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Margarida Simões (25y) is a PhD student at Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine laboratory, affiliated to BioISI - Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute at the Faculty of Sciences of University of Lisbon (FC-ULisboa). Margarida graduated with a BSc in Biochemistry (score 16/20) in 2019 and with a MSc in Medical Biochemistry (score 19/20) in 2022, both at FC-ULisboa. Margarida's academic performance granted her several academic merit awards. As an undergraduate, Margarida gained practical research experience in the field of immunology through a short-term internship at IMM (Instituto de Medicina Molecular). In 2020, she started her MSc research project on "Single-domain antibodies targeting S100B as tools in Alzheimer's disease" at the Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine laboratory at ULisboa under the supervision of Professor Cláudio M. Gomes. Margarida investigated the effects of single-domain antibodies (or nanobodies) targeting S100B as potentiators of S100B anti-aggregation chaperone activity and as modulators of the aggregation of the amyloid-ß peptide and Tau fragment K18. Her MSc thesis defended in January 2022 was graded 20/20 (opponent: Dr. Tiago Bandeiras, Merck Satellite, iBET). After finishing her MSc, Margarida did a 3-month postgraduate Erasmus+ internship at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart under the supervision of Professor Guenter Fritz. Currently, Margarida is further exploring her MSc project as a PhD student.
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Margarida Candeias Simões
Date of birth
1998/03/23
Gender
Female

Citation names

  • Simões, Margarida C.
  • Margarida C. Simões

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
3F1F-C8C9-66E6
ORCID iD
0000-0002-6577-3819

Email addresses

  • mcsimoes@fc.ul.pt (Professional)

Knowledge fields

  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biochemistry

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Upper intermediate (B2) Advanced (C1)
Education
Degree Classification
2022/09/01 - 2026
Ongoing
 Biochemistry (specialization in Structural Biochemistry) (Doutoramento)
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
"Exploiting single-domain antibodies as tools to modulate protein aggregation in neurodegeneration" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
2019/09 - 2022/01
Concluded
 Biochemistry (specialization in Medical Biochemistry) (Mestrado)
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
"MSc thesis project: "Single-domain antibodies targeting S100B as tools in Alzheimer's disease". Grade: 20/20; Supervisior: Prof. Dr. Cláudio M. Gomes; Discussion: Dr. Tiago Bandeiras (Merck Satellite, iBET)." (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 19
2016/09 - 2019/06
Concluded
 Biochemistry (Licenciatura)
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
 16
2013 - 2016
Concluded
 Sciencies and Technology (Ensino secundário)
Escola Secundária de Alves Redol, Portugal
 16
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2022/09/01 - 2026 Researcher (Research) Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, Portugal
PhD research project: "Exploiting single-domain antibodies as tools to modulate protein aggregation in neurodegeneration" (Supervisior: Prof. Dr. Cláudio M. Gomes) at Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine, BioISI, FC-UL , Portugal
2022/04/01 - 2022/06/30 Researcher (Research) Universität Hohenheim, Germany
Postgraduate Erasmus+ internship: "Structural biochemistry of protein: antibody interactions" (Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Guenter Fritz) at University of Hohenheim, Germany
2020/09 - 2022/01 Researcher (Research) Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, Portugal
MSc dissertation project: "Single-domain antibodies targeting S100B as tools in Alzheimer's disease" (Supervisior: Prof. Dr. Cláudio M. Gomes) at Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine laboratory, BioISI, FC-UL, Portugal
2019/03 - 2019/05 Research Trainee (Research) Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Portugal
Undergraduate internship at Lymphocyte Regulation Laboratory (Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Luís Graça), Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM), Portugal

Other Careers

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2022/01/10 - 2022/02/28 Preparador de Análises Clínicas (Técnico de Diagnóstico e Terapêutica - Técnico de Análises Clínicas e de Saúde Pública) Joaquim Chaves Saúde, Portugal
Laboratory Technician, Collection and Processing of COVID-19 samples (Part-time), Portugal
Outputs

