Study of the pathophysiological role of LRP1 in the cardiovascular system. Molecular mechanisms involved in the modulation of LRP1 expression and function by risk factors in the cardiovascular system

The major research activity of this group addresses the study of the vascular biology as well as the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in coronary artery disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and cardiac remodeling. The group analyzes the role of the NR4A subfamily of nuclear receptors, in particular NOR-1 (NR4A3), in those pathologies by using multidisciplinary and highly translational approaches.

Our aim is to introduce a line of research into Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia that originated from a basic point of view but that was relevant to the development of clinical-diagnostic applications. Therefore, the translational benefits of our research lie in the fact that we not only aim to clarify the pathological mechanisms behind these diseases, but also to define potential diagnostic tools and/or processes with therapeutic relevance.

Molecular mechanisms of exocytosis in a neuroendocrine model: the involvement of cytoskeleton and SNARE complex proteins The elucidation of the mechanism causing the release of neurotransmitters and hormones by membrane exocytosis is essential to understand how the nervous and endocrine systems perform their function. Our group has been contributing to the knowledge of cytoskeletal –mediated transport as well as the SNARE induced fusion in chromaffin cells, a well reputed model of exocytosis, through the publication of more than 30 articles in the last 10 years.

Our research focuses on molecular mechanisms that regulate neuronal gene expression and underlie learning and memory, and other long-lasting modifications of the animal’s behavior. We also aim to determine how the malfunction of epigenetic mechanisms leads to different pathological situations in the nervous system.

Our research group is composed by the principal investigator, one associated research professor, two research assistant professors and two pre-doctoral students. The group belongs to the Spanish Network on Addictive Disorders since 2008. Over the past years, the PI and his team have coordinated 6 basic-clinical research projects, several competitive national projects (highlighting the National Plan for Drug Abuse) and the Scientific Research State Plan. Our work has been published in the best scientific journals (first decile). The PI has more than 4008 citations reaching an H index of 36.

Our group studies the properties of the receptors that form the excitatory synapses and that make possible the transmission of information in the brain. To this end we use electrophysiological tools, cellular and molecular biology as well as imaging techniques and transgenic animal models. In particular, we study the kainate type of glutamate receptors and how at presynaptic level they regulate neurotransmitter release and postsynaptically mediate the transmission of information.

to study the double role of sensory neurons innervating the ocular surface, responsible for the genesis of sensations evoked by stimulation of ocular tissues as well as for the trophic maintenance of ocular structures

We, like many other mammals, are essentially visual animals. Thus the visual system of our brains must achieve a daunting task: it creates, in real time, an internal representation of the external world that it is used by other parts of the brain to guide our behavior. But, how do we actually see? how does this neural system accomplish the job? A parsimonious explanation proposes that visual information is analyzed in a series of sequential steps starting in the retina and continuing along the multiple visual cortical areas.

Our laboratory is interested in brain mechanisms supporting global integration of information and its storage into enduring memories. Research over the last years suggests that these processes depend on the interaction of molecular, cellular and systems-level mechanisms. In our lab we approach this complexity with a truly multidisciplinary strategy that simultaneously combines functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electrophysiology, molecular biology and behavioral studies. The basic knowledge gathered in the lab is being translated to the clinics.