During my PhD, I studied the roles of the cellular Prion Protein to its ligand HSP70/HSP90 Organizing Protein in health and disease. We found that this interaction induces colorectal cancer cells migration and invasion, glioblastoma growth and extracellular vesicles (EVs) production. I also played a key role in the first study to show how tumor EVs induce the formation of pre-metastatic ;During my post-doc, I defined the detailed mechanism of hepatic pre-metastatic niches formation by pancreatic cancer ;I also participated on the first description of double-stranded DNA packaging in tumor-derived EVs and co-first authored a manuscript that showed that particular exosomal integrins define tumor ; These projects introduced novel biological processes that support tumor metastasis and organotropism by establishing the molecular basis of how tumor-derived EVs form pre-metastatic niches in specific ;As a group leader at the Champalimaud Foundation I maintain productive collaborations with the Champalimaud Clinical Center and other European Research and Clinical institutions. Through of state of the-art technologies for EVs isolation and analysis, my research group focuses in the identification of new biological functions of EVs in oncologic settings and in the identification of circulating EVs populations with application for early diagnosis, prognosis and follow-up of oncologic and non-oncologic diseases.

 Sciences Biologiques

 Biologie