Miguel Castanho Lab

Physical Biochemistry of Drugs & Targets

Advanced Training

Science and Society

NOVIRUSES2BRAIN Project

BREAST-BRAIN-N-BBB Project

AvithRapid Project

EvaMobs Project

Research Team

Research Areas

• Analgesic peptides
• Antimicrobial peptides
• Antiviral peptides
• Cell-penetrating peptides
• Viral fusion inhibitors
• Anticancer Peptides

Ongoing Research Projects

2024/2028 EvaMobs: A multidisciplinary approach to design the antiviral biologics of the future. Coordinator: Ana Salomé Veiga. Funding Agency: European Union's HORIZON - Research and Innovation Action (RIA).

2024/2028 AvithRapid: Antiviral Therapeutics for Rapid Response Against Pandemic Infectious Diseases. Coordinator: Miguel Castanho. Funding Agency: European Union's HORIZON-HLTH-2023-DISEASE-03 program.

2024/2025 3D-TNBC-BM: Development of an organ-on-a-chip of triple-negative breast cancer-brain metastases for drug screening. Coordinator: Vera Neves. Funding Agency: Funds from the PRR. Funds allocated to iMM as CTI (Center for Technology and Innovation).

2022/2025 Smart ocular lenses for the treatment of diabetic eye diseases (PTDC/CTM-CTM/2353/2021). Coordinator: Ana Herdade. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2022/2025 COVID_CATbodies: Development of potent and broadly neutralizing antibodies fragments for COVID-19 derived from domestic cats naturally infected with SARS-CoV-2 (PTDC/CVT-CVT/0149/2021). Coordinator: Salomé Veiga. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2022/2025 The BioPlaTTar platform for the tailored and rapid development of antiviral biopharmaceuticals. Coordinator: Ana Salomé Veiga. Funding Agency: “la Caixa” Foundation.

2022/2025 Search-AnD-See: Towards the development of a nanoparticle for early diagnosis of Alzheimers Disease, based on the reversible translocation of the blood brain barrier (PTDC/BTM-MAT/2472/2021). Coordinator: Vera Neves. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2022/2024 A molecular and nano approach to target the RANK-TRAF6 interface for bone metastases treatment (PTDC/QUI-OUT/3854/2021) Coordinator: Vera Neves. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2021/2024 TRESPASS2TREAT: A novel approach in pharmacotherapies for breast cancer patients with brain metastasis (PTDC/BIA-BQM/5027/2020). Coordinator: Miguel Castanho. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2021/2024 Breast-Brain-N-BBB: Protecting the brain from metastatic breast cancer (HR21-00605). Coordinator: Miguel Castanho. Funding Agency: la Caixa & Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2020/2024 Twinning – EpiEpiNet: Epileptogenesis and Epilepsy Network: from genes, synapses and circuits to pave the way for novel drugs and strategies (Grant Number: 952455). Coordinator: Ana M. Sebastião. Funding Agency: European Commission.

2019/2025 (project extension date: 31/08/2025) One size fits all'' unique drug to eradicate multiple viral species simultaneously from the central nervous system of co-infected individuals. Coordinator: Miguel Castanho. Funding Agency: FET Open, European Commission.

Previous Research Projects

2021/2023 NoStress: New functional foods to reduce the effects of stress in aquaculture (LISBOA-01-0247-FEDER-047122). Coordinator: Sparos. Funding Agency: Portugal2020.

2020/2021 Projeto n. 470, RIGHT-NOW-RIGHT-HERE: Evidence-based off-label application of porphyrin-based medicines to fight SARS-CoV-2. Coordinator: Miguel Castanho. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2019/2020 Desenvolvimento de uma plataforma trans-barreira hematoencefálica com aplicação na doença de Alzheimer (LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-032085). Coordinator: Miguel Castanho. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia and PT2020. Reference: COOPERAÇÃO CIENTIFICA E TECNOLOGICA FCT/NKFIH, 201.

2018/2021 Fighting Zika virus with antiviral peptides and conjugates translocating blood-placental and blood-brain barriers. Coordinator: David Andreu Martinez, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Coordinator at iMM: Miguel Castanho. Funding Agency: Fundación Bancaria "la Caixa".

