>Tânia Moniz

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PhD in Sustainable Chemistry, 2012/2016, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, New University of Lisbon and Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto.

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Thesis: Design of novel 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinone iron chelators to fight mycobacterium infection

 

 

Area of scientific activity

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The area of scientific activity is Pharmacology and Medicinal chemistry, interfacing with the Bioinorganic Chemistry and Nanotechnology.

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Domain of specialization

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The domains of specialization are Synthesis, Drug-membrane interactions, Biophysical Chemistry, Microbiology, Plants’ nutrition, Nanotechnology and Drug Delivery Systems.

In the BSc Degree, expertise on the synthesis of 3-hydroxy-4-pyrone and 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinone ligands and their respective Zn(II) and VO(II) complexes was acquired.

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She has developed theoretical and experimental knowhow on many characterization techniques such as UV-Vis absorption, fluorescence emission, HPLC, NMR and EPR Spectroscopy and Elemental Analysis. She has also gained advanced knowledge on in vivo studies like the evaluation of the insulin-mimetic activity of Zn(II) and VO(II) complexes, which was performed in STZ-induced diabetic rats. During this work, sustainable methodologies have been considered to perform more clean and efficient synthetic routes, namely with the employment of microwave heating in spite of conventional heating methods.

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In the MSc course, she has developed a solid expertise on the synthesis of the same ligands functionalized with different fluorophores. She also acquired strong expertise on in vitro studies, mainly regarding the evaluation of the antibacterial activity of the chelators in the inhibition of Mycobacterium avium growth.

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During the PhD project she developed expertise on the preparation of membrane models of liposomes and on studies concerning the investigation of drug-membrane interactions by different spectroscopic methods, mainly by Fluorescence Confocal Microscopy. She also performed toxicological safety studies for diverse compounds in cell lines of hepatocytes.

In the last years, she has been working on the development of molecules to be incorporated in new fertilizers in order to treat plants suffering from nutritional problems. More recently, she started to work on the design and production of nanoformulations and in the development of an alternative in vitro human skin mimetic models for testing the transdermal delivery of bioactive compounds and to apply it as a tool in the optimization of drug formulations. Recently she was also dedicated to the design of nanoparticles for colorimetric viral detection.

 

 

Present research interest

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The present research interests are centred in Bioinorganic Chemistry, particularly in the design of molecules that may be used as novel therapeutic strategies. She is focused on the study of different molecules and nanoformulations aiming to regulate metal ion levels in living organisms, and the application of spectroscopic techniques to investigate the biological activity of the drugs. Presently, she is employing nanotechnology concepts to develop smart materials to be used as nanosensors, as well as advanced drug delivery systems for bioactive agents. The use of sustainable methodologies is one of her main interests, being usually implemented in the production of the molecules and formulations.

 

     >selected publications

 

 

Santos, C. S., Rodrigues, E., Ferreira, S., Moniz, T., Leite, A., Carvalho, S. M. P., Vasconcelos, M. W. and Rangel, M., Foliar application of 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinone Fe-chelate [Fe(mpp)3] induces responses at the root level amending iron deficiency chlorosis in soybean, Physiologia Plantarum 2021, 2021, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.13367

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Moniz, T., Lima, S.A.C., Reis, S., Application of the Human stratum corneum lipid-based mimetic model in assessment of drug-loaded nanoparticles for skin administration, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2020, 591, 119960. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2020.119960

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Moniz, T., Basset, C., Almeida, M. I. G., Kolev, S. D.; Rangel, M., Mesquita, R. B. R.*, Use of an ether-derived 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinone chelator as new chromogenic reagent in the development of a microfluidic paper-based analytical device for Fe(III) determination in natural waters, Talanta, 2020, 214, 120887. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2020.120887

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Rangel, M.*, Moniz, T., Silva, A.M.N. and Leite, A., Tuning the anti(myco)bacterial Activity of 3-Hydroxy-4-pyridinone Chelators through fluorophores, Pharmaceuticals, 2018, 11, 110-133. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph11040110

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Moniz, T., Amorim, M.J., Ferreira, R., Nunes, A., Silva, A.M.G., Queirós, C., Leite, A., Gameiro, P., Sarmento, B., Remião, F., Yoshikawa, Y., Sakurai, H. and Rangel, M., Investigation of the insulin-enhancing properties of Zinc(II) 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinone complexes: identification of a new compound with a hypoglycemic effect in type I-like diabetic animals, Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 2011, 105, 1675–1682. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2011.09.005