Scientific Researcher
Optical and Multifunctional Materials - OM2
Centro de Química Estrutural - CQE
Energy and charge transfer processes in optically responsive molecular material, with special relevance to emissive nonlinear material and organic semiconductors. Carbon nanomaterials for imaging and sensing based on nonlinear fluorescence methods. The tools used to address these topics are steady-state and time resolved optical spectroscopy (including UV-Vis, NIR and mid-IR; from fs to ms), fluorescence microscopy and electronic structure calculations
In this work, we report dipolar and quadrupolar quinolizinium and benzimidazolium cations that show mitochondria targeting ability and localized light-induced mitochondria damage in live animal cells.
Some of the dyes induce a very efficient disruption of mitochondrial potential and subsequent cell death under two-photon excitation in the Near-infrared (NIR) opening up possible applications of azonia/azolium aromatic heterocycles as precision photosensitizers.
The dipolar compounds could be excited in the NIR due to a high two-photon brightness while exhibiting emission in the red part of the visible spectra (600–700 nm).
Novel hybrid based on GQDs covalently linked to corrole units bearing a glycol branch ave been prepared. Te internalization and distribution of the hybrids in live animal cells was evaluated in human breast adenbocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7 cells) using confocal and multiphoton microscopy. Notably, multiphoton microscopy allowed for image collection using nonlinear excitation in the near-infrared and emission in the red part of the visible spectra.
These results show that the resulting hybrids can be particularly useful as fluorescent labels for thick biological samples due to the reduced scattering and the longer penetration depth of NIR light
Porphyrins are promising materials for photodynamic therapy, but their low solubility and aggregation in biological environments are still obstacles to surpass. To overcome these limitations, porphyrins were conjugasted with graphene quantum dots (GQDs). The new hybrids were investigated as phototherapeutic agents in high incidence breast cancer (T-47D cell line) under white light, and a significant photocytotoxic effect was observed at 10 nM. Conjugation of aminoporphyrin to GQDs promoted an efficient uptake by the T-47D cells when compared with the non-immobilized porphyrin. These results point out the high potential of the new hybrids to be explored as theragnostic agents.
Assistant Professor at Department of Chemical Engineering of Instituto Superior Técnico and Principal Researcher at Centro de Química Estrutural (CQE) of Associação do Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento (IST-ID) .
Principal Researcher at CQE of Associação do Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento (IST-ID) under the scope of CEEC program.
Researcher at CQE of IST-ID under the scope of CEEC program.
Researcher at the IN-Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotecnology and Molecular Physical Chemistry Center (CQFM) of IST-ID under the scope of IF2013
Researcher at the IN-Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotecnology and CQFM of Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon under the scope of Ciência 2008
Post-doc fellow at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Coimbra
Marie-Curie fellow at the NanoScience Center of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland
PhD in Chemistry, University of Coimbra and University of Helsinki
Instituto Superior Técnico (IST-ID),
Centro de Química Estrutural (CQE),
Complexo Interdisciplinar, Gab.518
Av. Rovisco Pais
1049-001 Lisboa
Portugal
Email: ermelinda.macoas(AT)tecnico.ulisboa.pt
Phone: (+ 351) 218 419 252
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