Beatriz Porto, PhD

Integrated PhD Researcher

orcid.org/0000-0003-4281-5438

Academic degrees:

PhD

Positions:

• Assistant Professor

Research interests:

• Bone marrow failure syndromes associated with chromosome instability , in particular Fanconi anemia
• Progressive malignant transformation related with chromosome instability syndromes, in particular Fanconi anemia
• Pattern of oxidative stress in patients with Fanconi anemia. Searching for preventive therapies.
  

Research area keywords:

Fanconi anemia, Chromosome instability, Oxidative stress, Cancer, Antioxidants, Red blood cells

Major Scientific Achievements:

• The role of red blood cells in the activation of CD8+ lymphocytes in primary cultures.
• The role of red blood cells in the defense against chromosome instability in primary lymphocyte cultures induced by diepoxybutane (DEB), an alkylating agent that triggers oxidative stress.
• Effect of selected antioxidants ( alpha lipoic acid and N-acetylcysteine) in the defense against chromosome instability in Fanconi anemia cells (spontaneous and DEB induced).
• RDW (increased red cell distribution width) as a novel marker of stress erythropoiesis in Fanconi Anemia.

Selected publications:

1. Sousa R, Gonçalves C, Guerra IC, Costa E, Fernandes A, do Bom Sucesso M, Azevedo J, Rodriguez A, Rius R, Seabra C, Ferreira F, Ribeiro L, Ferrão A, Castedo S, Cleto E, Coutinho J, Carvalho F, Barbot J, Porto B. Increased red cell distribution width in Fanconi anemia: a novel marker of stress erythropoiesis.Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2016 Jul 25;11(1):102. doi: 10.1186/s13023-016-0485-0.
2. Costa S, Carvalho S, Costa C, Coelho P, Silva S, Santos LS, Gaspar JF, Porto B, Laffon B, Teixeira JP.Increased levels of chromosomal aberrations and DNA damage in a group of workers exposed to formaldehyde. Mutagenesis. 2015 Jul;30(4):463-73. doi: 10.1093/mutage/gev002. Epub 2015 Feb 22.
3. Ponte F, Sousa R, Fernandes AP, Gonçalves C, Barbot J, Carvalho F, Porto B. Improvement of genetic stability in lymphocytes from Fanconi anemia patients through the combined effect of α-lipoic acid and N-acetylcysteine. Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2012 May 16;7:28. doi: 10.1186/1750-1172-7-28.
4. Ponte F, Carvalho F, Porto B. Protective effect of acetyl-l-carnitine and α-lipoic acid against the acute toxicity of diepoxybutane to human lymphocytes. Toxicology. 2011 Oct 28;289(1):52-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tox.2011.07.009. Epub 2011 Jul 22.
5. Porto B, Sousa R, Malheiro I, Gaspar J, Rueff J, Gonçalves C, Barbot J. Normal red blood cells partially decrease diepoxybutane-induced chromosome breakage in cultured lymphocytes from Fanconi anaemia patients. Cell Prolif. 2010 Dec;43(6):573-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2184.2010.00706.x.

International collaborations:

• Jordi Surrallés, Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona

PhD thesis supervision (concluded):

• Ana Filipa Brinco de Oliveira Ponte, Degree in Biological Sciences. PhD in Biomedical Sciences, ICBAS, UP. Chromosome instability in Fanconi anemia: searching for therapeutic drugs to prevent the progression of the disease. 2012.
• Solange Cristina Bastos da Costa, MSc. PhD in Biomedical Sciences, ICBAS, UP. Occupational exposure to formaldehyde. Genotoxic damage and susceptibility evaluation in anatomical pathology laboratory workers. 2013. (supervisor: João Paulo Teixeira, PhD, INSA)
• Patrícia Clara dos Santos Coelho, MSc. PhD in Biomedical Sciences, ICBAS, UP. Biomonitoring of environmental contamination resulting from mining activities on exposed populations. 2013. (supervisor: João Paulo Teixeira, PhD, INSA)
• Ana Sofia Estevão Mendes, MSc. PhD in Biomedical Sciences, ICBAS, UP. The Influence of Indoor Environment in Respiratory Health and Quality of Life of Older People Living in Elderly Care Centers. 2016. (supervisor: João Paulo Teixeira, PhD, INSA)

• Cláudia Angelina Borges Torres, MSc. PhD in Biomedical Sciences, ICBAS, UP. Endotelial cells as biomarkers of vascular pathology. (supervisor: Margarida Lima, MD, PhD, CHP)
• Luis Filipe de Sepúlveda Silva Santos, PharmD, MSc. PhD in Biomedical Sciences, ICBAS, UP. DNA repair SNPs as genetic modulators of individual susceptibility to differentiated thyroid cancer and response to radioiodine therapy. (supervisor: José Rueff Tavares, PhD, FCM, UNL)

MSc thesis supervision (concluded):

• Maria de Fátima de Sousa Leite, MSc in Análises Clínicas, Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Instabilidade cromossómica em culturas de fibroblastos induzidas com DEB. Aplicação ao estudo de mosaicismo em doentes com Anemia de Fanconi. 2012.
• Lara Filipa Rocha Andrade, MSc in Biochemistry, University of Aveiro. Hereditary Hemochromatosis: cellular response to oxidative stress. 2012.
• Ana Sofia Afonso Gomes, MSc in Biochemistry, FC-ICBAS, UP.Combined effect of α-lipoic acid and N-acetylcysteine: influence on the prooxidant state of Fanconi anemia cells. 2015.

Science and Society:

• Serviço de apoio ao diagnóstico de instabilidade cromossómica (DIC) (https://dic.icbas.up.pt/)
• Referência do diagnóstico de anemia de Fanconi no portal europeu das doenças raras (ORPHANET) (http://www.orpha.net/consor/cgi-bin/ClinicalLabs_Search.php?lng=EN&data_id=30333&search=ClinicalLabs_Search_Simple&data_type=Test&title=Diagn-stico-citogenetico-da-anemia-de-Fanconi--DEB-induced-chromosome-breakage-&MISSING%20CONTENT=Diagn-stico-citogenetico-da-anemia-de-Fanconi--DEB-induced-chromosome-breakage-)