Projeto Portugal 2020

Código de operação Código que identifica cada projeto efetuado com recurso a fundos europeus.

Data de conclusão

Sumário

Our proposal is to develop a Human Health Biobank in the North region of Portugal (NHB). For that we propose to establish a repository of: Human biological specimens’ collections and virtual collections (digital imaging data) with, in both cases, their associated clinical and lifestyle data. Within this structure we propose to have both Populational- and Disease-oriented collections. For that we are establishing a consortium that will allow the establishment and sustainability of the NHB infrastructure: the Biobank (RL1) will be established using the research collections already available in the different partner institutions namely ICVS-UMinho (Populational and Disease-oriented collections) and IPATIMUP-UPorto (Disease-oriented collections, namely in the oncology field). Of relevance the Population-oriented collection at UMinho is dedicated to the study of cardiovascular risk and mental health. The objective is to contribute to the study of and validate new biomarkers of cardiovascular disease and cognitive performance, by a conjugation of prospectively collected longitudinal clinical and imagiological data with hypothesis driven candidate biomarkers approach. Concerning the Disease-oriented collections at the UMinho, the main focus are the Neurological-/Psychiatric- and Inflammatory-/Infection disease. For that reason, the consortium is also composed by two additional RL that will generate new knowledge in the field of Cardiovascular Metabolism (RL2: FMUP, UPorto and UTAD) and Immunology and Infection (RL3: ICBAS, UPorto and ICVS, UMinho). These RL will also benefit from the samples in the UMinho Population-oriented collection and Disease-oriented collections (specifically in the branch of the Inflammatory-/Infection disease). Simultaneously, this project aims to accelerate the Health area throughout the develop of new knowledge in Regenerative Medicine (RL4: 3B’s-UMinho). In this case, the areas of aging-related diseases (such as the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems disease) and cancer disease will be the main focus. This RL will also benefit from the cells isolated from different tissues available in the biobank to combine with optimal 3D structures to achieve a higher level of mimicry of the diseased tissues/tumours microenvironments. Specifically, in each RL we will: RL1 - ICVS, UMinho and IPATIMUP, UPorto: develop a standardised and carefully phenotyped repository of: human biological specimens and digital imaging data with their associated clinical data, accessible to academic and industry researchers and to start-up companies to support biomedical research, to fuel innovation and to provide, in the future, better health care assistance. The main areas of the biobank will be: ageing (Populational-oriented Biobank) in which we will follow the participants and assess their cardiovascular function and mental health and diseases such as neurological-; immune-/infectious- and oncological- disease (Diseased-oriented Biobank). In this latter case the biobank will benefit mainly from the expertise of the team located at UPorto. The challenge will be the development of a shared data-management IT platform able to connect the biological samples ID code with participants imaging data and with their clinical and lifestyle data. Inventory systems should allow data-harmonisation strategies and allow for different reports of data elements to facilitate research questions and collections management. For that, systems should have the capability of linking specimens with associated data. To achieve these best practices, we propose to establish a team with a strong component in IT technicians, network computers and computational biologists to deal and to work with big data. RL2 – FMUP, UPorto and UTAD: In this RL we will focus on the association between metabolism and cardiovascular diseases. This association represents a central aspect of the understanding of the biological ageing process and several chronic diseases. It stays at the crossroads of a complex and dynamic interplay between genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors along the life cycle. It aims at a better understanding of the association between metabolic changes induced by environmental/dietary factors and cardiovascular diseases, or brain changes. An integrated approach comprising both animal and human models will be used in this RL. Data obtained in this RL, will be explored to assess their translatability to the human samples obtained both in this RL (and that will be linked with the RL-1) but also using samples of the RL-1. RL3 – ICBAS, UPorto and ICVS, UMinho: Infectious diseases remain one of the most important causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide despite the development of an extensive list of antimicrobial drugs. In this RL our goals include the understanding of the complexity of the response to infection in organs with a particularly complex architecture such as the lung, as the site of important bacterial, fungal and viral infections. Also, we aim at understanding how the diversity among clinical isolates of pathogens of a single species further impact on the complexity of the inflammatory and protective immune response. Finally, we will link the knowledge to be obtained in these basic aspects of the biology of infection to the efficient application of preventive therapies as well as chemotherapy. Data obtained in this research line will be explored to assess their translatability to the human samples obtained from RL-1. RL4 – 3B’s, UMinho: Regenerative medicine is an emergent research field holding promise for novel and improved treatments for a wide-ranging number of diseases. With particular focus on the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular diseases, in this RL, we will develop new natural-based biomaterials to be processed by advanced techniques and to be used as biodegradable matrices in cellular systems for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. These systems will be applied in several settings for musculoskeletal and cardiovascular tissues including as 3D scaffolding structures and hydrogels in traditional tissue engineered approaches but also as potential sophisticated 3D models and bioinks for bioprinting purposes, thus contributing for the complexity and architectural features required to recreate living tissues environments and guide physiological responses. Also, the establishment of in vitro 3D disease models will be performed, since they represent a powerful tools to study biological responses and anticipate human responses without recourse to animal experimentation and overcoming the limitations associated to 2D culture models that are unable to recreate the complexity of native niches. Finally, the outcomes from in vitro strategies will provide valuable information on biomedical potential of the developed tissue engineered and will be assessed in vivo for safety and efficacy anticipating future clinical applications.