Projects

Lung cancer is the major cause of cancer-related deaths in developed countries. In the last decades, important advances have been made in this field, but understanding of the cellular and molecular components is still the main priority. Ventura and colleagues have previously described Lgr6 as a lung stem cells marker. Lgr6+ cells showed ability of self-renewal and differentiation, but also an higher tumorigenic potential. In particular, ...

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive brain cancer in adults. In spite of intensive treatment, median survival is still only 15 months. Reasons that explain failure to develop more efficient therapies include the high invasiveness of the tumor, its complex genetics, and interpatient and intra-tumoral heterogeneity. Understanding and mapping the complexity of the different tumour cell populations and how each of these respond to therapy, ...

Matrix Gla protein (MGP) is a small protein (11 kD) synthesised by vascular smooth muscle cells and the endothelium. Activation of MGP requires two posttranslational modifications: vitamin K dependent γ‑glutamate carboxylation and serine phosphorylation. The objective of this dissertation was to disentangle the role of MGP and the microcirculation in differentiating health from disease. Population studies offer a unique opportunity to ...

Heart failure (HF) is a progressive disorder that begins with cardiovascular risk factors, proceeds to asymptomatic maladaptive left ventricular (LV) remodelling and dysfunction, and then evolves into clinically overt HF and disability. The genetic and molecular drivers that underlie progressive cardiac dysfunction and remodelling are only partially understood.

The progression of LV dysfunction is associated with changes in cardiac ...

The hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) are the stem cell-like cells of the liver. They are small, situated in the canals of Hering, and are characterized by a relative large oval nucleus and scanty cytoplasm. HPCs express both markers of (immature) hepatocytes (e.g. alpha-fetoprotein) and markers of cholangiocytes (e.g. cytokeratin K7 and K19) and can differentiate into cholangiocytes or hepatocytes. Nevertheless, the mechanisms behind ...