@i3suporto.bsky.social @weillcornell.bsky.social

Thank you to @caixa for supporting this line of research.

Thank you to @caixaresearch.bsky.social for supporting this line of research.
@i3suporto.bsky.social
@weillcornell.bsky.social

Team work of my PhD students @alexjpinto.bsky.social and @marcopsilva.bsky.social and postdoc Rodrigo Monteiro. Collaborations with Joana A. Santos and Brian VanderVen. A story that started when I had the privilege to work with @saehrt.bsky.social and Dirk Schnappinger.

This paper kickstarts a series of stories that will explore how exogenous long-chain fatty acids interact with M. tuberculosis metabolism and will be the basis of a (hopefully successful) drug discovery campaign.

How does Mycobacterium tuberculosis safely eat an antimicrobial (host-derived long-chain fatty acids)?

Here we show that it’s not through a dedicated mechanism but rather by fine tuning its metabolism.

www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Thank you to Canal S+ for the kind invitation.

Saúde + Ciência Agora - T02 E010 - Sandra Cardoso Oliveira

A snip of the idea behind TRICK-TB, a project in collaboration with my good friend @robertsjansen.bsky.social funded by @caixaresearch.bsky.social

@i3suporto.bsky.social

(Interview in Portuguese/ Robert’s contributions in English)

www.saudemais.tv/video/412549...

Excellent teamwork with my talented PhD students @marcopsilva.bsky.social and @alexjpinto.bsky.social

Also happy because this is the first outcome 100% @i3suporto.bsky.social made. Hopefully, the first of many more to come.

Essential redundancies fuel Mycobacterium tuberculosis adaptation to the host Redundancy in biology is, at a glance, counterintuitive because if the function of two gene products completely overlaps then, throughout the course of evolution, one of the genes will likely accumula...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an outlier in many ways. One of them is keeping a high degree of functional redundancy despite its obligate pathogen lifestyle. In this review, we reflect on the biological meaning of M. tuberculosis functional redundancies.

journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

O cientista que está a reinventar o tratamento da tuberculose No Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, no Porto, Tiago Beites quer forçar o bacilo da tuberculose a provar o seu próprio veneno. O objetivo? Melhorar o tratamento contra a doença.

An excellent summary of what we’re doing in the scope of our @caixaresearch.bsky.social project TRICK-TB funded by Fundación ”la Caixa”, together with some personal notes. Thank you to Observador for highlighting Portuguese science. [interview in Portuguese]

observador.pt/especiais/o-...

Congratulations @alexandregouzy.bsky.social and @pierresantucci.bsky.social!!

Our favorite technician @alexjpinto.bsky.social just got awarded with a PhD fellowship. Here’s to 4 years of exciting research in our team 🥂

📣 Save the date: III ERA Chair #ImmunoHUB Annual Meeting!

📅 December 5

🔗 immunohub.i3s.up.pt/iii-immunohub-…

‼️Stay tuned for more info!

Amanpour and Company | Breakthrough Prize-Winning Biochemist on the Deadly Cost of Funding Cuts | Season 2025 David Liu joins the show.

Please consider passing around this very informative interview to everyone you know (especially non-scientists). I believe it does an excellent job explaining why taxpayers benefit from the federal government’s support of scientific research.

www.pbs.org/video/breakt...

cover of my new book everything is tuberculosis: the history and persistence of our deadliest infection

As the U.S. Government endeavors to make tuberculosis great again, please consider preordering a signed copy of my book about our deadliest infection, its long history, and why in the 75 years since TB became curable, we've allowed over 150,000,000 people to die of the disease. everythingistb.com

Authoritarians promising to protect free speech and then acting like authoritarians. Who would expect that?

A) Diagram showing how EtfD transfers electrons from beta oxidation to the menaquinol pool in the membrane, linking beta oxidation to oxidative phosphorylation in mycobacteria. B) A growth curve showing the Mycobacterium smegmatis lacking EtfD can grow when glucose is provided as the carbon source, but has a slight growth delay. Complementing the ∆etfD strain with M. tuberculosis on a plasmid rescues the defect. C) A growth curve showing that ∆etfD M. smegmatis cannot grow on medium where the fatty acid oleic acid is the only carbon source. A plasmid with with M. tuberculosis EtfD rescues the defect.

EtfD links beta oxidation to OxPhos in mycobacteria - recent work suggests that targeting EtfD could shorten #tubeculosis treatment.
But how does EtfD work? And how can you assay its activity?
In his final PhD manuscript @courbongautier.bsky.social provides answers!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Beautiful work as always! Seeing these data made my day, week, month, etc :)

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis long-chain fatty acid resistome reveals the universal stress protein TB15.3 as essential for infection The human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) thrives in lipid-rich microenvironments. Long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) are some of the most abundant lipids encountered by Mtb during infection. Mtb...

Long-chain fatty acids can be carbon sources for pathogens but are also potent antimicrobials. In our latest work, we explored the question of how Mycobacterium tuberculosis avoids getting killed by a preferred carbon source.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Today is the 24th of March and it's World TB Day. We typically have many activities to educate and raise awareness about TB and how important it is for us all to commit to doing more to end TB! This year feels different though.

Register | Turmoil, TB Care, & Taking Action Join experts on World TB Day to discuss the history, innovations, and social justice impact of TB, the world’s deadliest infectious disease.

For World TB Day, PIH is hosting a webinar at 12pm EST to discuss the repercussions of recently slashed US foreign aid and the hope that remains. #worldTBday @partnersinhealth.bsky.social

Register here:
act.pih.org/worldtbday2025

In this current political environment it is more important than ever to highlight the #WorldTBday. Let’s keep bending the arc.

AI cracks superbug problem in two days that took scientists years - BBC News The lead researcher has told the BBC he was so astounded he assumed his computer had been hacked.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit on what will be our job as scientists in the AI era. I’m starting to think it will be all about finding new and meaningful questions.

Paul Farmer’s Moral Clarity Offers Hope, Amidst Chaos And Darkness On the 3rd anniversary of Dr Paul Farmer's death, several leaders reflect on his lessons for dealing with the ongoing crisis in global health and development

Today is Dr Paul Farmer's 3rd death anniversary

A good day to remember the lessons he taught us, even as we face the chaos caused by the US administration's attacks on science, and global health

www.forbes.com/sites/madhuk...

Excited to have contributed to this fascinating study led by Rafael Prados Rosales! Uncovers how M. tuberculosis regulates extracellular vesicle production via VirR, shedding light on cell envelope remodeling & potential therapeutic targets! #MicroSky
@elife.bsky.social
doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

Huge thanks to @marcopsilva.bsky.social, Thales Costa and all the students for the kind invite to speak at the @i3suporto.bsky.social Student symposium! 🌟
Top-notch organization, amazing vibes, and a truly warm welcome, an unforgettable experience! 🙏
#i3Ssymposium

First time at #EMBOtuberculosis presenting a part of my PhD work through a flash talk and poster presentation. Great to finally meet the TB community! Incredible experience in India, with amazing science, wonderful people, and delicious food! 🇮🇳

Missed you!

What a great conference #EMBOtuberculosis has been! Amazing science, amazing food and a very friendly community! And it was a pleasure to share the work we’re developing at i3S U. Porto.

Esperar pelos resultados da FCT parece a emoção da Eurovisão. A quem vai dar a Estónia os 12 pontos?