Places to Work Postdocs, 2011 | The Scientist Magazine®". The Scientist. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  33. ↑ "CLS in top 10 of 'The Scientist' magazine's Annual Survey of the Best Places to Work for Postdocs". School of Life Sciences. Retrieved 2016-10-27.
  34. ↑ http://www.igc.gulbenkian.pt/pages/facilities.php/A=133___collection=article
  35. ↑ "Maratona da Saúde | Maratona da Saúde RTP+ - Website Oficial". www.maratonadasaude.pt. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  36. ↑ http://www.igc.gulbenkian.pt/pages/article.php/A=14___collection=newsIGC___year=2011

External links

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