Luisa Maia
Assistant Researcher at Biological Chemistry @ FCT-UNL
Departamento de Química (Lab. 405), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (email)
Departamento de Química (Lab. 405), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (email)
I am an Assistant Researcher at the "Biological Chemistry @ FCT-UNL" group.
The group is led by José J.G. Moura and Isabel Moura and is hosted at LAQV, REQUIMTE,
Department of Chemistry, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (FCT/UNL).
My research activity has been focused on:
• Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) metabolism
– Mammalian formation/consumption of ROS/RNS,
nitric oxide radical, superoxide anion radical and peroxides (hydrogen and lipidics)
– Mechanisms of ROS/RNS-mediated diseases,
namely in the pathologies associated with vascular dysfunction and alcohol hepatotoxicity
• Human signalling pathways
– Novel pathways of formation/consumption of signalling molecules, namely nitric oxide
– In vitro studies with purified rat liver and human liver xanthine oxidase, xanthine
dehydrogenase and aldehyde oxidase
– In situ studies with human cell lines
• New catalytic activities of molybdoenzymes
– NADH oxidation, nitrite reduction, nitric oxide formation, carbon dioxide reduction (carbon dioxide scavenging)
– Mechanistic and kinetic studies
– Mammalian and bacterial enzymes
• Structure-activity relationships in metalloenzymes
– Mechanistic and kinetic studies
– Small proteins mimetics (molybdenum-substituted rubredoxin)
– Mammalian and bacterial enzymes (rat and human liver xanthine oxidase, xanthine
dehydrogenase and aldehyde oxidase, bovine xanthine oxidase, Desulfovibrio aldehyde
oxidoreductases and formate dehydrogenases, Marinobacter nitric oxide reductase)