Lectura de Tesis Doctoral / Tesiaren irakurketa:“Characterization of blood markers and their implication in human aging”

Doktoregaia / Doctorando:
Ainhoa Alberro Garitano. Esklerosi Anizkoitzaren Taldea, Biodonostia OII. / Grupo Esclerosis Múltiple, IIS Biodonostia.
Tesi Zuzendariak / Directores de Tesis: 
Dr. David Otaegui Bichot.
Dr. Matías Sáenz Cuesta.

Data / Fecha: 2020ko urtarrilak 13/ 13 de enero de 2020.
Ordua / Hora: 11:30.
Lekua / Lugar:
Donostia Unibertsitate Ospitaleko Ekitaldi Aretoa. / Salón de Actos, Hospital Universitario Donostia.

Laburpena / Resumen:
Aging is a universal, complex and heterogeneous process. In the last decades, an overall improvement in the quality of life and consequent increase in life expectancy has been achieved. In contrast, the disability-free life expectancy is not rising. Therefore, research on the biology of aging is essential to prolong healthy aging. In this work, we performed different approaches, focusing on the biomarkers of frailty, extracellular vesicles, inflammaging and immunosenescence. Regarding the biomarkers of frailty syndrome, we propose the elevated expression of EGR1 as a potential candidate. In the case of EVs from plasma, we found that they enhance cell differentiation in osteogenesis and myogenesis, and that they boost T cell activation under immunogenic stimulation, while these effects of EVs are reduced with aging. We also reported the presence of inflammaging and immunosenescence with increasing age, but nonagenarians and centenarians showed reduced senescence in CD4 T cells. Finally, our experiments in multiple sclerosis patients indicate that despite being in remission and under immunomodulatory treatment they have chronic inflammation, and further investigations are needed to evaluate the possible incidence of premature aging in this and other autoimmune diseases.

Seminario / Mintegia: “Investigating the role of the tumor microenvironment in Invasive Lobular Carcinoma”

Hizlaria / Ponente: Laura Gómez-Cuadrado – PhD student at Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre, UK. Cancer Therapeutics lab. Supervisor: Professor Val Brunton

Data / Fecha: 2020ko urtarrilak 10 / 10 de enero de 2020.
Ordua / Hora:  13:30-14:30.
Lekua / Lugar: Biodonostia OIIko OIIko Formakuntza Aretoan, 3.Solairua. / IIS Biodonostia, Sala de Formación, Planta 3.

Laburpena / Resumen:
Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC) is the second most common histological subtype of breast cancer, after Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC), which account for 10-15% and 80% of diagnosed breast cancers, respectively. ILC has an unusual pattern of metastatic dissemination, spreading to distinct sites such as the gastro-intestinal tract, peritoneum and ovary. Despite prognosis and survival rates being originally favourable, patients with lobular histology appear to have a worse survival in multivariate analysis after a prolonged follow-up.

There is strong evidence supporting the importance of the Tumour Microenvironment (TME) in influencing tumour progression, metastatic spread and therapeutic response. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms by which the TME influences the behaviour of ILC. We hypothesise that the interaction of ILC with the TME is critical for driving a disease distinct from IDC. As previous studies have been performed in whole ILC tissue samples, it would be more meaningful to isolate the tumour from the surrounding stroma. In order to better understand how the TME may drive the unique features of ILC, we have performed gene expression microarray analysis of primary cultured Cancer Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) and Laser Capture Microdissected (LCM)- Tumour Epithelium (TE) and Tumour Stroma (TS) from 23 primary ILC patients. Two-class-paired Rank Products analysis identified 1,082 genes increased in the TS of ILC compared to TE. These data have been compared to existing LCM-separated datasets of normal and IDC, and have revealed a set of genes that are increased specifically in the tumour microenvironment of ILC. Mechanistic studies of these candidate genes will help us to elucidate how changes in the TME affect ILC progression, metastasis, and response to therapy.

Seminar: “Identifying new mechanisms of axonal degeneration and neuromuscular junction dynamics in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: one step closer to therapy”

Hizlaria / Ponente: Jone López-Erauskin, PhD– Investigadora postdoctoral en el Laboratorio del Profesor Don W. Cleveland en el Instituto Ludwig, Universidad de California San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, California.

Data / Fecha: 2019ko abenduak 19 / 19 de diciembre de 2019.
Ordua / Hora:  13:00.
Lekua / Lugar: Biodonostia OIIko Ekitaldi Aretoan, 0.Solairua. / IIS Biodonostia, Salón de Actos, Planta 0.

