Scientists at IRB Barcelona and CSIC reveal that the combination of two molecular signals determines which cells that have already differentiated can regain their stem cell properties.
Their studies on fruit flies allow for advancements in the field of regenerative medicine and a better understanding of processes involved in cancer.
IRB Barcelona identifies GEMC1 as a master gene for the generation of multiciliated cells—cells with fine filaments that move fluids and substances—which are found exclusively in the brain, respiratory tract, and reproductive system.
Defects in multiciliated cells lead to ciliopathies—rare and complex diseases that are poorly understood and for which not all causative genes have been identified.
Researchers at IRB Barcelona and CSIC discover a mechanism through which the cells of an organism interact with their extracellular matrix
Aneuploid cells—that is to say those with an abnormal number of chromosomes—are found in most human tumours.
A study conducted at IRB Barcelona on the fly Drosophila reveals how surviving aneuploid cells favour tumour development.
The molecules synthesized by Ernest Giralt’s lab at IRB Barcelona bind a key protein in cancer that has received little attention as a therapeutic target.
The long-term goal is to provide a new chemotherapy treatment.
A study by IRB Barcelona and IDIBAPS reveals a therapeutic target to prevent the development of the many abnormal blood vessels that cause gastrointestinal bleeding—the main complication in cirrhosis.
Cirrhosis is the main risk factor for liver cancer. The same target may be the key to preventing and treating this condition.
Cirrhosis figures among the top twenty causes of death from disease worldwide.
A comment by Cayetano González in Nature News & Views
The simulation method developed in Modesto Orozco’s laboratory allows the study—with unprecedented accuracy—of structural changes in DNA and of the interaction of DNA with proteins and drugs.
All the simulations and posterior analyses are kept in the first online tool developed to date dedicated to atomic level simulations of nucleic acids.
The platform is free of charge and available to the entire scientific community through the Spanish Institute of Bioinformatics and the European network ELIXIR-Excellerate.
In addition to other uses, the new method provides greater insight into how DNA is recognised by proteins that modify its function or by the drugs that bind to it to exert their therapeutic action, thereby furthering our understanding of the biological function of DNA.
Natàlia Carulla’s research group provides information that questions the widely accepted premise regarding the number of molecules and the shape of the first aggregates formed by amyloid beta protein
Amyloid beta protein aggregation, the process by which molecules of this protein adhere to each other is strongly associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease
Carulla’s work ultimately seeks to identify molecules that interfere with the initial stages of aggregation as a strategy to combat the disease.
A study published today in the Journal of National Cancer Institute (JNCI) by ICREA researcher Roger Gomis may be key to the early detection of patients at risk of developing metastasis to the bone
This new knowledge may accelerate the development of the first preventive treatment of bone metastasis
Inbiomotion, an IRB Barcelona spin off company and financed with venture investors Ysios Capital, has already begun clinical trials