2018/2021 Delivery vehicles of therapeutic gasotransmitters no and h2s based on nanoporous materials. Coordinator: Moisés Pinto, Instituto Superior Técnico da ULisboa. Coordinator at iMM: Ana Herdade. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2018/2021 Selecting anti-Zika virus drug leads able to translocate the blood-placental and blood-brain barriers. Combining innovative and effective translocating peptides with new antivirals to target Zika across barriers. Coordinator: Carla Couto. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2018/2021 (project extension date: 30/09/2022) Using computational and experimental methods to provide a global characterization of viral fusion peptides. Coordinator: Diana Lousa, Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Coordinator at iMM: Ana Salomé Veiga. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2018/2021 (project extension date: 30/06/2022) Polyphasic validation of antimicrobial peptides as alternative treatment for diabetic foot infections. Coordinator: Manuela Oliveira, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária da ULisboa. Coordinator at iMM: Ana Salomé Veiga. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2018/2021 Development of a novel class of antibody-drug conjugates molecules for cancer treatment. Coordinator: Frederico Aires-Silva, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária da ULisboa. Coordinator at iMM: Vera Neves. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2016/2019 Cell-cell communication in metastatic breast cancer: a control point that can lead to breast cancer treatment. Coordinator: Diana Gaspar. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2016/2019 Overcoming the Brain Drug Delivery Bottleneck: Development of single domain antibodies for brain targeting and drug delivery across the Blood-Brain Barrier. Coordinator: Frederico Aires-Silva, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária da ULisboa. Coordinator at iMM: Vera Neves. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2016/2019 Alzheimer3D: Trifunctional Conjugates for the Selective Drug Delivery in Alzheimer’s Disease. Coordinator: Rudi Oliveira, Faculdade de Farmácia da ULisboa. Coordinator at iMM: Vera Neves. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2016/2019 Peptides for blood-brain barrier transmigration and drug delivery - novel therapies for the central nervous system. Coordinator: Vera Neves. Funding Agency: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

2016/2018 Towards the development of innovative highly effective dual action anti-HIV peptides. Coordinator: Ana Salomé Veiga. Agency: Fundação Ciência e Tecnologia.

2015/2019 INPACT: Innovative peptides against cancer and pathogenic bacteria, with advances in science, biopharmaceutical drug development, product market targeting, training, and communication. Coordinator: Miguel Castanho. Funding Agency: European Commission.

Awards

2023 Patricia Fraga, 2nd edition of AD Symposium, Porto - Best Poster.

2023 Beatriz Vieira da Silva, EPI 2023 - XVIII Iberian Peptide Meeting - Second place for best flash talk.

2022 Diogo Mendonça won the Second Prize in the category of 4th year PhD students oral presentations at the XV CAML ·V NeurULisboa PhD Students Meeting at Grande Auditório João Lobo Antunes, in Egas Moniz Building, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon.

2022 Distinctions from the newspapers “Correio do Ribatejo” and “O Mirante”, related to our work of scientific dissemination.

2020 Miguel Castanho. “Personality of the year 2020”, Jornal “O Mirante”, Portugal. December 31, 2020. (https://omirante.pt/omirante/2021-01-09-Cientista-Miguel-Castanho-e-a-escolha--deO-MIRANTE-para-Personalidade-do-Ano-2020)

2019 Miguel Castanho - Prémio de Mérito Pedagógico Prof. Doutor J. Gomes-Pedro / Pedagogical Merit Award of Prof. Doutor J. Gomes-Pedro.

2019 Miguel Castanho - Awarded the Pedagogical Merit Award of the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon”, (In Portuguese), Correiro do Ribatejo, November 4, 2019 (https://correiodoribatejo.pt/miguel-castanho-agraciado-com-o-premio-de-merito-pedagogico-da-faculdade-de-medicina-de-lisboa/).

2019 Miguel Castanho – Scientific Award University of Lisbon / Caixa Geral de Depósitos 2018 in the scientific area of ​​Biomedical Sciences.

2019 Tiago N. Figueira – SPBf Young Biophysicist 2019 Prize - Structure−Stability−Function Mechanistic Links in the Anti-Measles Virus Action of Tocopherol-Derivatized Peptide Nanoparticles" ACS Nano 12, 9855-9865.

