CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BASIS OF SENSORY DISORDERS

Principal Investigators

Alejandro Barrallo-Gimeno

Associate Professor

Hair cell damage mechanisms in the zebrafish lateral line

Jordi Llorens

Full professor

Mechanisms and physiological impact of hair cell loss in the mammalian vestibular system

Ana Mendez

Associate Professor

Mechanisms underlying the light response in photoreceptor cells of the retina, light adaptation and inherited blindness.

Research team

 

Alberto Maroto

Assistant Professor

 

Mireia Borrajo

Early Stage Researcher

 

Aida Palau

Early Stage Researcher

 

Xavier Vallvé

Lecturer

Research Interest

 

This programme focuses on investigating genetic and acquired causes of sensory disorders to identify potential targets for treatment as well as for preservation of sensory functions during ageing. Animal models and first-line methodologies, such as super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, RNA-seq and proteomics, are used to identify the cellular and molecular mechanisms leading to sensory loss.

Technologies & Methods

 

  • Generation of vestibular deficient rodents
  • Assessment of vestibular dysfunction in rodents
  • Morphological analysis of vestibular sensory epithelia
  • Immunostaining
  • Light and advanced confocal microscopy
  • Scanning electron microscopy
  • Transmission electron microscopy
  • Life imaging of zebrafish organs
  • Gene expression analyses by qRT-PCR and RNAseq
  • Rodent models of retinal function by transient transgenesis in rods by in vivo DNA electroporation
  •  Protein biochemistry
  • Protein-protein interactions
  • Retinal morphological studies by light and electron microscopy
  • Retinal proteomics and phosphoproteomics
  • Isoelectrofocusing gels
  • Visual function analysis by electroretinography (ERG)

Active Projects

 

    • Adaptación de la retina a la luz e identificación de dianas terapéuticas para las cegueras hereditarias: IMPDH1 y metabolismo energético. Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. PID2020-115431RB-I00. Ana Mendez

 

    • A patient centered research: awareness of patients needs, clinical phenotyping and molecular parthenogenesis in Neurofibromatosis type 2. Fundació La Marató de TV3. 126/C/2020. Jordi Llorens

 

    • Bases cel·lulars i Moleculars dels Trastorns Sensorials. Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca. 2017SGR621. Jordi Llorens

 

    • Respuesta molecular del sistema vestibular a la ototoxicidad crónica; identificación de mecanismo y desarrollo de modelos de análisis in vivo. Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. RTI2018-096452-B-I00. Jordi Llorens i Alejandro Barrallo-Gimeno

 

    • Vestibular Loss and Spatial Orientation. Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. PCI2020-120681-2. Jordi Llorens

Selected Publications

 

    • Rompaey, V. Van, Liesenborghs, A., Goyvaerts, K., De Herdt, D., Verdoodt, D., Lammers, M., Heyning, P. Van de, Vanderveken, O., Szewczyk, K., Thys, S., Pintelon, I., Timmermans, J.P., Llorens, J., Deyn, P. De, Dam, D Van. (2021). Decreased Doublecortin (DCX) immunoreactivity in hippocampus after profound sensorineural hearing loss and vestibular dysfunction in adult mice. B-Ent, 17(4), 223–223. https://doi.org/10.5152/b-ent.2021.21452

 

    • Greguske, E. A., Llorens, J., & Pyott, S. J. (2021). Assessment of cochlear toxicity in response to chronic 3,3′-iminodipropionitrile in mice reveals early and reversible functional loss that precedes overt histopathology. Archives of Toxicology, 95(3), 1003–1021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-020-02962-5

 

    • Maroto, A. F., Barrallo-Gimeno, A., & Llorens, J. (2021). Relationship between vestibular hair cell loss and deficits in two anti-gravity reflexes in the rat. Hearing Research, 410, 108336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2021.108336