COLUMNA
Fernando Peláez, CNIO's scientific director. / Laura M. Lombardía. CNIO.
Dear CNIO Friends,
It is an honour for me to send you this newsletter, the first of this new phase at the CNIO. Although the management of the centre has recently changed, you will see in the following articles that our scientific activity and the discoveries derived from it have continued at a steady pace.
As you all are aware, advances in science are conveyed to the scientific community, the health system and the general public mainly through publications in specialised scientific journals. And, of course, getting to obtain results is a long-distance race. The studies we share with you here are the result of this process, but there are years of effort, exploration of hypotheses, moments of despair and also inspiration behind each study. We would like you to understand the enthusiasm we keep along this journey from the outset. For this reason, this newsletter includes information about our up-and-coming scientists and their passion for their work, always aiming to contribute further knowledge to better understand and fight cancer.
We would like to share our delight regarding the recent notification (even though the resolution is still provisional) that the CNIO accreditation as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence has once more been renewed for a period of six years as of 1st April. This programme is designed to strengthen institutions whose scientific leadership has been guaranteed internationally with the capacity to act as a driver of the Spanish science, technology and innovation system. This renewal recognises the achievements of recent years and funds the strategic scientific plans of the centres. Selection of the accredited centres is carried out through a competitive process that includes committees of international, independent and renowned experts. This external recognition, which we have seamlessly enjoyed since this programme was created in 2011, is proof that the CNIO has always been and will continue to be an excellent and innovative scientific research centre.
Finally, I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for trusting in the CNIO. We are proud to rely on your collaboration in our founding mission to carry out excellent research and offer society innovative technology in the field of cancer.
Please find below some news about our latest discoveries and some of the new developments that will take us into the future: new groups, new projects, new teams.
I trust you will enjoy reading about them. Do not hesitate to get in touch with us, should you have any queries.
Best regards,
Fernando Peláez
Interim Scientific Director
MEET THE RESEARCHERS WITH “FRIENDS OF CNIO” CONTRACTS
Mikhail Chesnokov: “Cancer is one of the biggest challenges for mankind”
Mikhail Chesnokov / Laura M. Lombardía. CNIO
Mikhail Chesnokov (Moscow, 1988) began his research career in Russia (Moscow State University; N. N. Blokhin Russian Cancer Research Centre) and he also worked in the USA (University of Illinois Chicago; University of Minnesota). In June 2023, he joined the Epithelial Carcinogenesis Group at the CNIO, where he researches the molecular mechanisms involved in pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. He studies how the NR5A2 protein regulates cell differentiation and protects against inflammation.
What brought you to cancer research?
Cancer is one of the biggest puzzles that mankind has been trying to solve for years. I love solving puzzles and combining that with the possibility of contributing something positive, like curing a disease, is wonderful. On a more personal note, my father died of melanoma when I was five, which obviously had an extremely negative impact on both me and my family. For this reason, I decided to try to fight against what had caused us such woe.
At first, I was hesitating between becoming a doctor or a scientist. When I was preparing my university access exams, I realised that I was more interested in reading about biochemistry and molecular biology than about medicine. So I opted for science, and specifically for biology.
What do you like most about this job?
The fact that I am always discovering unexpected things that fascinate me. Cancer research is a puzzle that constantly presents you with a new challenge. I never have to ask myself: what shall I do now? There are always plenty of interesting things to pursue.
Why did you want to come to the CNIO?
Because it is a centre with a fascinating history of achievements and it has excellent resources. It is also base to some brilliant scientists who I really looked up to while I was doing my PhD. For example, Francisco X. Real and Mariano Barbacid. Realising that I could be working alongside these great minds was a major factor.
What would you like to be doing in 10 years time?
I hope to be working here at the CNIO and to have the opportunity to work as Principal Investigator [group leader]. Academic science is highly competitive, so the chances of doing so may be slim, but one can dream!
What has the Friends of the CNIO Contract meant for you?
It was a chance that enabled me to escape the serious situation that my country was 8and still is) going through. However, more importantly, it was an opportunity to come to a centre with resources and options to develop my potential as a scientist to the full. You can have a lot of ideas and experience but you need a place to put them into practice. The CNIO is that place and I was able to come here thanks to the Friends of the CNIO Programme. I am extremely grateful for that.
CNIO FRIENDS NEWS
The Domingo Martínez Foundation is funding a new PhD contract
We have announced a new agreement with the Domingo Martínez Foundation, which will fully fund a new CNIO Friends PhD contract, upon termination of the previous one. A new call for a research excellence project focusing on “cancer and the tumour microenvironment” was opened at the end of 2024. The selected person will be announced shortly.
L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty and CNIO have reaffirmed their collaboration to research skin cancer
Skin cancer, the most common form of cancer, is on the rise worldwide. La Roche-Posay, L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty’s dermatological brand, has donated €100,000 for a PhD contract to research this type of cancer at the CNIO, which is already working with La Roche-Posay on a study into the efficacy of photo-protection against the harm caused by UV radiation.
