Lactate metabolism and signalling in cancer
Reprogramming of energy metabolism is a key hallmark of cancer. Most cancer cells undergo the Warburg effect, with enhanced glycolytic metabolism and lactate production, which provides…
- Research
- Cancer Biomarkers and Therapeutics
- Julieta Afonso
Julieta Afonso
- Bladder cancer
- Chemoresistance
- Immunotherapy resistance
- Cancer metabolism
- Warburg effect
- Monocarboxylate transporters
- CD147
- Tumor microenvironment
- Cancer associated fibroblasts
- Immune checkpoints
Julieta Afonso completed her PhD in Health Sciences in 2013 by the School of Medicine of the University of Minho, her Master in Oncology in 2008 by Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute of the University of Porto, and her Degree in Applied Biology in 2001 by the School of Sciences of the University of Minho. She has ten years of professional experience (2002-2012) as an assistant professor at a polytechnic higher education institute, in the field of Life and Health Sciences. Presently she is a post-doctoral researcher at ICVS, member of the Cancer Biomarkers and Therapeutics Research Team. She has been dedicated to unravelling prognosis and predictive biomarkers, as well as therapeutic targets, in urothelial bladder cancer (UBC). Her research on the energetic metabolism reprograming in bladder cancer, using human samples and “in vitro” / “in vivo” UBC models, has contributed significantly to the advancement of knowledge in this field. Currently, she is interested in exploiting microenvironmental metabolic interplays for resistance management in chemo/ immunotherapy-refractory bladder cancer, namely by the modulation of the metabolic symbiosis among UBC cells and cancer associated fibroblasts to overcome chemoresistance, and modulation of the metabolic competition among UBC cells and immune cells to disrupt immunosuppression and overcome resistance to immune-checkpoint inhibitors. Until April 2022 she has published fifteen peer-reviewed articles and four sections of books; she was a member of the organizing committee of ISCaM2019, and has participated in multiple scientific events, as well as in post-graduation activities (as a supervisor or lecturer).
Scientific Highlights
> Silva A, Antunes B, Batista A, Pinto-Ribeiro F, Baltazar F, Afonso J. In Vivo Anticancer Activity of AZD3965: A Systematic Review. Molecules. 2021 Dec 29; 27(1):181. doi: 10.3390/molecules27010181.
> Afonso J, Santos LL, Longatto-Filho A, Baltazar F. Competitive glucose metabolism as a target to boost bladder cancer immunotherapy. Nat Rev Urol. 2020 Feb; 17(2):77-106. doi: 10.1038/s41585-019-0263-6.
> Baltazar, Fátima*; Afonso, Julieta*; Costa, Marta*; Granja, Sara*; *Equal contribution. Lactate Beyond a Waste Metabolite: Metabolic Affairs and Signaling in Malignancy. Front Oncol. 2020 Mar 18; 10:231. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2020.00231.
> Pereira, Andreia*; Afonso, Julieta*; Granja, Sara*; Baltazar, Fátima*; *Equal contribution. Lactate and lactate transporters as key players in the maintenance of the Warburg effect. In Tumor microenvironment – the main driver of metabolic adaptation, edited by Jacinta Serpa. Springer International Publishing, 2020.
> Baltazar, Fátima*; Valente, Diana*; Afonso, Julieta*; Queirós, Odília*; Granja,Sara*; *Equal contribution. New horizons on pH regulators as cancer biomarkers and targets for pharmacological intervention. In An Innovative Approach to Understanding and Treating Cancer: Targeting pH, edited by Tomas Koltai, Stephan J. Reshkin, Salvador Harguindey. Elsevier, 2020.
> ISCaM 2019, 6th Annual Meeting – Cancer Metabolic Rewiring: Mapping the Road to Clinical Translation, Braga, Portugal (2019/10/17 – 2019/10/19) – Member of the organizing committee.
> Afonso, Julieta; Santos, Lúcio L.; Morais, António; Amaro, Teresina; Longatto-Filho, Adhemar; Baltazar, Fátima. Metabolic coupling in urothelial bladder cancer compartments and its correlation to tumor aggressiveness. Cell Cycle. 2016; 15(3):368-80. doi: 10.1080/15384101.2015.1121329.
> Afonso, J.; Freitas, R.; Lobo, F.; Morais, A.; Amaro, T.; Reis, R.; Baltazar, F.; et al. Evolving hallmarks in urothelial bladder cancer: unveiling potential biomarkers. Acta Urol Port. 2015; 32:1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.acup.2014.12.002.
> Award for the best scientific paper published in Acta Urológica Portuguesa, Portuguese Association of Urology, October 2015, sponsored by Bayer (Afonso, J.; Freitas, R.; Lobo, F.; Morais, A.; Amaro, T.; Reis, R.; Baltazar, F.; et al. Evolving hallmarks in urothelial bladder cancer: unveiling potential biomarkers. Acta Urol Port. 2015; 32:1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.acup.2014.12.002.).
> Afonso, Julieta; Santos, Lúcio L.; Miranda-Gonçalves, Vera; Morais, António; Amaro, Teresina; Longatto-Filho, Adhemar; Baltazar, Fátima. CD147 and MCT1-potential partners in bladder cancer aggressiveness and cisplatin resistance. Mol Carcinog. 2015 Nov; 54(11):1451-66. doi: 10.1002/mc.22222.
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Email: icvs.sec@med.uminho.pt
Fax: +351 253 604 809
Email: icvs.sec@med.uminho.pt
Address
Life and Health Sciences
Research Institute (ICVS)
School of Medicine,
University of Minho,
Campus de Gualtar
4710-057 Braga
Portugal
GPS: +41° 33′ 47.33″, -8° 24′ 3.39″
Copyright ©2022 ICVS. All Rights Reserved
Copyright ©2022 ICVS. All Rights Reserved
Address
Life and Health Sciences
Research Institute (ICVS)
School of Medicine,
University of Minho,
Campus de Gualtar
4710-057 Braga
Portugal
GPS: +41° 33′ 47.33″, -8° 24′ 3.39″
Copyright ©2022 ICVS. All Rights Reserved
Contact us
Phone: +351 253 604 966
Fax: +351 253 604 809
Email: icvs.sec@med.uminho.pt
Fax: +351 253 604 809
Email: icvs.sec@med.uminho.pt
Address
Life and Health Sciences
Research Institute (ICVS)
School of Medicine,
University of Minho,
Campus de Gualtar
4710-057 Braga
Portugal
GPS: +41° 33′ 47.33″, -8° 24′ 3.39″