Publications

Conference poster
  1. Margarida C. Simões; Joana S. Cristóvão; Els Pardon; Jan Steyaert; Günter Fritz; Cláudio M. Gomes. "Discovery of a library of nanobodies which modulate S100B-mediated RAGE activation". Paper presented in Inserm Workshop 280: "Exploiting the full potential of NANOBODIES: from research tools to therapeutics, 2024.
  2. Margarida C. Simões; Joana S. Cristóvão; Els Pardon; Jan Steyaert; Cláudio M. Gomes. "Identification and characterization of a novel library of single-domain antibodies which compete for RAGE binding and modulate S100B neurotrophic activity". Paper presented in 4th Chem&Biochem Students Meeting, 2024.
  3. Margarida C. Simões; Cláudio M. Gomes. "Heterotypic interactions drive anti-aggregation activity of nanobodies against S100B on Tau aggregation". Paper presented in 6th Instruct-ERIC Biennial Structural Biology Conference, 2024.
  4. Margarida C. Simões; Cláudio M. Gomes. "A novel library of single-domain antibodies capable of modulating Tau aggregation". Paper presented in AIMS Meeting 2024, 2024.
  5. Margarida C. Simões; Cláudio M. Gomes. Corresponding author: Cláudio M. Gomes. "Heterotypic interactions drive anti-aggregation activity of nanobodies against S100B on Tau aggregation". Paper presented in ADPD 2024 Advances in Science & Therapy. Internation Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson Diseases and related neurological disorders, 2024.
  6. Margarida C. Simões; Joana S. Cristóvão; Els Pardon; Jan Steyaert; Cláudio M. Gomes. Corresponding author: Cláudio M. Gomes. "Nanobodies as protein-based tools to modulate Tau aggregation in Alzheimer's disease". Paper presented in Ciências Research and Innovation Day 2023, 2023.
  7. Margarida C. Simões; Joana S. Cristóvão; Els Pardon; Jan Steyaert; Cláudio M. Gomes. Corresponding author: Cláudio M. Gomes. "Single-domain antibodies against S100B activate its chaperone function and modulate Tau/K18 aggregation". Paper presented in FEBS advanced course: Protein folding, aggregation and compartmentalization, 2023.
  8. Margarida C. Simões; Joana S. Cristóvão; Els Pardon; Jan Steyaert; Cláudio M. Gomes. Corresponding author: Cláudio M. Gomes. "Single-domain antibodies as tools for controlling Tau aggregation in neurodegenerative diseases". Paper presented in 3rd Chem&Biochem Students Meeting, 2023.
  9. Margarida C. Simões; Joana S. Cristóvão; Els Pardon; Jan Steyaert; Cláudio M. Gomes. Corresponding author: Cláudio M. Gomes. "Anti-S100B nanobodies as modulators of Tau aggregation". Paper presented in EuroTau 2023, 2023.
  10. Margarida C. Simões; Joana S. Cristóvão; Els Pardon; Jan Steyaert; Cláudio M. Gomes. Corresponding author: Cláudio M. Gomes. "Single-domain antibodies targeting S100B as tools in Alzheimer's disease". Paper presented in TWIN2PIPSA - Twinning for Excellence in Biophysics of Protein Interactions and Self-Assembly, 2023.
  11. Margarida C. Simões; Joana S. Cristóvão; Els Pardon; Jan Steyaert; Cláudio M. Gomes. Corresponding author: Cláudio M. Gomes. "Single-domain antibodies targeting S100B as tools in Alzheimer's disease". Paper presented in 6º Conferência Anual da RedeSAÚDE (Prémios ULisboa - Rede Saúde 2022), 2022.
  12. Joana V. Ribeiro; Guilherme G. Moreira; António J. Figueira; Mariana Romão; Coelho, Romina; Margarida C. Simões; de Freitas, Daniela P.; Cláudio M. Gomes. "Research on Protein Folding Diseases at the Protein Misfolding and Amyloids in Biomedicine Laboratory". Paper presented in Ciências Research Day 2022, 2022.
Journal article
  1. Simões, Margarida C.; Cristóvão, Joana S.; Pardon, Els; Steyaert, Jan; Fritz, Günter; Gomes, Cláudio M.. "Functional modulation of RAGE activation by multimeric S100B using single-domain antibodies". Journal of Biological Chemistry 300 12 (2024): 107983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107983.
    Open access • Accepted • 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107983
  2. Justine Mortelecque; Orgeta Zejneli; Séverine Bégard; Margarida C. Simões; Lea El Hajjar; Marine Nguyen; François-Xavier Cantrelle; et al. "A selection and optimization strategy for single-domain antibodies targeting the PHF6 linear peptide within the Tau intrinsically disordered protein". Journal of Biological Chemistry (2024): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107163.
    10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107163
Thesis / Dissertation
  1. "Single-domain antibodies targeting S100B as tools in Alzheimer's disease". Master, Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, 2022.
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2024/11/25 Exploiting antibody fragments to inhibit Tau aggregation 6th Students Meeting of the Mind Brain College ULisboa
Reitoria da Universidade de Lisboa (Lisbon, Portugal)
2024/06/27 Identification and characterization of a novel library of single-domain antibodies which compete for RAGE binding and modulate S100B neurotrophic activity 4th Chem&Biochem Students Meeting
Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, FCUL-ULisboa (Lisbon, Portugal)
2023/09/03 "Single-domain antibodies against S100B activate its chaperone function and modulate Tau/K18 aggregation" FEBS advanced course: Protein folding, aggregation and compartmentalization
FEBS (Spetses Island, Greece)
2022/11/15 "Single-domain antibodies targeting S100B as tools in Alzheimer's disease" 6º Conferência Anual da RedeSAÚDE (Prémios ULisboa - Rede Saúde 2022)
University of Lisbon (Lisbon, Portugal)
2021/02/19 Presentation of the MSc project "Single-domain antibodies targeting S100B as tools in Alzheimer's disease" 3º Encontro do Mestrado em Bioquímica (Virtual)
Comissão Pedagógica do Mestrado em Bioquímica (Portugal)