2018 Filipa D. Oliveira - Prize for best poster at the Lisbon Biophysics Networking Meeting: From Protein Dynamics to Membrane Biophysics (Awarded on Oct 12).

2018 Filipa D. Oliveira - Prize for best poster at the Lisbon Biophysics Networking Meeting: From Protein Dynamics to Membrane Biophysics (Awarded on Oct 12).

2015 Grünenthal Foundation, DOR Award, Clinical Research – By the study of drugs for Alzheimer's disease and chronic pain.

2014 Miguel Castanho - Leonidas Zervas award of the European Peptide Society for achievements in Peptide Science.

2012/2015 Miguel Castanho - Special visiting researcher em Medical Biochemistry (Post graduation and Outreach Programs) Instituto de Bioquímica Médica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

2012 Miguel Castanho - Named International Local Embassador by the Biochemical Society UK.

2011 Miguel Castanho - Featured in the section “Biophysicist in profile” (Biophysical Society USA Newsletter), June 2011.

2010 Marta Ribeiro, Henri Franquelim -I2P-Ideas to products, 2nd ranked team in European Entrepreneurship competition (Aachen, Germany) com “a peptide-based technology to translocate the Blood-brain Barrier.”

2009 Grünenthal Foundation, DOR Award (2008), Basic Science – By the study of the analgesic neuropeptide analgesic kyotorphin.

2005 Miguel Castanho - Award Prof José Luis Champalimaud, Secretariado Nacional para a Saúde, Ministério da Saúde, by contributing to the study of innovative drugs against HIV.

2004 Miguel Castanho - Award Dr. José Luis Champalimaud, Comissão Nacional de Luta Contra a Sida, by the contribution to the study of the mechanism of action of anti-HIV peptide drugs.

2004 Miguel Castanho - Medal Vicente de Seabra, Sociedade Portuguesa de Química, by the contribution to the Development of Chemistry and early career.

Selected Publications

Find more publications on Google Scholar.

• 2023

Chaparro CIP, Simões BT, Borges JP, Castanho MARB, Soares PIP, Neves V. (2023). A Promising Approach: Magnetic Nanosystems for Alzheimer's Disease Theranostics. Pharmaceutics. 15(9):2316.

Vieira-da-Silva B, Castanho MARB (2023). The structure and matrix dynamics of bacterial biofilms as revealed by antimicrobial peptides' diffusion. J Pept Sci. 29(6):e3470.

Mota-Silva I, Castanho MARB, Silva-Herdade AS. (2023). Towards Non-Invasive Intravital Microscopy: Advantages of Using the Ear Lobe Instead of the Cremaster Muscle. Life (Basel). 13(4):887.

Vieira-da-Silva B, Castanho MARB (2023). Resazurin Reduction-Based Assays Revisited: Guidelines for Accurate Reporting of Relative Differences on Metabolic Status. Molecules. 28(5):2283.

Strandberg E, Wadhwani P, Bürck J, Anders P, Mink C, van den Berg J, Ciriello RAM, Melo MN, Castanho MARB, Bardají E, Ulmschneider JP, Ulrich AS (2023). Temperature-Dependent Re-alignment of the Short Multifunctional Peptide BP100 in Membranes Revealed by Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics Simulations. Chembiochem. 24(4).

Cherene MB, Taveira GB, Almeida-Silva F, da Silva MS, Cavaco MC, da Silva-Ferreira AT, Perales JEA, de Oliveira Carvalho A, Venâncio TM, da Motta OV, Rodrigues R, Castanho MARB, Gomes VM (2023). Structural and Biochemical Characterization of Three Antimicrobial Peptides from Capsicum annuum L. var. annuum Leaves for Anti-Candida Use. Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins. Jun 26.

Dias SA, Pinto SN, Silva-Herdade AS, Cavaco M, Neves V, Tavares L, Oliveira M, Andreu D, Coutinho A, Castanho MARB, Veiga AS (2023). Quantitative Imaging of the Action of vCPP2319, an Antimicrobial Peptide from a Viral Scaffold, against Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms of a Clinical Isolate. ACS Infect Dis. 9(10):1889-1900.

