from the Academy of Sciences of Latin America
Dr. Beatriz Caputto, Senior Researcher from CONICET and Full Professor at the Department of Biological Chemistry Ranwel Caputto-CIQUIBIC, has been distinguished along with 13 Argentinean researchers by the Academy of Sciences of Latin America (ACAL) for her outstanding contribution to the knowledge in life science.
The ACAL, founded in 1982 to honor the memory of Simon Bolivar, has as its mission to promote and contribute to the development of the mathematical, physical, chemical, life and earth sciences and their applications for the benefit of development and human, cultural and social integration of Latin America and the Caribbean. Currently, the Academy counts with 222 members from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. It also has corresponding members from Germany, the United States and France.
Dr. Caputto’s work has been focused on the study of the biochemistry and cellular biology of lipids. A key finding was to find that the c-Fos protein, a recognized AP-1 transcription factor, activates key enzymes of lipid synthesis, particularly phospholipids. This protein and another of the same family, Fra-1, also described in her laboratory, are the only known proteins capable of regulating lipid synthesis. In addition, Dr. Caputto established that c-Fos is over-expressed in malignant tumors of the human brain and breast where c-Fos and / or Fra-1 co-localize with the phospholipid synthesis machinery. At present, Dr. Caputto and her group are designing new therapies to treat cancer aimed at blocking this function of c-Fos and thus slow / block tumor progression.