Event organisation

Event name
Type of event (Role) 		Institution / Organization
2023/04 - 2023/07 3rd Chem & Biochem Students Meeting (2023/07/13 - 2023/07/13)
Meeting (Member of the Organising Committee)
 Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
2023/02/01 - 2023/02/03 TWIN2PISA - Twinning for Excellence in Biophysics of Protein Interaction and Self-Assembly Meeting (2023/02/01 - 2023/02/03)
Meeting (Member of the Organising Committee)
 Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Biossistemas e Ciências Integrativas, Portugal

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event 		Event name
Institution / Organization
2024/09/25 - 2024/09/26 Inserm Workshop 280: "Exploiting the full potential of NANOBODIES: from research tools to therapeutics"
Workshop
 Inserm Workshop 280: "Exploiting the full potential of NANOBODIES: from research tools to therapeutics"
INSERM, France
2024/06/27 - 2024/06/27 4th Chem&Biochem Students Meeting
Meeting
 4th Chem&Biochem Students Meeting
Universidade de Lisboa Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Portugal
2024/05/23 - 2024/05/24 6th Instruct-ERIC Biennial Structural Biology Conference
Conference
 6th Instruct-ERIC Biennial Structural Biology Conference
Instruct-ERIC, France
2024/04/16 - 2024/04/19 AIMS Meeting 2024
Meeting
 AIMS Meeting 2024
Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
2024/03/05 - 2024/03/09 ADPD 2024: Advances in Science & Therapy - International Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease and related neurologic disorders
Conference
 ADPD 2024: Advances in Science & Therapy - International Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease and related neurologic disorders
2024/02/07 - 2024/02/07 Online Workshop: Tagging endogenous proteins with CRISPR/Cas9 to study protein-protein interactions
Workshop
 Online Workshop: Tagging endogenous proteins with CRISPR/Cas9 to study protein-protein interactions
Twinning for Excellence in Biophysics of Protein Interactions and Protein Self-Assembly (TWIN2PIPSA), Portugal
2024/02/01 - 2024/02/02 UCPH On-site training: Computational tools to analyse protein stability and abundance, and protein variant effects
Workshop
 UCPH On-site training: Computational tools to analyse protein stability and abundance, and protein variant effects
Twinning for Excellence in Biophysics of Protein Interactions and Protein Self-Assembly (TWIN2PIPSA), Portugal
2023/11/13 - 2023/11/15 TWIN2PIPSA Training School - Integrating experimental and computational approaches in protein self-assembly, Copenhagen
Workshop
 TWIN2PIPSA Training School - Integrating experimental and computational approaches in protein self-assembly
Københavns Universitet - Nørre Campus, Denmark