Laburpena / Resumen:

Licenciada en Biotecnología por la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Máster en Biomedicina con especialidad en Neurociencias por la Universidad de Barcelona (UB) y Doctora en 2013 por la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Barcelona (UB). Su carrera investigadora la inició estudiando la disfunción mitocondrial y el estrés oxidativo en enfermedad neurodegenerativa Adrenoleucodistrófia ligada al cromosoma X en el laboratorio de la Doctora Aurora Pujol (IDIBELL-Institut d’Investigació Biomedica de Bellvitge) en Barcelona. Desde el 2014 trabaja como investigadora postdoctoral en el laboratorio del Profesor Don Cleveland en la Universidad de California San Diego (UCSD), en La Jolla, California, estudiando las alteraciones celulares y moleculares que contribuyen a la Esclerosis Lateral Amiotrófica (ELA).

Lectura de Tesis Doctoral / Tesiaren irakurketa: “Mecanismos fisiopatológicos del trastorno de control de impulsos en la enfermedad de Parkinson”

Doktoregaia / Doctoranda:
Irene Navalpotro Gómez. Área Neurociencias, IIS Biodonostia.
Tesi Zuzendaria / Directora de Tesis: 
Dra. María Cruz Rodríguez Oroz.
 
Data / Fecha: 2019ko abenduak 13, ostirala / Viernes 13 de diciembre de 2019.
Ordua / Hora: 11:30
Lekua / Lugar:
Donostia Unibertsitate Ospitaleko Ekitaldi Aretoa / Salón de Actos, Hospital Universitario Donostia.

Laburpena / Resumen:
La presente tesis se ha centrado en el estudio de los mecanismos fisiopatológicos del trastorno de control de impulsos en pacientes con enfermedad de Parkinson. A pesar de las importantes repercusiones de esta complicación, sus mecanismos fisiopatológicos son desconocidos, habiéndose descrito resultados contradictorios a múltiples niveles de estudio, pero especialmente en los estudios de imagen. Esta tesis se ha realizado no sólo con el ánimo de comprender los mecanismos por los que ocurre, sino también con el objetivo de ampliar las herramientas de detección de los sujetos que serán más sensibles al desarrollo de esta complicación tras el inicio de la terapia de reposición dopaminérgica.

Seminario / Mintegia: “Environmental risk perceptions and determinant factors”

Hizlaria / Ponente:Jesús Ibarluzea PhD – Investigador Principal del grupo de Epidemiología Ambiental y Desarrollo Infantil (BIODONOSTIA) y del Grupo 28 de CIBERESP.
Data / Fecha: 2019ko irailak 20 / 20 de septiembre de 2019.
Ordua / Hora:  13:00 – 14:00.
Lekua / Lugar: Biodonostia OIIkoEkitaldi Aretoan, 0.Solairua. / IIS Biodonostia, Salón de Actos, Planta 0.

Laburpena / Resumen:

Our research group focus on the study of the associations between environmental exposures (e.g. chemical exposures like metals, endocrine disruptors, dioxins, PCBs, physical exposures as noise, electromagnetic fields and urban features such as greenness or walkability) and diverse health and developmental outcomes  (birth outcomes, respiratory diseases, obesity and a wide range of neuro-psychological indexes). It is obvious that we have to measure the objective presence of the former exposures but it is equally relevant to assess the perception general public has about them. These perceptions can help people protect themselves from such exposures but, if triggered by unrealistic contextual information, may lead to exacerbation of physical and psychological symptoms and inappropriate behavioral strategies.  The presenter will introduce a recently conducted study on the perception of a wide range of environmental exposures by a sample of gipuzkoan citizens and regional experts. He will explain the main variables behind risk perceptions and will elaborate on the public health policy implications of the results.

Seminario / Mintegia: “ microRNAs in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: from pathogenic elements to potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets”

Hizlaria / Ponente: Rui E. Castro (Ph.D) – Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa).
Data / Fecha: 2019ko ekainak 11 / 11 de junio de 2019.
Ordua / Hora:  9:30-10:30.
Lekua / Lugar: Biodonostia OIIko Ekitaldi Aretoan, 0.Solairua. / IIS Biodonostia, Salón de Actos, Planta 0.

