Pulido Valente Prize 2014 for study on chromosome ends

A study on how the size of telomeres, the structures at the ends of chromosomes, is regulated, has distinguished João Pedro Vinagre as the winner of the 2014 edition of the Pulido Valente Prize. With this work, the IPATIMUP researcher and his team uncovered a new mechanism that acts on various types of cancer, namely skin, brain, bladder and thyroid. 

The telomeres at the ends of the chromosomes get shorter with each cell division. When they become too short, the cell stops dividing. This kind of biological clock is one of the mechanisms that prevents the unlimited division of adult cells, which can lead to the appearance of tumors and cancers. João Pedro Vinagre and his team have identified a mutation that bypasses the biological clock, thus inducing cancer. The mutation identified is in the gene that codes for the telomerase protein, whose function is to lengthen telomeres. As a cell ages, its telomerase becomes less active, leading to the shortening of telomeres.

The mutation identified is located in an unexplored region of the telomerase gene and causes the protein to be produced again by the cell, with consequences for telomere length and cell mortality. The mutation is associated with tumors with more aggressive behavior and a worse response to therapy. The study was published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications.

The Pulido Valente Science Prize, created jointly by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Professor Francisco Pulido Valente Foundation (FFPV), honors the best work published in the field of Biomedical Sciences, describing research carried out by researchers under the age of 35 in national research centers. The prize, which is awarded annually, is worth 10,000 euros and is shared equally by the two institutions.

Every year, the Francisco Pulido Valente Foundation and the FCT choose a theme on which the candidate papers must focus. The theme of the 2014 Call was "Heterogeneity in tumors: at the level of the malignant genome and/or at the cellular level". The applications are assessed by a panel of national experts of recognized international merit in the subject of the Call.