Agostinho Carvalho
Principal Investigator
Team Coordinator
Immunobiology of Inflammatory and Infectious Diseases
The immune system is represented by a complex network of organs, tissues, cells, and molecules that evolved to protect the host against infections. However, it influences much more than host defense: it is central for repair and maintenance of tissue homeostasis, it has crucial roles in immune surveillance, it inflicts damage in the context of autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases, and it affects host metabolism, development, and aging. Recent discoveries are fostering novel host-directed medicine approaches that harness the immune response to combat inflammation and infection, and help patients manage both acute and chronic immune-mediated diseases.
The overarching goal of the Immunobiology of Inflammatory and Infectious Diseases (i3D) team is to define the cellular and molecular networks underlying cell and tissue damage involved in the pathogenesis of current and emerging diseases caused by infectious agents and harmful inflammation. Our team encompasses a multidisciplinary group of basic and translational scientists, clinical experts, and young researchers with expertise at the crossroads of immunology, genetics, and metabolism, and that resorts to advanced systems biology approaches using cellular, micro-engineered tissue, and animal models of disease, and human patients enrolled in national and international consortia.
Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing the network of interactions between inflammation, infection and the immune system is expected to contribute to innovative and personalized diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for a wide range of current and emerging immune-mediated diseases.
Team Members
Cristina Cunha
Principal Investigator
Egídio Torrado
Principal Investigator
Ricardo Silvestre
Principal Investigator
António G. Castro
Senior Researcher
Fernando Rodrigues
Senior Researcher
Diana Ribeiro
Postdoctoral Researcher
Relber A. Gonçales
Postdoctoral Researcher
Rita Silva-Gomes
Postdoctoral Researcher
Samuel M Gonçalves
Postdoctoral Researcher
Sandra Costa
Affiliated Researcher
Ana Mendes-Frias
PhD Student
André Santa Cruz
PhD Student
Caroline Borges-Pereira
PhD Student
Catarina Barbosa-Matos
PhD Student
Consuelo Micheli
PhD Student
Inês Caldeira
PhD Student
Inês Pereira
PhD Student
Marcela Oliveira
PhD Student
Marta Araújo
PhD Student
Raquel Fernandes
PhD Student
Sónia Barros-Carvalho
PhD Student
Ana Baptista
MSc Student
Bárbara Mota
MSc Student
Maria Catarina Vieira
MSc Student
Tiago Cardoso
Research Technician
Team Members
agostinho carvalho
Principal Investigator
Team Coordinator
egídio torrado
Principal Investigator
ricardo silvestre
Principal Investigator
António G. Castro
Senior Researcher
fernando rodrigues
Senior Researcher
cristina cunha
Assistant Researcher
Maria João Peixoto
Postdoctoral Researcher
relber gonçales
Postdoctoral Researcher
Rita Silva-Gomes
Postdoctoral Researcher
sandra costa
Affiliated Researcher
ana mendes-frias
PhD Student
André Santa Cruz
PhD Student
Caroline Borges-Pereira
PhD Student
Catarina Barbosa-Matos
PhD Student
cláudio oliveira
PhD Student
consuelo micheli
PhD Student
daniela antunes
PhD Student
marta araújo
PhD Student
raquel fernandes
PhD Student
samuel gonçalves
PhD Student
adrian barnutiu
MSc Student
ana baptista
MSc Student
Maria Catarina Vieira
MSc Student
sónia carvalho
MSc Student
Projects
- Agostinho Carvalho
- Genetic analysis of molecular and functional traits in immune cells, such as gene and protein expression and effector functions, offers a promising strategy for investigating phenotypic variation and dissecting the molecular mechanisms underlying propensity to infection.
- Ricardo Silvestre
- The intestinal epithelial barrier (EB) represents the largest interface between the internal organs and the environment. The precise regulation of the intestinal EB allows the maintenance of mucosal immune homeostasis and prevents the onset of uncontrolled inflammation.
- Cristina Cunha
- The reprogramming of cellular metabolism is a fundamental mechanism whereby immune cells respond to infection. The sensing of microbial ligands by myeloid cells promotes dynamic changes in host cell metabolism to deliver a rapid source of energy to support…
- Egídio Torrado
- The protective immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis requires tight regulation in order to prevent the development of pathological consequences to the host. Our lab is focused in defining the mechanisms that regulate the balance between protection…
- Ricardo Silvestre
- Innate immune cells tightly coordinate their metabolic programs to support a proper immunological function. As such, perturbed metabolic fluxes imply decisive effects on immune cell activation eventuating in their ability to control a pathogen and the disease inflicted by it.
