Novel Approaches in Nervous System Regenerative Medicine

Degeneration within the nervous system, either caused by trauma (e.g. Spinal Cord Injury – SCI), disease (e.g. Parkinson’s Disease – PD) or infection (e.g. Malaria), is a significant health problem that is yet to be efficiently tackled, due to the limited available treatment options. Having this in mind, the ReNEU team has a strong translational nature, being focused on the generation of innovative therapies for nervous system regenerative medicine with a particular focus on trauma related injuries and degeneration caused by disease or infection. For this purpose, we will use the present and future acquired know-how on the pathophysiology of these nervous system-related conditions to establish targeted regenerative medicine strategies that go beyond the current therapeutic options. This overall aim is based on research activities within on four main thematic areas:

(1) Stem Cells and Biomaterials Biotechnology, with a focus on the combinatory use of stem cells and their derived biological products (e.g. secretome) with biomimetic hydrogels to enhance regeneration.
(2) Molecular Therapies, with a focus on the study of new molecules that can enhance neuroprotection and/or trigger the intrinsic capacity of nervous system cells to initiate reparative processes.
(3) Enabling Technologies, with a focus on the development of innovative medical devices that respect the temporal dynamics of the injury/disease allowing a more effective application of the strategies established in 1,2.
(4) Basic mechanisms of injury/degeneration, with a focus on better understanding key aspects of the pathophysiology of CNS trauma and degeneration, allowing a more targeted development of the strategies referred in 1,2.

To successfully target these 4 main thematic areas, the team of ReNEU relays on strong collaboration among all its PhD and non-PhD members, who disclose a strong complementarity within basic, translation and clinical research. The expertise of this team is further complemented with key national/ international collaborations within these four main thematic areas.

Team Members

António J. Salgado

Principal Investigator Team Coordinator

Nuno A. Silva

Principal Investigator

Pedro E. Ferreira

Principal Investigator

Nídia de Sousa

Assistant Researcher

Susana Monteiro

Assistant Researcher

Miguel F Gago

Clinician-Researcher

Nuno Jorge Lamas

Clinician-Researcher

Nuno Sevivas

Clinician-Researcher

Sofia G. Meirinho

Clinician-Researcher

Ana Marote

Postdoctoral Researcher

Belém Sampaio-Marques

Postdoctoral Researcher

Adriana Gonçalves

PhD Student

Ana Lima-Pinheiro

PhD Student

Andreia G. Pinho

PhD Student

Carla S. Sousa

PhD Student

Diogo Santos

PhD Student

Helena Cavaleiro

PhD Student

João Afonso

PhD Student

Jonas Campos

PhD Student

Jorge R. Cibrão

PhD Student

José Lentilhas-Graça

PhD Student

Miguel Ribeiro

PhD Student

Sandra Barata-Antunes

PhD Student

Tiffany S. Pinho

PhD Student

Carlos Vedor

MSc Student

Filipa Antunes

MSc Student

Sofia Serra

Research Technician

Projects

Susana Monteiro

Basic mechanisms of degeneration/regeneration

This project dedicates to fundamental research to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) pathophysiology. In the context of PD, we focus on addressing how…

Nuno A. Silva

Enabling Technologies in CNS Repair

Recent advances in the field of electronics, miniaturisation and microfabrication and a deeper understanding of the interface between physics and living matter for sensing and neural stimulation allow us to develop new…

Nuno A. Silva

Molecular Therapies

The remarkable advances in molecular biology in the past decades have led to a better understanding of the mechanisms implicated in the pathophysiology of many CNS disorders as well as mechanisms that control axonal regeneration…

António J. Salgado

Stem Cells Secretome and Biomaterials Biotechnology

We have previously validated the use of the secretome of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) from different sources, including those derived from pluripotent stem cells (iMSCs), as a possible therapeutic tool in animal…

Success Story

Within the last ten years, ReNEU has established itself as a highly competitive team in the field of central nervous system regenerative medicine, where it:
1) Introduced the use of new hydrogel based biomaterials for SCI regeneration, PGGH, providing strong evidences that they could modulate the pathophysiology of the injury, and with this promote the recovery of rodent models of SCI
2) Characterized the secretome of MSCs, disclosed how it modulates CNS biology, and associated mechanisms that impacted neuronal ang glial survival, differentiation and axonal growth
3) Pioneered the use of cell-free therapies based on stem cells secretome for CNS regenerative medicine
4) Identified novel molecular and pharmaco therapies (e.g. LEV) aimed at SCI repair
5) Established brain-organoid biological systems to test new compounds targeting cerebral malaria.

This work has resulted in over 100 papers in some of the leading journals of the fields of biomaterials, stem cells and regenerative medicine, including Biomaterials, Small, Stem Cells, Stem Cells Translational Medicine, Advanced Functional Materials, American Journal of Sports Medicine, NPG Regenerative Medicine, Medicinal Research Reviews Progress in Neurobiology, Nature Microbiology and The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Additionally, the originality and ground-breaking nature of the research followed has originated 5 patents and was awarded with several distinctions including the prestigious Prize Melo e Castro for SCI research and the Gulbenkian Award for Cutting Edge Research in Life Sciences.

Further, ReNEU has also shown a strong capability to attract competitive funding from national and international bodies, from which the projects BIOHYBRID, BACLOFEN and DIAMOND4BRAIN, funded by EU/FP7, Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation and Fundación La Caixa, standout. The senior members of this team have obtained direct funding through more than 25 competitive grants over the last 10 years. Finally, the technical approaches developed by ReNEU also allowed to obtain direct funding from industrial partners.