André AS, Dias JNR, Aguiar SI, Leonardo A, Nogueira S, Amaral JD, Fernandes C, Gano L, Correia JDG, Cavaco M, Neves V, Correia J, Castanho M, Rodrigues CMP, Gaspar MM, Tavares L, Aires-da-Silva F. (2023) Panobinostat-loaded folate targeted liposomes as a promising drug delivery system for treatment of canine B-cell lymphoma. Front Vet Sci. Aug 30;10: 1236136.

Zandona A, Madunić J, Miš K, Maraković N, Dubois-Geoffroy P, Cavaco M, Mišetić P, Padovan J, Castanho M, Jean L, Renard PY, Pirkmajer S, Neves V, Katalinić M. (2023) Biological response and cell death signaling pathways modulated by tetrahydroisoquinoline-based aldoximes in human cells. Toxicology. Aug 1; 494:153588.

André AS, Dias JNR, Aguiar S, Nogueira S, Bule P, Carvalho JI, António JPM, Cavaco M, Neves V, Oliveira S, Vicente G, Carrapiço B, Braz BS, Rütgen B, Gano L, Correia JDG, Castanho M, Goncalves J, Gois PMP, Gil S, Tavares L, Aires-da-Silva F. (2023) Rabbit derived VL single-domains as promising scaffolds to generate antibody-drug conjugates. Sci Rep. Mar 24;13(1):4837.

• 2022

Valério M, Mendonça DA, Morais J, Buga CC, Cruz CH, Castanho MARB, Melo MN, Soares CM, Veiga AS, Lousa D. (2022). Parainfluenza Fusion Peptide Promotes Membrane Fusion by Assembling into Oligomeric Pore-like Structures. ACS Chemical Biology. May 2.

Todorovski T, Mendonça DA, Fernandes-Siqueira LO, Cruz-Oliveira C, Guida G, Valle J, Cavaco M, Limas FIV, Neves V, Cadima-Couto I, Defaus S, Veiga AS, Da Poian AT, Castanho MARB, Andreu D. (2022). Targeting Zika Virus with New Brain- and Placenta-Crossing Peptide-Porphyrin Conjugates. Pharmaceutics. Mar 29; 14(4):738.

Cavaco M, Castanho MARB, Neves V. (2022). The Use of Antibody-Antibiotic Conjugates to Fight Bacterial Infections. Frontiers in Microbiology. Mar 7; 13:835677.

Oliveira FD, Cavaco M, Figueira TN, Valle J, Neves V, Andreu D, Gaspar D, Castanho MARB. (2022). The antimetastatic breast cancer activity of the viral protein-derived peptide vCPP2319 as revealed by cellular biomechanics. FEBS Journal. Mar;289(6):1603-1624.

Caccuri F, Neves V, Gano L, Correia JDG, Oliveira MC, Mazzuca P, Caruso A, Castanho M. (2022). The HIV-1 Matrix Protein p17 Does Cross the Blood-Brain Barrier. Journal of Virology. Jan 12; 96(1).

• 2021

Da Poian, Andrea T.; Castanho, Miguel A. R. B. Integrative Human Biochemistry. Springer International Publishing. 2021. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-48740-9

Cavaco M, Fraga P, Valle J, Andreu D, Castanho MARB, Neves V. (2021). Development of Breast Cancer Spheroids to Evaluate Cytotoxic Response to an Anticancer Peptide. Pharmaceutics. Nov 4; 13(11):1863.

Oliveira FD, Castanho MARB, Neves V. (2021). Exosomes and Brain Metastases: A Review on Their Role and Potential Applications. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. Oct 8; 22(19):10899.

Aguiar SI, Dias JNR, André A, Silva ML, Martins D, Carrapiço B, Castanho MARB et al. (2021). Highly Specific Blood-Brain Barrier Transmigrating Single-Domain Antibodies Selected by an In Vivo Phage Display Screening. Pharmaceutics. Oct 2; 13(10):1598.

Cavaco M, Frutos S, Oliete P, Valle J, Andreu D, Castanho MARB, Vila-Perelló M, Neves V. (2021). Conjugation of a Blood Brain Barrier Peptide Shuttle to an Fc Domain for Brain Delivery of Therapeutic Biomolecules. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters. Sep 2; 12, 1663–1668.