THE CNIO DISCOVERS
Technique developed to detect brain metastases in mice using an ultra-thin light probe
From the left: Elena Cid and Liset Menéndez de la Prida (Instituto Cajal CSIC), Manuel Valiente and Mariam Al-Masmudi (CNIO) / Pilar Quijada. CSIC
The CNIO and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) are part of the NanoBright international consortium, which has developed a probe containing an ultra-thin light beam that illuminates nerve tissue deep into the brain. This enables molecular changes caused by tumours or other lesions to be detected. The researchers hope that this “molecular flashlight” can be used on patients in the future. The study has been published in Nature Methods and Manuel Valiente, who heads the CNIO’s Brain Metastasis Group, explains the methodology in this video.
CNIO research reveals how melanoma and other tumours succeed in hiding and resisting immunotherapy
Researcher Marisol Soengas, head of the Melanoma Group at CNIO./ Pilar Gil. CNIO
Melanoma cells, the most aggressive form of skin cancer, produce a protein that blocks the recognition and removal of the tumour by the immune system, according to a study published in Nature Cancer. The protein called Midkine enables melanoma to “hide” in different organs and increases resistance to immunotherapy. The study by the Melanoma Group at the CNIO also reveals that Midkine plays this role in other tumour types.
CNIO researchers discover a new mechanism for rapid liver regeneration triggered by glutamate
Nabil Djouder and Mar Rigual, at their CNIO lab. / CNIO
Research carried out by the CNIO’s Growth Factors, Nutrients and Cancer Group and published in Nature, has discovered a previously unknown mechanism for liver regeneration in animal models. The process is triggered minutes after acute damage occurs in this vital organ and amino acid glutamate plays a key role. This finding opens up avenues for future treatments for serious liver damage –such as cirrhosis or liver resection following the removal of a tumour– to include a diet enriched with the amino acid glutamate.
New research pathways against paediatric cancer Ewing sarcoma
From the left: Ana Losada, Ana Cuadrado and Daniel Giménez-Llorente. Credits: Laura M. Lombardía / CNIO.
Ewing sarcoma is a tumour of the bones and soft tissues that occurs in children and young people. A quarter of patients do not respond well to therapy. The Chromosomal Dynamics Group led by Ana Losada, has discovered an alteration in the most aggressive cases that affects genes never previously related to this disease. This finding expands the list of potential prognostic markers and therapeutic targets in the most aggressive cases of Ewing sarcoma.
AND ALSO...
A new CAR-T-cell therapy tricks cancer cells with a decoy to increase treatment efficiency in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
How does Car-T work. Credit: @CireniaSketches / CNIO.
Treatment of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (LLA-B) has improved thanks to CAR-T therapies, but relapse is still very common. A team from the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute, the 12 de Octubre University Hospital-CNIO Cancer Immunotherapy Clinical Research Unit, and other institutions have tested a new “promising therapeutic strategy” in animal models, according to Blood.
CNIO research identifies a key protein for ‘burning’ fat
From the left: Beatriz Cicuéndez, Guadalupe Sabio, Marta León and Cintia Folgueira. / Laura M. Lombardía. CNIO.
Obesity, which affects 650 million people worldwide, influences the development of cardiometabolic diseases and increases the risk of cancer. Guadalupe Sabio, head of the Organ Crosstalk in Metabolic Diseases Group atthe (CNIO), and Cintia Folgueira, from the CNIO and the National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC), have discovered one of the ways in which the body burns brown fat and converts it into heat. This mechanism protects against obesity and associated pathologies, according to a study published in Nature Communications.
FURTHER DISCOVERIES
OUR LINES OF RESEARCH
Two new research groups at CNIO thanks to the arrival of the ‘AI Generation’
Members of the 'AI Generation' at CNIO, with the center's managing director, Maribel Salido, and scientific director, Fernando Peláez (bottom, third and fifth from the lef). Laura M. Lombardía / CNIO.
Thanks to the ‘Generation D: Building the AI Generation’ programme, the National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) has incorporated two new research groups and fourteen expert researchers in artificial intelligence.
The ultimate goal is to use artificial intelligence so that the findings of cancer research can benefit patients more quickly.
Gonçalo Bernardes’ new group at CNIO seeks to develop the next precision drugs against cancer
Gonçalo Bernardes. / Laura M. Lombardía. CNIO.
Portuguese researcher Gonçalo Bernardes, professor at Cambridge University (UK), has joined the CNIO as head of the new Translational Chemical Biology Group. He is an international leader in creating highly selective therapies against tumours to increase their effectiveness and reduce side effects. Author of more than 195 scientific publications, he holds two dozen patents and his research has resulted in several spin-off companies in Portugal and the USA. He has come to the CNIO as a beneficiary of the National Research Agency’s ATRAE programme aimed to attract research talent.
CNIO now has a new group working to take 3D atomic-level ‘photographs’ of the structures that make cancer cells invasive
Lucas Tafur. / Laura M. Lombardía. CNIO
The new Structural Mechanisms of Cell Growth Group is led by Peruvian researcher, Lucas Tafur, from the University of Geneva (Switzerland). His team will use electronic cryomicroscopy to visualise protein complexes in full interaction. The goal is to know which cellular mechanisms cancer cells use to survive and to look for therapies that neutralise those mechanisms.
