Liana C. Silva
PhD (2006) in Chemistry (Molecular Biophysics), Instituto Superior Técnico
FCT Investigator 2014
Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Lisboa — Av. Prof. Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisboa, Portugal
Research Interests
Silva LC leads a research team focused on membrane lipids and their interplay in biomembranes, aiming at evaluating their role in membrane organization and function, and to take advantage of this knowledge as molecular tools to develop improved therapeutics. Her research bridges membrane biophysics, physiology and pathophysiology and takes advantage of advanced fluorescence microscopy methodologies to target 3 main topics:
- Lipid domains and physiological membrane dynamics
- Pathological disturbances of membrane dynamics
- Effects of therapeutic entities on membrane dynamics
Selected Publications
Carreira AC, Almeida RFM, Silva LC. Development of lysosome-mimicking vesicles to study the effect of abnormal accumulation of sphingosine on membrane properties. Sci Rep 2017; 7: 3949.
Varela ARP, Ventura AE, Carreira AC, Fedorov A, Futerman AH, Prieto M, Silva LC. Pathological levels of glucosylceramide change the biophysical properties of artificial and cell membranes. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2017; 19: 340-346.
Varela ARP, Couto AS, Fedorov A, Futerman AH, Prieto M, Silva LC. Glucosylceramide reorganizes cholesterol-containing domains in a fluid phospholipid membrane. Biophys J 2016; 110: 612-622.
Castro BM, Prieto M, Silva LC. Ceramide: a simple sphingolipid with unique biophysical properties. Prog Lipid Res 2014, 54: 53-67.
Pinto SN, Laviad EL, Stiban J, Kelly SL, Merrill AH, Prieto M, Futerman AH, Silva LC. Changes in membrane biophysical properties induced by sphingomyelinase depend on the sphingolipid N-acyl chain. J LipRes. 2014; 55: 53-61.