2014 Pulido Valente Award for study on chromosome ends

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

Telomeres at the ends of chromosomes shorten 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, thereby 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 telomere shortening.

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 that behave more aggressively and respond less well to therapy. The study was published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications.

The Pulido Valente Science Award, created jointly by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Professor Francisco Pulido Valente Foundation (FFPV), recognizes the best published work in the field of Biomedical Sciences, describing research carried out by researchers under the age of 35 in national research centers. The prize, awarded annually, is worth €10,000 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 works must focus. The theme of Call was "Heterogeneity in tumors: at the malignant genome level and/or at the cellular level." Applications are evaluated by a panel of national experts of recognized international merit in Call theme.