The CNIO researches more effective immunotherapies with fewer side-effects for children with cancer
IdiPAZ-CNIO Paediatric Oncohematology Joint Clinical Research Unit / Laura M. Lombardía. CNIO
Paediatric cancer is relatively rare, yet it is the leading cause of death by disease in children and teenagers in the developed world. It is different from adult cancer and therefore requires specific research and therapies. However, treatments for paediatric patients are not advancing at the same rate as for the rest, points out Antonio Pérez-Martínez, Head of the the IdiPAZ-CNIO Pediatric Oncohematology Joint Clinical Research Unit. The CNIO is carrying out research so that children and teenagers with cancer are not left out of personalised immunotherapies.
CNIO will help building Europe’s largest DNA catalogue
Novaseq X Plus Sequencing System. / Underbau. CNIO
The European Genome of Europe (GoE) project will generate the most comprehensive genetic database of the European population to date, sequencing 100,000 genomes representing all people in the continent. For CNIO researcher Anna González-Neira the data generated will help to determine each person’s risk of developing genetically based diseases, such as cancer. Genome of Europe will help to ensure that genetic information is integrated into the European Health Data Space.
Eva González Suárez will advance towards the development of new inhibitors against breast cancer with a new grant from the European Research Council
Triple-negative breast cancer is the most aggressive and difficult to treat breast cancer tumour. The Transformation and Metastasis Group at the CNIO is working to develop new drugs against this type of cancer, based on the inhibition of the RANKL protein. The Group’s Head, Eva González Suárez has received an ERC Proof of Concept grant for this line of research for the second time.
What we eat does change our cancer risk. CNIO researchers want to know why
Regarding cancer prevention and food, it is recommended to avoid obesity and alcohol, whilst eating plenty of vegetables and reducing red meat and processed food. However, on a molecular scale, it is not yet understood why one diet is better than another. CNIO Researchers, Nabil Djouder and Alejo Efeyan, are working to find out.
ON THE SHOULDERS OF TECHNOLOGY
Here comes the ‘era of proteomics’: a technology that analyses proteins in record time brings personalised medicine a step closer
@CireniaSketches
Large-scale proteomics equipment paves the way for patient proteins to become a new source of information to guide treatment, as is already the case with genetic information. The most advanced proteomics equipment currently available is now in use at the CNIO. “It is another step towards personalised medicine”, explains Marta Isasa, head of the CNIO Proteomics Unit. “Proteomics tells us why the same therapy cures some patients and not others”.
MEETING POINT FOR INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE
Three experts explain how research is being done to make immunotherapy effective in an increasing number of breast cancers
From the left: María Casanova-Acebes, Sandra Demaria and Karin de Visser. Credit: Antonio Tabernero / CNIO.
Karin de Visser, Sandra Demaria and María Casanova-Acebes participated in the ‘CNIO Frontiers Meeting’ on immunotherapy in cancer. They are carrying out cutting edge research in this area, analysing the role of factors like diet and sleep rhythms, and monitoring those of patients. For De Visser, “the results of immunotherapy are very promising, now our task is to make it work for more people”.
Why senescence starts before birth
Healthy human cells can only be divided a certain number of times. When they reach this limit, they stop multiplying and enter into a phase known as ‘senescence’. This state was initially associated with ageing, but now it is known to intervene in many vital processes. The CNIO hosted the meeting of the SenesceX consortium, which investigates the role of cell senescence in ageing, cancer and embryonic development
Prescribing drugs based on the patient’s genetics may prevent more than a quarter of adverse reactions
Pharmacogenetics studies how genes influence response to drugs. The Spanish health service now includes pharmacogenetic testing, but its availability is inconsistent between regions, according to the Spanish Society of Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics (SEFF) at a meeting in the CNIO. “A fundamental challenge is to implement pharmacogenetics not only in specialities such as cardiology or oncology, but also in primary care”, says the CNIO researcher, Anna González-Neira. Madrid, Castilla y León, Extremadura and Galicia are the most advanced regions in this field.
CNIO AND SOCIETY
CNIO at the “Madrid is Science” Fair
Like every year, scientists from the CNIO, the National Cancer Research Centre, participated in the Madrid is Science, the science outreach fair in the Community of Madrid. It was held from 27th to 29th March at IFEMA as part of the Education Week, the largest event for the educational world in Spain. The CNIO stand became a celebration of curiosity and complicity between volunteers and the general public.
7 young CNIO scientists who want to cure cancer
The road to curing cancer begins in laboratories like those of these seven young researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO). To commemorate World Cancer Day, we asked them to explain how they try to understand the origin of various tumours and improve their treatment; how they study altered proteins in cancer; why biobanks are so important; and how to encourage research results to benefit patients. Their full interviews are available on Instagram.
RECORDINGS NOW AVAILABLE
Conference on ‘Artificial intelligence joins forces with science in search of a cure for cancer’
You can watch the video here
Students from all over Spain want to find out about the life of those who do science
You can watch the video here