Noticias Científicas
An international team led by computational biologist Fran Supek at IRB Barcelona develop a machine learning method to predict unknown gene functions of microbes.
The system examines and compares ‘big data’ available on the metagenomes of human and environmental microbiomes.
A new study by researchers at IRB Barcelona demonstrates that myeloid cells, which belong to the leucocyte family and form part of the innate immune system, use p38 protein signalling to support inflammation-associated colon cancer.
Published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, the study by Angel R. Nebreda suggests that inhibition of the p38 pathway in myeloid cells may be a useful therapeutic approach, especially in tumours associated with chronic inflammation.
Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in collaboration with IRB Barcelona, developed a new method to systematically identify genes contributing to heritable cancer risk.
The study, published in Nature Communications, is a success story for data sharing and openness in science.
A new study in collaboration with the Genomic Instability and Cancer Laboratory at IRB Barcelona and led by the University of Copenhagen, reveals that TLK2 displays lower levels of activity in intellectual disability and that it is possible to inhibit it in breast cancer, where it is overactive.
The study suggests that the enzyme may be a target for potential therapies.
Researchers at IRB Barcelona reveal that the protein NEK7 is relevant for the correct formation of neurons in the hippocampus, a region of the brain associated with memory.
Animals without NEK7 may also have defects in other other brain regions.
A study on breast cancer conducted at IRB Barcelona identifies the key role of p38 in safeguarding tumour cells against the excessive accumulation of DNA damage, which would otherwise cause cell death.
p38 blockage has been shown to increase the death of tumour cells, thus causing tumours to shrink.
The combination of p38 inhibitors with chemotherapeutic drugs (taxanes) strengthens, accelerates or prolongs the antitumour effect in patient-derived tumours grown in mice.
For the scientific community, the protein POP (prolyl oligopeptidase) is an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of cognitive and neurodegenerative disorders.
Scientists at IRB Barcelona have developed the first POP inhibitors that are irreversible, selective and brain-permeable.
The study, published in The Journal of Cell Biology, focuses on the development of the sperm tail, the structure that enables sperm cells to swim and is therefore critical for male fertility.
Researchers at IRB Barcelona discover the mechanism that leads to a less harmful form of obesity that is associated with the number rather than volume of fat cells.
There are several types of obesity and some are more harmful than others.
The study has been published in the journal Nature Cell Biology.
A study headed by IRB Barcelona provides the first direct evidence of beta-amyloid dimers (two proteins joined together) in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and points to the potential of these molecules as biomarkers.
Beta-amyloid dimers may be the smallest pathological species that trigger Alzheimer’s disease.
