Catarina Franco

Catarina Franco

 

	POST-DOC
	BIOCHEMISTRY, Universidade de Évora,September 2004 Ph.D. in BIOCHEMISTRY, ITQB-UNL, December 2011
	E-MAIL: cfranco@itqb.unl.pt

RESEARCH INTERESTS

I worked in the field of echinoderm regeneration during my PhD thesis, where I studied the differential protein expression associated with arm tip regeneration events of Marthasterias glacialis using a proteomic and mass spectrometry based approaches. The results obtained impelled us to invest on the characterization of protein post-translational modifications occurring during specific stages of regeneration of the starfish radial nerve cords, which is the current aim of my pos-doctoral research. With this project we aim to deepen the understanding of these molecular mechanisms through the unprecedented characterization of protein post-translational modifications dynamics (proteolysis, ubiquitination, phosphorylation and glycosylation) and neuropeptidomics during sea star arm regeneration events using a combination of proteomic and mass spectrometry approaches. The current understanding of regeneration pathways emphasizes the importance of studying PTMs given their role in triggering a cascade of events that will alter cells regular gene expression into a tissue re-growth oriented protein expression. This characterization will allow a step forward in understanding the molecular mechanisms behind echinoderm regeneration, which can lead to the identification of new regeneration-inducing factors that can find future applications in vertebrate animals.
 

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

• Franco, C.F., Santos, R., Coelho, A.V. Expanded view of an echinoderm CNS proteome: The missing piece in the complex puzzle of deuterostome CNS evolution. Manuscript under preparation.
• Franco, C.F., Santos, R., Coelho, A.V. proteomics reveals the impact of proteolysis during sea star nervous system functional regeneration. Manuscript drafted. Manuscript under preparation.
• Franco C.F., Soares, R., Pires, E., Santos R., Coelho A.V. Preliminary view of protein phosphorylation dynamics in sea star nerve cord wound healing events Manuscript drafted. Manuscript under preparation.
• Soares, R., Franco, C., Pires, E., Ventosa, M., Palhinhas, R., Koci, K., Almeida, A.M., Coelho, A.V. (2012) Mass Spectrometry and Animal Science: Protein identification strategies and particularities of farm animal species. Journal of Proteomics. Manuscript under review.
• Soares R., Pires E., Almeida A.M., Santos R., Gomes R., Koci K, Franco C.F., Coelho A.V. (2011). Tandem mass spectrometry of peptides. In: Tandem Mass Spectrometry (Eds) Jeevan Prasain, InTech Publishers - Accepted for publication.
• Marcelino, I., Almeida, A.M., Brito, C., Meyer, D., Barreto, M., Sheikboudou, C., Franco, C.F., Martinez, D., Lefrançois, T., Vachiéry, N., Carrondo, M., Coelho, A.V., Alves, P. (2011) Proteomic analysis of Ehrlichia ruminantium in host endothelial cells. Veterinary Microbiology. Epub.
• Franco, C.F.; Santos, R.; Coelho, A.V. (2011A) "Exploring the proteome of an echinoderm nervous system: 2-DE of the sea star radial nerve cord and the synaptosomal membranes subproteome", Proteomics, 11(7), 1359 - 1364.

This paper was highlighted in the cover of the journal and also had a highlight in goProteomics (http://www.wiley-vch.de/goproteomics/) "picture of the month".

• Franco, C.F; Santos, R.; Coelho, A.V. (2011B) "Proteome characterization of sea star coelomocytes - the innate immune effector cells of echinoderms", Proteomics 11(17), 3587-3592.
• Campos, A.; Carvajal-Vallejos, P. K; Villalobos, E.; Franco, C.F; Almeida, A. M; Coelho, A.V; Torne, J. M; Santos, M. (2010) "Characterisation of Zea mays L. plastidial transglutaminase: interactions with thylakoid membrane proteins", Plant Biology, 12(5) 708 - 716.
• Batista, A.P; Franco, Catarina F; Mendes, M.; Coelho, A.V; Pereira, M.M. (2010) "Subunit composition of Rhodothermus marinus respiratory complex I ", Analytical Biochemistry, 407(1), 104 - 110.
• Lamy, E.; Graça, G.; Costa, G.; Franco, C.F; Silva, F.C.; Baptista, E.S.; Coelho, A.V. (2010) "Changes in mouse whole saliva soluble proteome induced by tannin-enriched diet", Proteome Science, 8(65), 65 - 77.
• Franco, C.F; Mellado, M.C.M; Alves, P.M.; Coelho, A.V. (2010) "Monitoring virus-like particle and viral protein production by intact cell MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry", Talanta 80, 4: 1561 - 1568.
• Santos, R.; Costa, G.; Franco, C.F; Alves, P.; Coelho, A.V. (2009) "First Insights into the Biochemistry of Tube Foot Adhesive from the Sea Urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Echinoidea, Echinodermata)", Mar Biotechnol, 11(11), 686 - 698.
• Mellado, M.C.M; Franco, C.F; Coelho, A.V.; Alves, P.M.; Simplício, A.L. (2008) "Sodium dodecyl sulfate-capillary gel electrophoresis analysis of rotavirus-like particles", Journal of Chromatography A, 1192(1), 166 – 172.
• Ferreira, R.; Alves-Pereira, I.; Magriço, S.; Franco, C (2007) "Comportamento celular e resposta antioxidante diferenciados de Saccharomyces cerevisiae e de Saccharomyces chevalieri ao metavanadato de amónio", Rev. de Ciências Agrárias 30 (1), 455 - 464.
• Chen, Z.; Franco, C.F; Baptista, R.P.; Cabral, J.M.S; Coelho, A.V; J, C.; Melo, E.P. (2007) "Purification and identification of cutinases from Colletotrichum kahawae and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides", Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 73 (6), 1306 - 1313.