Research

Area 4

Clinical and experimental neuroimmunology

Team leader

Strategic objectives

  1. The principal objective of the neuroimmunology group is the study of inflammation of the central nervous system, and of the mechanisms that are involved in this inflammatory response, and their implication in neurological disorders - fundamentally multiple sclerosis, autoimmune encephalitis and paraneoplastic neurological disorders.
  2. Identification and characterization of factors implicated in the pathogenesis of gliomas, based on the study of proteins that control the maintenance, differentiation and migration of normal neural stem cells.

Main lines of research

  1. Study of autoimmune mechanisms in paraneoplastic neurological disorders.
  2. Synaptic autoimmunity study in encephalitis and other autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system.
  3. Development of biomarkers and new therapies in application to multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases.
  4. Functional imaging in neuroimmunology.
  5. Study of the molecular bases of glioma pathogenesis: Identification and functional characterization of new factors implicated in the maintenance, differentiation and/or migration of neural stem cells, and study of the role of these factors in the initiation and invasion of gliomas.

Grups

Pathogenesis and new treatments in multiple sclerosis (Associated)

VILLOSLADA, PABLO

(IDIBAPS)

The great challenge for our research team is to apply our discoveries to the clinical management of patients with multiple sclerosis. By late 2010 we plan to enter the clinical phase of the study of methylthioadenosine as treatment in cases of multiple sclerosis.

As the coordinating team of the RETICS REEM (Spanish Multiple Sclerosis Network - www.reem.es), another of our strategic objectives is the transverse diffusion of knowledge and optimum use of synergies, with a view to transferring the advances in research to the clinical practice setting and to patients.

Lastly, the group has a constant commitment to innovation, both in terms of the generation of patents and as regards the creation of spin-off companies to cover the gap in financing existing between basic research and the clinical phase development of new drugs on the part of the biopharmaceutical industry.

Web of the group:
http://www.reem.es/idibaps/team.html

Immunopathogenesis of paraneoplastic neurological disorders (Associated)

GRAUS, FRANCESC

(ICN)

Paraneoplastic neurological disorders manifest in cancer patients generally in very early stages, and their correct diagnosis is essential for detecting the tumor and for preventing progression of the neurological disease. Our group has made a fundamental contribution to confirmation of the immunological cause of these disorders, and is an international reference center for the evaluation of antineuronal antibodies associated to paraneoplastic neurological disorders. The group is interested in the characterization of antineuronal antibodies and corresponding antigens of potential diagnostic or pathogenic relevance in relation to these diseases. Some of the antibodies identified by our group, such as anti-Hu, anti-Tr or anti-SOX1, are currently used on a routine basis as predictors of paraneoplastic neurological disorders.

Glioma and Neural Stem Cell Group (Associated)

DE LA IGLESIA, NÚRIA

(IDIBAPS)

Núria de la Iglesia

Our research group is a young, highly motivated team devoted to applying developmental neurobiology knowledge to the study of gliomas, some of the most aggressive human tumors. Gliomas arise from a rare subpopulation of cells which have stem-like properties such as self-renewal, multipotency and the ability to initiate a tumor upon serial transplantation. These so-called glioma initiating cells (GIC) share specific properties with neural stem cells (NSC), including the localization to specialized microenvironments within the brain that support their maintenance. This suggests that factors involved in either NSC maintenance or differentiation are likely to contribute to the pathogenesis of gliomas.

Our main lines of research are:

  • Identification and characterization of new factors involved in NSC maintenance and differentiation, with a special emphasis on factors that mediate the localization of NSC to their niches.
  • Functional characterization of the factors identified above in the initiation, maintenance and invasiveness of gliomas.
  • Design of new, alternative therapies for gliomas.