Cavaco M, Valle J, Flores I, Andreu D, Castanho, MARB. (2021). Estimating peptide half-life in serum from tunable, sequence-related physicochemical properties. Clinical and Translational Science. Jul;14(4):1349-1358.

Mendonça DA, Bakker M, Cruz-Oliveira C, Neves V, Jiménez MA, Defaus S, Cavaco M, Veiga AS, Cadima-Couto I, Castanho MARB, Andreu D, Todorovski T. (2021). Penetrating the Blood-Brain Barrier with New Peptide-Porphyrin Conjugates Having anti-HIV Activity. Bioconjugate Chemistry. Jun 16; 32(6):1067-1077.

Mink C, Strandberg E, Wadhwani P, Melo MN, Reichert J, Wacker I, Castanho MARB, Ulrich AS. (2021). Overlapping Properties of the Short Membrane-Active Peptide BP100 with (i) Polycationic TAT and (ii) α-helical Magainin Family Peptides. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. Apr 26; 11:609542.

Gallo M, Moreno E, Defaus S, Ortega-Alvaro A, Gonzalez A, Robledo P, Cavaco M, Neves V, Castanho MARB, Casadó V, Pardo L, Maldonado R, Andreu D. (2021). Orally Active Peptide Vector Allows Using Cannabis to Fight Pain While Avoiding Side Effects. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. May 27; 64(10):6937-6948.

Cavaco M, Andreu D, Castanho MARB. (2021). The Challenge of Peptide Proteolytic Stability Studies: Scarce Data, Difficult Readability, and the Need for Harmonization. Angewandte Chemie. 60,1686–1688.

Cadima-Couto I, Tauzin A, Freire JM, Figueira TN, Silva RDM, Pérez-Peinado C, Cunha-Santos C, Bártolo I, Taveira N, Gano L, Correia JDG, Goncalves J, Mammano F, Andreu D, Castanho MARB, Veiga AS. (2021). Anti-HIV-1 Activity of pepRF1, a Proteolysis-Resistant CXCR4 Antagonist Derived from Dengue Virus Capsid Protein. ACS Infectious Diseases. Jan 8; 7(1):6-22.

• 2020

Lousa D, Pinto ART, Campos SRR, Baptista AM, Veiga AS, Castanho MARB, Soares CM. (2020). Effect of pH on the influenza fusion peptide properties unveiled by constant-pH molecular dynamics simulations combined with experiment. Scientific Reports. Nov 18; 10(1):20082.

Herdade AS, Silva IM, Calado Â, Saldanha C, Nguyen NH, Hou I, Castanho M, Roy S. (2020). Effects of Diabetes on Microcirculation and Leukostasis in Retinal and Non-Ocular Tissues: Implications for Diabetic Retinopathy. Biomolecules. Nov 21;10(11):1583.

de Almeida Fuzeta M, Bernardes N, Oliveira FD, Costa AC, Fernandes-Platzgummer A, Farinha JP, Rodrigues CAV, et al. (2020). Scalable Production of Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Under Serum-/Xeno-Free Conditions in a Microcarrier-Based Bioreactor Culture System. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. Nov 3; 8:553444.

Cavaco M, Pérez-Peinado C, Valle J, Silva RDM, Correia JDG, Andreu D, Castanho, MARB, Neves V. (2020). To What Extent Do Fluorophores Bias the Biological Activity of Peptides? A Practical Approach Using Membrane-Active Peptides as Models. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. Sep 9; 8:552035.

Sousa DC, Leal I, Moreira S, do Vale S, Silva-Herdade AS, Aguiar P, Dionísio P, Abegão Pinto L, Castanho MARB, Marques-Neves C. (2020). Retinal Vascular Reactivity in Type 1 Diabetes Patients Without Retinopathy Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography. Investigative Opthalmology & Visual Science. Jun 3; 61(6):49.

Cavaco M, Valle J, da Silva R, Correia JDG, Castanho MARB, Andreu D, Neves V. (2020). DPepH3, an Improved Peptide Shuttle for Receptor-independent Transport Across the Blood-Brain Barrier. Current Pharmaceutical Design. 26(13):1495-1506.

Aroeira RI, Castanho MARB (2020). Can citation metrics predict the true impact of scientific papers? The FEBS Journal 287(12):2440-2448.

