Antonio Zorzano

    <p>Antonio Zorzano, head of the Complex Metabolic Diseases and Mitochondria Lab</p>
    Research Group: 
    Complex Metabolic Diseases and Mitochondria
    Unit: 
    AGING & METABOLISM
    Position: 
    Group Leader
    Office: 
    EMPBA11A14
    Telephone: 
    +34 93 40 37197
    Email: 
    antonio.zorzano@irbbarcelona.org

    Professor (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Dept. - UB), CIBERDEM ISCIII

     

    View research group

    Antonio Zorzano is  Full Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Barcelona, Coordinator of the Molecular Medicine Programme at the IRB Barcelona, and Programme Head at CIBERDEM. Professor Zorzano received his PhD in Biology at the University of Barcelona, and did postdoctoral studies with Emilio Herrera (Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid), Neil Ruderman (Boston University Medical Center), and Paul Pilch (Boston University Medical School). He was Visiting Professor  at Boston University Medical School (1992).

    Boehringer Award from the Spanish Biochemical Society (1991). Young Investigator Lilly Award of the Spanish Society of Diabetes (1992). Research Award, Autonomous Government of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya, 2001). UB Award to Special Dedication to Research (2008-10). Alberto Sols Senior Investigator Award for Basic Sciences of the Spanish Society of Diabetes (2011). ICREA Academia Award (2013).

    He has supervised  35 Ph.D. theses, and has coordinated  international consortia funded by different European agencies. He is co-inventor of 21 patents, and has published over 270 scientific articles (more than 20,400 citations), with key discoveries published in leading journals, and an h-index of 71 (Google Scholar). He has been founder of  biotechnological companies in Spain and in UK.

    Professor Zorzano’s research focuses on the regulation of metabolism and its interplay with insulin resistance, obesity and type 2 diabetes. His current interest links metabolism with mitochondrial dynamics, mitochondrial function, autophagy, and mitochondrial stress.  A global goal of his group is to identify and validate molecular targets that permit the prevention or treatment of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes or obesity by using cell-based systems, genetically modified mice, and translational approaches.

     

    Selected group publications

    Early-onset and classical forms of type 2 diabetes show impaired expression of genes involved in muscle branched-chain amino acids metabolism
    Hernández-Alvarez MI, Díaz-Ramos A, Berdasco M, Cobb J, Planet E, Cooper D, Pazderska A, Wanic K, O'Hanlon D, Gomez A, de la Ballina LR, Esteller M, Palacin M, O'Gorman DJ, Nolan JJ and Zorzano A.
    Sci Rep, 7 (1), 13850 (2017)
    Mitochondrial Dynamics Mediated by Mitofusin 1 Is Required for POMC Neuron Glucose-Sensing and Insulin Release Control
    Ramírez S, Gómez-Valadés AG, Schneeberger M, Varela L, Haddad-Tóvolli R, Altirriba J, Noguera E, Drougard A, Flores-Martínez Á, Imbernón M, Chivite I, Pozo M, Vidal-Itriago A, Garcia A, Cervantes S, Gasa R, Nogueiras R, Gama-Pérez P, Garcia-Roves PM, Cano DA, Knauf C, Servitja JM, Horvath TL, Gomis R, Zorzano A* and Claret M.*
    Cell Metab, 25 (6), 1390-1399. (2017)
    A new quinoxaline-containing peptide induces apoptosis in cancer cells by autophagy modulation
    Zamudio-Vázquez R, Ivanova S, Moreno M, Hernandez-Alvarez MI, Giralt E, Bidon-Chanal A, Zorzano A*, Albericio F* and Tulla-Puche J*
    Chem Sci, 6 (8), 4537-4549 (2015)
    Autophagy-regulating TP53INP2 mediates muscle wasting and is repressed in diabetes
    Sala D, Ivanova S, Plana N, Ribas V, Duran J, Bach D, Turkseven S, Laville M, Vidal H, Karczewska-Kupczewska M, Kowalska I, Straczkowski M, Testar X, Palacín M, Sandri M, Serrano AL and Zorzano A.
    J Clin Invest, 124 (5), 1914-27 (2014)
    Mfn2 modulates the UPR and mitochondrial function via repression of PERK
    Muñoz JP, Ivanova S, Sánchez-Wandelmer J, Martínez-Cristóbal P, Noguera E, Sancho A, Díaz-Ramos A, Hernández-Alvarez MI, Sebastián D, Mauvezin C, Palacín M and Zorzano A.
    Embo J, 32 (17), 2348-61 (2013)
    Mitofusin 2 in POMC Neurons Connects ER Stress with Leptin Resistance and Energy Imbalance
    Schneeberger M, Dietrich MO, Sebastián D, Imbernón M, Castaño C, Garcia A, Esteban Y, Gonzalez-Franquesa A, Rodríguez IC, Bortolozzi A, Garcia-Roves PM, Gomis R, Nogueiras R, Horvath TL, Zorzano A and Claret M.
    Cell, 155 (1), 172-87 (2013)
    Mitofusin 2 (Mfn2) links mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum function with insulin signaling and is essential for normal glucose homeostasis
    Sebastián D, Hernández-Alvarez MI, Segalés J, Sorianello E, Muñoz JP, Sala D, Waget A, Liesa M, Paz JC, Gopalacharyulu P, Orešič M, Pich S, Burcelin R, Palacín M and Zorzano A.
    P Natl Acad Sci Usa, 109 (14), 5523-8 (2012)
    dDOR is an EcR coactivator that forms a feed-forward loop connecting insulin and ecdysone signaling
    Francis VA, Zorzano A* and Teleman AA*
    Curr Biol, 20 (20), 1799-808 (2010)
    The nuclear cofactor DOR regulates autophagy in mammalian and Drosophila cells
    Mauvezin C, Orpinell M, Francis VA, Mansilla F, Duran J, Ribas V, Palacín M, Boya P, Teleman AA and Zorzano A.
    Embo Rep, 11 (1), 37-44 (2010)
    Full publication list