- Sandra Costa
- Acute lung injury and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis are severe lung diseases causing irreversible lung damage with a high mortality rate and ineffective treatment approaches. Excessive inflammatory response, abnormal self-repair, and fibrosis development…
- Cristina Cunha
- Recent studies have successfully implicated several factors in the susceptibility to fungal infection, but have provided little insight into the nature of the underlying biological mechanisms. We propose a multiomics approach to link deep clinical phenotyping…
- Agostinho Carvalho
- Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic granulomatous disease of unknown aetiology with lung involvement in most cases. The pathological hallmark of sarcoidosis is the formation of non-necrotizing granulomas incited by the accumulation of activated macrophages…
Selected Research Outputs
Hérivaux A, Willis JR, Mercier T, Lagrou K, Gonçalves SM, Gonçales RA, Maertens J, Carvalho A, Gabaldón T, Cunha C. “Lung microbiota predict invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and its outcome in immunocompromised patients”. Thorax. 2022; epub ahead of print
Ferreira C, Estaquier J, Silvestre R. Immune-metabolic interactions between Leishmania and macrophage host. Curr. Opin. Microbiol. 2021 63:231-237.
Ferreira CM, Barbosa AM, Barreira-Silva P, Silvestre R, Cunha C, Carvalho A, Rodrigues F, Correia-Neves M, Castro AG, Torrado E. Early IL-10 promotes vasculature-associated CD4+ T cells unable to control Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. JCI Insight. 2021 Nov 8;6(21):e150060. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.150060.
Gonçalves SM, Antunes D, Leite L, Mercier T, Horst RT, Vieira J, Espada E, Pinho Vaz C, Branca R, Campilho F, Freitas F, Ligeiro D, Marques A, van de Veerdonk FL, Joosten LAB, Lagrou K, Maertens J, Netea MG, Lacerda JF, Campos A Jr, Cunha C, Carvalho A. “Genetic variation in PFKFB3 impairs antifungal immunometabolic responses and predisposes to invasive pulmonary aspergillosis”. mBio. 2021; 12(3):e0036921
Gonçales RA, Ricci-Azevedo R, Vieira VCS, Fernandes FF, Thomaz SMO, Carvalho A, Vendruscolo PE, Cunha C, Roque-Barreira MC, Rodrigues F. “Paracoccin overexpression in Paracoccidioides brasiliensis enhances fungal virulence by remodeling chitin properties of the cell wall”. J Infect Dis. 2021; 224(1):164-174
Santa Cruz A, Mendes-Frias A, Oliveira AI, Dias L, Matos AR, Carvalho A, Capela C, Pedrosa J, Castro AG, Silvestre R. "Interleukin-6 Is a Biomarker for the Development of Fatal Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Pneumonia". Front Immunol. 2021 Feb 18;12:613422
Mesquita I, Ferreira C, Moreira D, Kluck GEG, Barbosa AM, Torrado E, Dinis-Oliveira RJ, Gonçalves LG, Beauparlant CJ, Droit A, Berod L, Sparwasser T, Bodhale N, Saha B, Rodrigues F, Cunha C, Carvalho A, Castro AG, Estaquier J, Silvestre R. The Absence of HIF-1α Increases Susceptibility to Leishmania donovani Infection via Activation of BNIP3/mTOR/SREBP-1c Axis. Cell Rep. 2020 Mar 24;30(12):4052-4064.e7
Gonçalves SM, Duarte-Oliveira C, Campos CF, Aimanianda V, Ter Horst R, Leite L, Mercier T, Pereira P, Fernández-García M, Antunes D, Rodrigues CS, Barbosa-Matos C, Gaifem J, Mesquita I, Marques A, Osório NS, Torrado E, Rodrigues F, Costa S, Joosten LA, Lagrou K, Maertens J, Lacerda JF, Campos A Jr, Brown GD, Brakhage AA, Barbas C, Silvestre R, van de Veerdonk FL, Chamilos G, Netea MG, Latgé JP, Cunha C, Carvalho A. “Phagosomal removal of fungal melanin reprograms macrophage metabolism to promote antifungal immunity”. Nat Commun. 2020; 11(1):2282
Resende M, Ferreira CM, Barbosa AM, Cardoso MS, Sousa J, Saraiva M, Castro AG, Appelberg R, Torrado E. Myeloid HIF-1α regulates pulmonary inflammation during experimental Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Immunology. 2020 Jan;159(1):121-129. doi: 10.1111/imm.13131. Epub 2019 Nov 10.
Campos CF, Leite L, Pereira P, Pinho Vaz C, Branca R, Campilho F, Freitas F, Ligeiro D, Marques A, Torrado E, Silvestre R, Lacerda JF, Campos A Jr, Cunha C, Carvalho A. “PTX3 polymorphisms influence cytomegalovirus reactivation after stem-cell transplantation”. Front Immunol. 2019; 10:88
Contact us
Phone: +351 253 604 967
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
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″