Molecular and Cellular Neurobiotechnology
This programme is interested in understanding the processes of development, neuronal plasticity and neurodegeneration of the central nervous system. The main objective is to determine the biochemical function of genes overexpressed during development and neurodegeneration and their particular roles in the central nervous system. Thus, current experiments focus on: the role of angiogenic mechanical factors during cortical development, developing new approaches to enhance axon regeneration after injury, characterisation new biomarkers and detection methods for Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases and characterisation of the role of the PrPc in neurodegeneration.
Technologies & Methods
- Cell culture methods
- Organotypic slices
- Optogenetics and chemogenetics methods in vitro and in vivo
- Calcium imaging and neural network analysis
- Lab-on-chip technology
- Microfluidics blood-brain barrier models
- Estereotaxic and surgical methods
- Behavioural analysis of mice models of neurodegeneration
Research Team
Rosalina Gavin
Associate Professor
Miriam Segura
Technician
Inés Martínez-Soria
Early Stage Researcher
Karolina Zimkowska
Early Stage Researcher
Pol Picón-Pagès
Postdoctoral Researcher
Marc Riu Villanueva
Early Stage Researcher
Dayaneth Jácome
Early Stage Researcher
Juan José López Jiménez
Technician
Tiziana Cotrufo
Lecturer
Selected publications
Andrés-Benito, P., Flores, Á., Busquet-Areny, S., Carmona, M., Ausín, K., Cartas-Cejudo, P., Lachén-Montes, M., Del Rio, J. A., Fernández-Irigoyen, J., Santamaría, E., & Ferrer, I. (2023). Deregulated Transcription and Proteostasis in Adult mapt Knockout Mouse. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(7), 6559. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24076559
Andrés-Benito, P., Íñigo-Marco, I., Brullas, M., Carmona, M., Rio, J. A. del, Fernández-Irigoyen, J., Santamaría, E., Povedano, M., & Ferrer, I. (2023). Proteostatic modulation in brain aging without associated Alzheimer’s disease-and age-related neuropathological changes. Aging, 15(9), 3295–3330. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.204698
Hernández, F., Ferrer, I., Pérez, M., Zabala, J. C., del Rio, J. A., & Avila, J. (2023). Tau Aggregation. Neuroscience, 518, 64–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.04.024
Martinez-Torres, S., Mesquida-Veny, F., Del Rio, J. A., & Hervera, A. (2023). Injury-induced activation of the endocannabinoid system promotes axon regeneration. IScience, 26(6), 106814. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106814
Tonelli, M., Catto, M., Sabaté, R., Francesconi, V., Laurini, E., Pricl, S., Pisani, L., Miniero, D. V., Liuzzi, G. M., Gatta, E., Relini, A., Gavín, R., Del Rio, J. A., Sparatore, F., & Carotti, A. (2023). Thioxanthenone-based derivatives as multitarget therapeutic leads for Alzheimer’s disease. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 250, 115169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115169