Belo RF, Martins MLF, Shvachiy L, Costa-Coelho T, de Almeida-Borlido C, Fonseca-Gomes J, Neves V, Vicente Miranda H, Outeiro TF, Coelho JE, Xapelli S, Valente CA, Heras MI, Bardaji E, Castanho MARB, Diógenes MJ, Sebastião AM (2020). The Neuroprotective Action of Amidated-Kyotorphin on Amyloid β Peptide-Induced Alzheimer’s Disease Pathophysiology. Frontiers in Pharmacology 11:985.

Cavaco M, Andreu D, Castanho MARB (2020). The Challenge of Peptide Proteolytic Stability Studies: Scarce Data, Difficult Readability, and the Need for Harmonization. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 132: 2-5.

Figueira TN, Domingues MM, Illien F, Cadima-Couto I, Todorovski T, Andreu D, Sagan S, Castanho MARB, Walrant A, Veiga AS (2020). Enfuvirtide-Protoporphyrin IX Dual-Loaded Liposomes: In Vitro Evidence of Synergy against HIV-1 Entry into Cells. ACS Infectious Diseases 6(2):224-236.

Skalska J, Andrade VM, Cena GL, Harvey PJ, Gaspar D, Mello ÉO, Henriques ST, Valle J, Gomes VM, Conceição K, Castanho MARB, Andreu D (2020). Synthesis, Structure, and Activity of the Antifungal Plant Defensin PvD1. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 63(17):9391–9402.

• 2019

Figueira TN, Domingues MM, Illien F, Cadima-Couto I, Todorovski T, Andreu D, Sagan S, Castanho MARB, Walrant A, Veiga AS (2019). Enfuvirtide-Protoporphyrin IX Dual-Loaded Liposomes: In Vitro Evidence of Synergy against HIV-1 Entry into Cells. ACS Infectious Diseases. doi: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.9b00285.

Petrin THC, Fadel V, Martins DB, Dias SA, Cruz A, Sergio LM, Arcisio-Miranda M, Castanho MARB, Dos Santos Cabrera MP (2019). Synthesis and Characterization of Peptide-Chitosan Conjugates (PepChis) with Lipid Bilayer Affinity and Antibacterial Activity. Biomacromolecules 20(7):2743-2753.

Pinto SN, Dias SA, Cruz AF, Mil-Homens D, Fernandes F, Valle J, Andreu D, Prieto M, Castanho MARB, Coutinho A, Veiga AS (2019). The mechanism of action of pepR, a viral-derived peptide, against Staphylococcus aureus biofilms. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 74(9):2617-2625.

Skalska J, Oliveira FD, Figueira TN, Mello ÉO, Gomes VM, McNaughton-Smith G, Castanho MARB, Gaspar D (2019). Plant defensin PvD1 modulates the membrane composition of breast tumour-derived exosomes. Nanoscale 11(48):23366-23381.

• 2018

Figueira TN, Mendonça DA, Gaspar D, Melo MN, Moscona A, Porotto M, Castanho MARB, Veiga AS. (2018) Structure-Stability-Function Mechanistic Links in the Anti-Measles Virus Action of Tocopherol-Derivatized Peptide Nanoparticles. ACS Nano. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.8b01422, 12 (10), 9855-9865.

Figueira TN, Augusto MT, Rybkina K, Stelitano D, Noval MG, Harder OE, Veiga AS, Huey D, Alabi CA, Biswas S, Niewiesk S, Moscona A, Santos NC, Castanho MARB, Porotto M. (2018) Effective in Vivo Targeting of Influenza Virus through a Cell-Penetrating/Fusion Inhibitor Tandem Peptide Anchored to the Plasma Membrane. Bioconjug Chem. DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.8b00527, 29 (10), 3362-3376.

Pérez-Peinado C, Dias SA, Domingues MM, Benfield AH, Freire JM, Radis-Baptista G, Gaspar D, Castanho MARB, Craik DJ, Henriques ST, Veiga AS, Andreu D (2018) Mechanism of bacterial membrane permeabilization of crotalicidin (Ctn) and its fragment Ctn[15-34], antimicrobial peptides from rattlesnake venom. J Biol Chem. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.RA117.000125, 293 (5), 1536–1549.

