Programme

8:00 am - 9:15 am: Registration

9:15 am - 9:30 am: Welcome to the 2nd MIA-Portugal Ageing Spring School, by Alessio Vagnoni and Hugo Fernandes (MIA-Portugal, University of Coimbra, Coimbra)

09.30- 9:45 am: Opening remarks by João Ramalho-Santos – Vice-Rector for Science of the University of Coimbra, Portugal

Session: Mechanistic insights into the biology of ageing 1

Ageing epigenome, transcriptome and proteome

Chair: Joana Neves - Instituto Medicina Molecular, Portugal

9:45 am - 10:15 am: Epigenetic and transcriptomic predictors of lifespan in the killifish; Alessandro Cellerino, Leibniz Institute on Aging, Germany.

10:15am-10:30am: Short talk - Transcriptional Noise: The Next Hallmark of Ageing?; Josh Bartz, University of Minnesota, USA.

10:30am -10:45am: Short talk - Characterization of tissue-specific proteomic profiles identifies shifts in abundance and solubility across the mammalian lifespan; Stephany Marques Franscisco; iBiMED - Institute for Biomedicine, University of Aveiro, Portugal.

10:45 am - 11:15 am: Break

Session: System Ageing 1

Gut/gut microbiome ageing

Chair: Michela Borghesan - European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, Netherlands

11:15 am - 11:45 am: The gut microbiome as a modulator for healthy ageing; Jingyuan Fu, UMCG, The Netherlands.

11:45 am - 12:00 pm: Short talk - Molecular mechanisms of Bacillus subtilis-induced protection against alpha-synuclein aggregation and toxicity in Caenorhabditis elegans; Eugenia Goya, ERIBA, UMCG, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

12:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Lunch Break

Ageing of the immune and neuro-immune systems

Chair: Thomas von Zglinicki - Newcastle University, UK

2:00 pm - 2:30 pm: Immune modulation in aging and tissue repair; Joana Neves, Instituto Medicina Molecular, Portugal.

2:30 pm - 2:45 pm: Short Talk - Mitochondrial components in Parkinson's Disease extracellular vesicles activate pro-inflammatory response in microglia; Carla Lopes; MIA-Portugal, University of Coimbra, Portugal.

2.45 pm- 3.00pm: Short talk - Dissecting the role of IgLON5 on synapse formation as an approach to mitigate Tau pathology; Beatriz Ribeiro, CNC, CIBB, IIIUC, University of Coimbra, Portugal.

3.00pm-3.15pm: Short talk - Glioblastoma-Associated Microglia: Unveiling a Senescence-Specific Subpopulation; Letícya Melo, University Medical Center of Groningen, The Netherlands.

3:15 pm - 3:45 pm: Break

Cardiovascular Ageing

Chair: João Ramalho-Santos - University of Coimbra, Portugal.

3:45 pm - 4:15 pm: Senotherapies as a potential treatment of cardiovascular diseases; Lino Ferreira, CNC, University of Coimbra, Portugal.

4:15 pm - 4:30 pm: Short Talk - Unveiling the link: Lysosomal dysfunction and senescence driven by oxidized lipids in the pathogenesis of Atherosclerosis; Elizeth Lopes, NOVA Medical School, Portugal.

4:30 pm - 4:45 pm: Short talk - Metabolic and age-associated epigenetic barriers during direct reprogramming of mouse fibroblasts into induced cardiomyocytes; Sandrina Nóbrega-Pereira; Institute of Biomedicine – iBiMED and Department of Medical Sciences, University of Aveiro, Portugal.

5:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Poster session & Drinks

7:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Free Time

8:00 pm - 10:00 pm: Dinner at Vila Galé Hotel

Session: Systems Ageing 2

Reproductive Ageing, Sarcopenia and Frailty

Chair: Hugo Fernandes - MIA-Portugal, University of Coimbra, Portugal

9.00 am - 9.30 am: Genetic insights into human ovarian ageing; Jenny Gruhn, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

9.30 am - 10.00 am: Identification of a novel gene that controls healthy ageing and cellular senescence; Marco Sandri, Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine, Italy

10.00 pm - 10.15 am: Short Talk - Evaluation of long-term consequences of senolytic and dietary supplements on aging mice; Charlotte Brookes, Newcastle University, UK.

10.15 am - 10.45 am: Break

Ageing of the nervous system and Circadian biology

Chair: Liesbeth Veenhoff – European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, Netherlands

10.45 am - 11.15 am: Biological mechanisms of age-related protein aggregation and toxicity; Ellen Nollen, ERIBA, The Netherlands.

11.15 am - 11.45 am: Circadian rhythms and ageing; James Hodge, University of Bristol, UK.

11.45 pm - 12.00 pm: Short talk - Mitochondrial dynamics and nucleoid distribution: implications for neuronal aging; Emily Annuario, King's College London, UK.

12.00pm - 12.15pm: Short Talk - Role of GluN2B-containing NMDARs on EphA4 synaptic localization and mediated activity; João Martins, CIBB, Portugal.