Twinning for Excellence in Biophysics of Protein Interactions and Protein Self-Assembly (TWIN2PIPSA), Portugal
2023/10/24 - 2023/10/24 Ciências Research and Innovation Day Ciências Research and Innovation Day 2023
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
2023/09/01 - 2023/09/08 FEBS advanced course: Protein Folding, Aggregation and Compartmentalization
Other
 FEBS advanced course: Protein Folding, Aggregation and Compartmentalization
Federation of European Biochemical Societies, United Kingdom
2023/07/13 - 2023/07/13 3rd Chem&Biochem Students Meeting
Meeting
 3rd Chem&Biochem Students Meeting
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
2023/04/27 - 2023/04/28 EuroTau 2023
Conference
 EuroTau 2023
Université de Lille, France
2023/02/01 - 2023/02/03 TWIN2PIPSA - Twinning for Excellence in Biophysics of Protein Interactions and Self-Assembly Plenary Conference Series
Conference
 TWIN2PIPSA - Twinning for Excellence in Biophysics of Protein Interactions and Self-Assembly
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Biossistemas e Ciências Integrativas, Portugal
2022/11/13 - 2022/11/16 Basics in Light Microscopy course
Other
 Basics in Light Microscopy course
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Biossistemas e Ciências Integrativas, Portugal
2022/11/15 - 2022/11/15 6º Conferência Anual da RedeSAÚDE: Perspetivas Multidisciplinares e Saúde Global na Lisboa
Conference
 6º Conferência Anual da RedeSAÚDE: Perspetivas Multidisciplinares e Saúde Global na Lisboa
Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
2022/09/26 - 2022/09/26 Ciências Research Day
Conference
 Ciências Research Day 2022
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
2022/03/23 - 2022/03/23 The Protein Society Webinar Series: Protein Folding and Misfolding on the Ribosome
Seminar
 Protein Folding and Misfolding on the Ribosome
Indiana University, United States
2022/03/11 - 2022/03/11 Portuguese Centre for Integrated Structural Biology (PCISBIO) Day
Seminar
 PCISBIO Day
PCISBIO - Portuguese Centre for Integrated Structural Biology, Portugal
2022/03/09 - 2022/03/09 Brain Awareness Week: Understanding the Cellular Roots of Alzheimer's disease (Webinar)
Conference
 Brain Awareness Week
Allen Institute for Brain Science, United States
2022/02/22 - 2022/02/23 6th Ulm Meeting - Biophysics of Amyloid Formation (Virtual Meeting)
Meeting
 Biophysics of Amyloid Formation
Universität Ulm, Germany
2021/01 - 2021/09 Weekly Seminars from Proteostasis Consortium Seminars Series
Seminar
 Proteostasis Consortium Seminars
Northwestern University, United States
2021/05/24 - 2021/05/27 Instruct-ERIC course in Biophysics, Structural Mass Spectrometry and X-ray techniques Instruct-ERIC course in Biophysics, Structural Mass Spectrometry and X-ray techniques
Instruct-ERIC, France

Association member

Society Organization name Role
2022/01/20 - Current Sociedade Portuguesa de Bioquímica - Portuguese Biochemical Society Member
2022/01/20 - Current Sociedade Portuguesa de Biofísica - Portuguese Biophysics Society Member

Course / Discipline taught

Academic session Degree Subject (Type) Institution / Organization
2022/10/28 - Current Teaching Assistant in the subject Projeto Experimental I (Protein Structural Biochemistry module) of the FC-UL MSc programme in Biochemistry and Biomedicine Projeto Experimental I (Mestrado) Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal

Mentoring / Tutoring

Topic Student name
2023/10/20 - Current Expression and purification of recombinant proteins Inês Carolino
2023/09/11 - 2023/10/03 Kinetic analysis of the effects of anti-tau antibodies on tau aggregation Lea El hajjar
2022/10/01 - 2022/10/30 Protein-protein interaction studies Ilse van Dam

Scientific expedition

Activity description Institution / Organization
2024/11/11 - 2024/11/15 Short-term exchange (1 week) to conduct NMR studies under the scope of the PhD studies at CNRS, University of Lille, INSERM, Institute Pasteur de Lille, France. Supervision by Dr. Isabelle Landrieu - Structural mapping of the interactions between nanobodies and Tau fragments Université de Lille, France
2023/11/27 - 2023/12/02 Short-term exchange (1 week) to conduct NMR studies under the scope of the PhD studies at CNRS, University of Lille, INSERM, Institute Pasteur de Lille, France. Supervision by Dr. Isabelle Landrieu - Structural mapping of the interactions between nanobodies and Tau Université de Lille, France
2022/04/01 - 2022/06/30 Postgraduate Erasmus+ internship (3 months) to conduct X-ray crystallography studies of protein complexes at the University of Hohenheim, Germany. Supervision by Dr. Guenter Fritz - Structural biochemistry of protein:antibody interactions. Institute of Biology of the University of Hohenheim, Germany
Distinctions

Award

2024 Best Flash Pitch Award in Biochemistry at the 4th Chem&Biochem Students Meeting
Universidade de Lisboa Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Portugal
2023 FEBS Youth Travel Fund to attend FEBS 2023 advanced course: Protein folding, aggregation and compartmentalization
Federation of the European Biochemical Societies, United Kingdom
2022 FCT Doctoral Fellowship (2022.11023.BD)
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
2022 Best Master's Award in the panel of Ageing, Cardiology and Neurodegeneration Diseases
Prémios ULisboa - redeSAÚDE 2022, Portugal

Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
2020 FC-UL Academic Merit Award (3th year classification: 16,20/20)
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
2019 FC-UL Academic Merit Award (2nd year classification: 16,20/20)
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
2018 FC-UL Academic Merit Award (1st year classification: 15,94/20)
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal