Molecular signaling
Viñals’s lab

DESCRIPTION

Our research is focused on the study of the implication of intracellular signaling cascades driving to pathological situations in cancer and vascular diseases.

The molecular signaling cascades that take place inside the cells are essential to respond to changes in their environment or to alter their homeostasis, for example, at the level of cell proliferation, movement, growth or metabolism. Understanding how these mechanisms of signal transduction work can explain how biological processes are controlled in a normal physiological context, but also, the alterations that take place in many pathologies. Our group investigates this in two pathological contexts: The first is ovarian epithelial cancer, where we study the pathways involved in metastasis and the mechanisms of resistance to therapies. A second context is a rare vascular disease, HHTs, in which, in collaboration with the group led by Toni Riera (Hospital de Bellvitge), we study which signaling pathways are altered in patients with mutations that cause this disease, and how treat them with new drugs.

Group members

Francesc Viñals

Group leaders

Group Leader

Agnès Figueras

Researchers

Núria Gendrau Sanclemente

PhD student

Ferran Medina Jover

PhD student

José Luís Rocamora

PhD student

Tianyu Dai

PhD student

Publications

MPP+ increases alpha-synuclein expression and ERK/MAP-kinase phosphorylation in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells

14 de June de 2002/in Viñals's lab/by miguel

Brain Res. 2002 May 10;935(1-2):32-9. doi: 10.1016/s0006-8993(02)02422-8. ABSTRACT Alpha-synuclein is a brain presynaptic protein that is linked to familiar early onset Parkinson’s disease and it is also a major component of Lewy bodies in sporadic Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Alpha-synuclein expression increases in substantia nigra of both MPTP-treated rodents and non-human primates, used […]

Active, phosphorylation-dependent MAP kinases, MAPK/ERK, SAPK/JNK and p38, and specific transcription factor substrates are differentially expressed following systemic administration of kainic acid to the adult rat

21 de March de 2002/in Viñals's lab/by miguel

Acta Neuropathol. 2002 Apr;103(4):391-407. doi: 10.1007/s00401-001-0481-9. Epub 2002 Jan 31. ABSTRACT Excitotoxicity is considered a major cell death inductor in neurodegeneration. Yet the mechanisms involved in cell death and cell survival following excitotoxic insults are poorly understood. Expression of active, phosphorylation-dependent mitogen-activated extracellular signal-regulated kinases (MAPK/ERKs), stress-activated c-Jun N-terminal kinases (SAPK/JNKs) and p38 kinases, as […]

Prenatal detection of ductal-dependent congenital heart disease: how can things be made easier?

19 de March de 2002/in Viñals's lab/by miguel

Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2002 Mar;19(3):246-9. doi: 10.1046/j.1469-0705.2002.00651.x. ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: To improve the detection of ductal dependence in fetuses with severe anomalies of the outflow tracts by observing, with directional power Doppler, reverse flow through the aortic arch or ductus arteriosus in a transverse view of the upper mediastinum. METHODS: A slight cranial move of the […]

Inhibition of PI3K/p70 S6K and p38 MAPK cascades increases osteoblastic differentiation induced by BMP-2

5 de January de 2002/in Viñals's lab/by miguel

FEBS Lett. 2002 Jan 2;510(1-2):99-104. doi: 10.1016/s0014-5793(01)03236-7. ABSTRACT Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) transdifferentiate C2C12 cells from the myogenic to the osteogenic lineage. In this work we examine the role of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/p70 S6 kinase (PI3K/p70 S6K) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) cascades in the osteogenic effects of BMP-2. BMP-2 stimulated both cascades […]

Transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) promotes endothelial cell survival during in vitro angiogenesis via an autocrine mechanism implicating TGF-alpha signaling

5 de October de 2001/in Viñals's lab/by miguel

Mol Cell Biol. 2001 Nov;21(21):7218-30. doi: 10.1128/MCB.21.21.7218-7230.2001. ABSTRACT Mouse capillary endothelial cells (1G11 cell line) embedded in type I collagen gels undergo in vitro angiogenesis. Cells rapidly reorganize and form capillary-like structures when stimulated with serum. Transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) alone can substitute for serum and induce cell survival and tubular network formation. This […]

Research Projects

– Ref: PID2020-117815RB-I00 Title: El perfil metabólico como una oportunidad terapéutica en el cáncer epitelial de ovario. implicaciones en metástasis y resistencia a los tratamientos. DGICYT, MINECO. 2021-2024. 217.800 euros. Principal Investigator: Francesc Viñals Canals, IDIBELL.

– Ref: SAF2017-85869-R Title: Mecanismos de señalización y control metabólico implicados en la diseminación y quimioresistencia en cáncer epitelial de ovario. DGICYT, MINECO. 2018-2020. 181.500 euros. Principal Investigator: Francesc Viñals Canals, IDIBELL.

Collaborations

Peter B. Vermeulen, University of Antwerp and GZA Hospitals, Belgium
Artur Mezheyeuski, VHIO, Barcelona
Pnina Brodt, Mc Gill University, Montreal, Canada
and Liver Metastases Research Network members

Molecular signalingViñals’s lab

DESCRIPTION

Francesc Viñals

Group leaders

Agnès Figueras

Researchers

Núria Gendrau Sanclemente

PhD student

Ferran Medina Jover

PhD student

José Luís Rocamora

PhD student

Tianyu Dai

PhD student

CONTACT US

Molecular signaling
Viñals’s lab