• 2017

Neves V, Aires da Silva F, Morais M, Gano L, Ribeiro E, Pinto A, Aguiar S, Gaspar D, Fernandes C, Correia JDG, Castanho MARB. (2017) Novel peptides derived from Dengue virus capsid protein translocate reversibly the blood-brain barrier through a receptor-free mechanism. ACS Chem Biol. DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.7b00087, 12 (5), 1257-1268.

Dias SA, Freire JM, Pérez-Peinado C, Domingues MM, Gaspar D, Vale N, Gomes P, Andreu D, Henriques ST, Castanho M, Veiga AS. (2017) New Potent Membrane-Targeting Antibacterial Peptides from Viral Capsid Proteins. Front Microbiol. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00775, 8, 775.

FigueiraTN, FreireJM, Cunha-SantosC, HerasM, GonçalvesJ, Moscona A, PorottoM, VeigaAS, CastanhoMARB. (2017) Quantitative analysis of molecular partition towards lipid membranes using surface plasmon resonance. Sci. Rep. DOI: 10.1038/srep45647, 7, 45647.

Freire JM, de Figueiredo IR, Valle J, Veiga AS, Andreu D, Enguita FJ, Castanho MARB. (2017) siRNAcell-penetrating peptides complexes as a combinatorial therapy against chronic myeloid leukemia using BV173 cell line as model. J Control Release. DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2016.11.027, 245, 127-136.

Figueira TN, Oliveira FD, Almeida I, Mello ÉO, Gomes VM, Castanho MARB, Gaspar D. (2017) Challenging metastatic breast cancer with the natural defensin PvD1, Nanoscale. DOI: 10.1039/c7nr05872a, 9(43): 16887-16899.

Figueira TN*, Palermo LM*, Veiga AS*, Huey D, Alabi CA, Santos NC, Welsch JC, Mathieu C, Horvat B, Niewiesk S, Moscona A, Castanho MARB, Porotto M. (2017) In vivo efficacy of measles virus fusion protein-derived peptides is modulated by the properties of self-assembly and membrane residence. J. Virol. 91. DOI: 10.1128/JVI.01554-16, e01554-16. (*Authors with equal contribution).

Perazzo J, Lima C, Heras M, Bardají E, Lopes-Ferreira M, Castanho, MARB. (2017) Neuropeptide kyotorphin impacts on lipopolysaccharide-induced glucocorticoid-mediated inflammatory response. A molecular link to nociception, neuroprotection, and anti-inflammatory action. ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 8, 1663-1667.

• 2016

Perazzo J, Lopes-Ferreira M, Sá Santos S, Serrano I, Pinto A, Lima C, Bardaji E, Tavares I, Heras M, Conceição K. (2016) Endothelium-mediated action of analogues of the endogenous neuropeptide kyotorphin (tyrosil-arginine): mechanistic insights from permeation and effects on microcirculation. ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 7, 1130-1140.

Neves V, Aires da Silva F, Corte-Real S, Castanho MARB. (2016) Antibody approaches to treat brain illnesses. Trends in Biotechnology. DOI:10.1016/j.tibtech.2015.10.005, 24 (1), 36-48.

• 2015

Freire JM, Dias SA, Flores L, Veiga AS, Castanho M. (2015) Mining viral proteins for antimicrobial and cell-penetrating drug delivery peptides. Bioinformatics. DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btv131, 31, 2252-2256.

Freire JM, Gaspar D, Veiga AS, Castanho MA. (2015) Shifting gear in antimicrobial and anticancer peptides biophysical studies: from vesicles to cells. J Pept Sci. DOI: 10.1002/psc.2741, 21, 178-185.

Freire JM, Gaspar D, de la Torre BG, Veiga AS, Andreu D, Castanho MARB. (2015)Monitoring antibacterial permeabilization in real time using time-resolved flow cytometry. Biochim Biophys Acta – Biomembranes. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2014.11.001, 1848, 554-560.

• 2014

Freire JM, Veiga AS, de Figueiredo IR, de la Torre BG, Santos NC, Andreu D, Da Poian AT, Castanho MARB. (2014)Nucleic acid delivery by cell penetrating peptides derived from Dengue virus capsid protein. Design and mechanism of action. FEBS J. DOI: 10.1111/febs.12587, 281, 191-215.

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