Laburpena / Resumen:
Rui Castro graduated in Biology and Genetics and completed his PhD in Pharmacy (Biochemistry) by the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon (FFUL) and Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, USA. He is now Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator at the Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), FFUL. He is a strong promoter of basic and translational to clinical research in Hepatology, being a member of both the EASL Education Committee and the UEG Education E-Learning Team.
Castro’s research combines his solid background in the modulation of liver cell function by bile acids with his most recent discoveries in the miRNA field, to answer fundamental questions on the pathogenesis and therapeutic targeting of liver diseases, focusing on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Well-established in vitro and in vivo models, as well as human patients liver biopsies and serum samples, are being used in multi-layered pharmacological approaches, aiming to ultimately bring miRNA therapies and biomarkers to the liver clinical setting.

Seminario/Mintegia: “Physically active microenvironments for tissue engineering applications”

Hizlaria / Ponente: : Senentxu Lanceros-Mendez. Ikerbasque Research Professor and Scientific Director at BCMaterials –Basque Center for Materials, Applications and Nanostructures, Derio, Spain.
Data / Fecha: 2019ko ekainak 6 / 6 de junio de 2019.
Ordua / Hora:  13:30-14:30.
Lekua / Lugar: Biodonostia OIIko Prestakuntza Aretoan 3.Solairua. / IIS Biodonostia, Sala de Formación, Planta 3.

Laburpena / Resumen:
Active materials are increasingly used in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine in order to provide specific clues to the cells. In particular, the use of electroactive polymers that deliver electrical signals to the cells upon mechanical solicitation, open new scientific and technological opportunities, allowing the development of suitable biomimetic microenvironments for tissue regeneration. In fact, electrical and electromechanical clues are among the most relevant ones in determining tissue functionality in tissues such as muscle and bone, among others, indicating their requirement for proper tissue regeneration.

This talk reports on active materials, such as piezoelectric and magnetoelectric, tailored for tissue engineering applications. The most used materials and morphologies are reported, together with novel bioreactor designs allowing to take full advantage of those materials.  The main achievements, challenges and future needs will be presented and discussed.

S. Lanceros-Mendez graduated in physics at the University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain. He obtained his Ph.D. degree at the Institute of Physics of the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany. He was Research Scholar at Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA and visiting scientist at the, Pennsylvania State University, USA and University of Potsdam. He is Ikerbasque Research Professor and Scientific Director at BCMaterials –Basque Center for Materials, Applications and Nanostructures, Derio, Spain and Associate Professor at the Physics Department of the University of Minho, Portugal (on leave). From 2012 to 2014 he was also Associate Researcher at the INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory. His work is focused in the area of smart and multifunctional materials for sensors and actuators, energy and biomedical applications, with over 500 publications and 10 patents in the field.

Lectura de Tesis Doctoral / Tesiaren irakurketa: “Molecular genetic diagnosis of patients from the Basque country with Inherited Retinal Dystrophies”

Doktoregaia / Doctorando:
Maitane Ezquerra Intxausti. Neuro-endekapen Sentsorialaren Taldea, Biodonostia OII / Grupo de Neurodegeneración Sensorial, IIS Biodonostia.
Tesi Zuzendariak / Directores de Tesis: 
Javier Ruiz Ederra.
David Otaegui Bichot. 
Data / Fecha: 2019ko urtarrilak 25, ostirala / Viernes 25 de enero de 2019.
Ordua / Hora: 12:00
Lekua / Lugar:
Donostia Unibertsitate Ospitaleko Ekitaldi Aretoa / Salón de Actos, Hospital Universitario Donostia.

Laburpena / Resumen:
Las distrofias hereditarias de la retina (DHR), son un grupo heterogéneo de enfermedades de distintos fenotipos clínicos que afectan principalmente a la retina. Existen más de 250 genes ligados a más de 20 fenotipos distintos. El avance en las técnicas de secuenciado ha permitido diagnosticar molecularmente a cada vez más pacientes, de una manera más rápida y precisa, a pesar de lo cual, el porcentaje de casos sin resolver sigue siendo alto.