12:15 pm - 2:00 pm: Lunch break

Session: Mechanistic insights into the biology of ageing 2

Biophysical and bioenergetic approaches to ageing

Chair: Ellen Nollen – European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, Netherlands

2:00 pm - 2:30 pm: The nuclear pore complex in ageing – a landmark structure at the crossroads of genome stability and protein homeostasis ; Liesbeth Veenhoff, ERIBA, The Netherlands

2:30 pm - 3.00 pm: Intracellular trafficking and the biophysical properties of the neuroplasm during ageing; Alessio Vagnoni, King's College London, UK and MIA-Portugal, University of Portugal, Coimbra.

3.00 pm - 3:15 pm: Short talk - Investigating kynurenine-pathway mediated neuroprotection in ageing; Yifan van Hasselt, UMCG, The Netherlands.

3:15 pm - 3:45 pm: Break

Protein homeostasis, redox stress, and the cell cycle

Chair: Claúdia Cavadas, University of Coimbra, Portugal

3:45 pm - 4:15 pm: Protein synthesis, a matter of life and death; Christopher Proud, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Australia.

4:15 pm - 4:45 pm: Responding to stress; Peroxiredoxins ‘gerontogenes’ and redox signal transducers’ ; Elizabeth Veal, Newcastle University, UK.

4:45 pm - 5.00 pm: Short talk - The fundamental principles of cell cycle control: what goes wrong with aging?; Ana Rita Araújo, i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Portugal.

5:00 pm - 7.00 pm: Poster session & Drinks

7.20 pm - 8.00 pm: 2^nd Spring School Walk. Start at the Hotel, walk alongside the Mondego river to the Restaurant Tertulia d´Eventos

8:00 pm - 11:00 pm: Networking Dinner at Tertulia d´Eventos

11:00 pm - 01.00 am: Party with DJ at Tertulia d´Eventos

Session: Mechanistic Insights into the Biology of Ageing 3

Energy Metabolism and stress response

Chair: João Malva- Ageing@Coimbra Consortium, Coimbra, Portugal

9:00 am - 09.30 am: Mitochondrial homeostasis and energy metabolism during ageing and neurodegeneration; Nektarios Tavernarakis, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Greece.

09:30 am - 10.00 am: Stress response, cell senescence and sex; Satomi Miwa, Newcastle University, UK.

10:00 am - 10.30 am: Break

Cellular senescence and DNA damage

Chair: Folkert Kuipers, ERIBA, The Netherlands

10.30 am - 11:00 am: Endosymbiosis loss igniting inflammation during cellular senescence; João Passos, Mayo Clinic, USA.

11:00 am - 11:30 am: Mathematical Modeling of (Mitochondria in) the Aging Process; Axel Kowald, Newcastle University.

11:30 am - 11:45 am: Short talk - Examining the instability of telomeric sequences; Ziqing Yin, ERIBA, UMCG, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

11.45 am - 12.00pm: Short Talk - Defective endocytosis triggers nuclear envelope abnormalities, DNA damage and cell senescence; Célia Aveleira, MIA-Portugal, University of Coimbra, Portugal.

12:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Lunch break

Session: System ageing 3

Ageing of adipose tissue and skin ageing

Chair: Satomi Miwa, Newcastle University, UK

2:00 pm - 2:15 pm: Short Talk - GDF3 induces inflammation through the activation of SMAD2/3 signaling in adipose tissue macrophages from aged mice; In Hwa Jang, University of Minnesota, USA.

2:15pm - 2:30pm: Short Talk - Tackling lipodystrophy to mitigate premature aging in Hutchinson–Gilford Progeria Syndrome; Daniela G. Costa, CNC-UC, CIBB, EIT Health Aging PhD School, University of Coimbra, Portugal.

2.30pm-2.45pm: Short Talk - Decoding Senescent Lipid Accumulation: Implications for Healthy Aging; Diana Jurk, Mayo Clinic, USA.

2.45pm- 3.00pm: Short Talk - Characterization of Cellular Senescence in Turquoise Killifish; Mengling Huang, ERIBA, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.

3:00 pm - 3:30 pm: Break

Ageing, new methodologies and interventions

Chair: Lino Ferreira - Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Portugal

3.30pm - 3.45pm: Short Talk- Short Talk Functional characterization of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and deafness-associated SLC44A2/Ctl2 – choline transporter-like protein as a potential new drug target; Amy Preston, University of Bristol, UK.

3.45pm - 4.00pm: Short Talk - Growth and early characterisation of neural organoids derived from patients with a neurodevelopmental and progeroid disease; Sanja Nikolic, The Francis Crick Institute, UK.

4.00pm-4.15pm: Short Talk - Brain endothelial senescence mediates blood-brain barrier dysfunction upon ageing: development of an in vitro BBB model; João Novo, CNC, University of Coimbra, Portugal.

Session: Wrap-up Plenary Session

Chair: Alessio Vagnoni, MIA-Portugal, University of Coimbra, Portugal and King's College London, UK.

4:30 pm - 5:30 pm: The Fly Guy: from protein folding to company founding; Damian Crowther, Dementia Discovery Fund/CIC/SV Health Investors, UK.

5:30 pm - 5.45 pm: Announcement of best Short talk and Poster winners & Closing remarks; Manuel Santos MIA-Portugal, University of Coimbra, Portugal.