A lo largo de la presente tesis, nos planteamos realizar la caracterización genético-molecular de la población de pacientes con DHR de Euskadi mediante distintas técnicas y poder implementar así un flujo de trabajo para poder llevarlo a cabo. Para ello, en este trabajo hemos utilizado distintas estrategias. Por un lado, se ha utilizado la tecnología de NGS. Utilizamos dos paneles: 1) genes con herencia autosómica dominante, en el que se analizaron pacientes con sospecha de herencia dominante de forma individualizada y 2) 316 genes de diversas patologías oftalmológicas, incluidas las DHR descritas hasta el momento, en el que se analizaron muestras agrupadas en pool de pacientes con todos los tipos de herencia. También hemos secuenciado el exoma completo (WES), para detectar alteraciones en genes no asociados previamente a DHR, y arrays CGH y MLPA para detectar cambios en el número de copias, tanto de genes asociados como no asociados previamente a DHR. Con el uso de todas estas técnicas, durante esta tesis, hemos podido diagnosticar molecularmente a 61 pacientes de un total de 143 pacientes analizados.

Lectura de Tesis Doctoral / Tesiaren irakurketa: “Delivery of microRNAs as a remyelination strategy in Multiple Sclerosis”

Doktoregaia / Doctorando:
Iñaki Osorio Querejeta. Esklerosi Anizkoitzaren Taldea, Biodonostia OII / Grupo de Esclerosis Múltiple, IIS Biodonostia.
Tesi Zuzendariak / Directores de Tesis: 
David Otaegui Bichot.
Maider Muñoz Culla. 
Data / Fecha: 2019ko urtarrilak 18, ostirala / Viernes 18 de enero de 2019.
Ordua / Hora: 11:30
Lekua / Lugar:
Erizaintza Eskolako Gradu Aretoa / Salón de Grados de la Escuela de Enfermería. Donostia.

Laburpena / Resumen:
Multiple sclerosis is a central nervous system disease for which no remyelination therapy is nowadays available and alternative strategies are being proposed as myelin regeneration inductors. In this sense, the use of microRNAs, and more concretely miR-219a-5p has been shown promising results. However, the delivery of microRNAs to the central nervous system is still a tricky question.

In this work the role that miR-219a-5p plays in remyelination has been reinforce by using oligodendrocyte precursor cell primary culture, cerebellar organotypic model and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mice model. In addition, the ability of Liposomes Nanoparticles and Exosomes as pro-remyelinating microRNA delivery systems has been addressed in the same models concluding that Exosomes is the most effective delivery system.

Mintegia / Seminario: “Cancer engineering: designing of biomaterials as biomimetic niches for advancing pediatric cancer research”

Hizlaria / Ponente: Aranzazu Villasante. Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC).
Data / Fecha: 2018ko abenduak 20 / 20 de diciembre de 2018.
Ordua / Hora:  10:30.
Lekua / Lugar: Biodonostia OIIko Prestakuntza Aretoan, 3.Solairua. / IIS Biodonostia, Aula de Formación, Planta 3.

Laburpena / Resumen:
My overarching goal is to design biomaterials to closely mimic in vitro the biological and mechanical tumor microenvironment of pediatric cancers. Then with these models in hand, my objective is to learn fundamental information about drug resistance and tumor relapse. Thus, my main expertise brings together materials science, tissue engineering, and cancer biology.
I obtained my B.S. Degree in Biochemistry at the Complutense University of Madrid in 2005 and right after, I joined the Tumor Suppression group, led by Dr. Manuel Serrano, at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO). During my Ph.D., I investigated the epigenetic regulation of the Ink4a/Arf locus and the regulation of Sox2 in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS).

Then in 2011, I joined the Vunjak-Novakovic lab in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University in the city of New York. As a postdoc, I used novel biomaterials to develop biomimetic bioengineered models of Ewing’s sarcoma within the bone microenvironment. I also generated the first bioengineered model of tumor-derived exosomes. In parallel with my training in bioengineering at Columbia University, I was trained in pediatric diseases and collaborated with pediatricians at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Later, in 2015 I was appointed Associate Research Scientist at Columbia University, and I was awarded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. This award gave me the opportunity to move to Tokyo for developing a vascularized tissue-engineered model of neuroblastoma at the Institute of Advanced Biomedical Engineering and Science. Later in 2016, I came back to NY to continue my research as an Associate Research Scientist at Columbia University.

Finally, in May 2018, I returned to Spain for a short stay in the Biomaterials, Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering Group in the Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy at UPC- BarcelonaTech. There, I designed bio-inks for bioprinting tissues for regenerative therapies, and I developed biomaterials in combination with nanoparticles to mimic osteosarcoma microenvironment.

Then, in December 2018, I joined the Samitier Lab (Nanobioengineering group) at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) as a Senior Research Scientist with the support of the Spanish Association Against Cancer.