Mouse Genome Editing Core Unit

Sagrario Ortega Head of Unit
T +34 917328000 (Ext 3170)
sortega@cnio.es

Technicians

Beatriz Escobar
Carmen Gómez
Melani Margullón
Jaime Muñoz
Patricia Prieto
María Torres
Pierfrancesco Vargiu

Cancer encompasses a diversity of complex diseases that arise from genetic and epigenetic alterations in cells, leading to the development of malignant traits that enable these cells to evade normal physiological control. Genetic factors related to the function of different processes in the body such as metabolism, circulation, immunity and ageing, determine, in many cases, susceptibility to cancer development and therapeutic outcome. In addition, lifestyle factors like diet and smoking also affect cancer incidence. To address this intricate complexity, reliable genetically modified animal models offer a holistic “whole-body” context for studying cancer. The laboratory mouse is the best animal model to study the genetic basis of cancer, both because of its similarity to humans and for its versatility for genetic manipulation. Precise and targeted manipulation of the mouse genome, using state-of-the-art genome editing tools, enables the creation of genetic models that are pivotal for understanding the molecular basis of tumourigenesis and for the preclinical evaluation of innovative and more effective cancer therapies.

Recent publications

Bodas C, Felipe I, Chanez B, Lafarga M, Lopez de Maturana E, Martinez de Villarreal J, Del Pozo N, Malumbres M, Vargiu P, Cayuela A, Peset I, Connelly K, Hoskins J, Méndez R, Amundadottir L, Malats N, Ortega S, Real FX. (2025). A Common CTRB misfolding variant associated with pancreatic cancer risk causes ER stress and inflammation in mice. Gut 74, 1452-1466. CNIO Publication.
Albendea-Gomez T, Mendoza-Tamajon S, Castro-Mecinas R, Escobar B, Ferreira Rocha S, Urra-Balduz S, Nicolas-Avila JA, Oliver E, Villalba-Orero M, Martin-Puig S (2025). Vascular HIF2 Signaling Prevents Cardiomegaly, Alveolar Congestion, and Capillary Remodeling During Chronic Hypoxia. Arterioscl Throm Vas 45, e78-e98. CNIO Publication.
Briones AC, Del Estal L, Villa-Gómez C, Bermejo V, Cervera I, Gutiérrez-Huerta P, Montes-Casado M, Ortega S, Barbacid M, Rojo JM, Portolés P. (2025). T Cell-Specific Inactivation of the PI3K p110α Catalytic Subunit: Effect in T Cell Differentiation and Antigen-Specific Responses. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES 26, 595. CNIO Publication.
Sanz-Flores M, Ruiz-Torres M, Aguirre-Portolés C, El Bakkali A, Salvador-Barberó B, Villarroya-Beltri C, Ortega S, Megías D, Gerlich DW, Álvarez-Fernández M, Malumbres M. (2024). PP2A-B55 phosphatase counteracts Ki-67-dependent chromosome individualization during mitosis. Cell Reports 43, 114494. CNIO Publication.
de la Rosa S, Del Mar Rigual M, Vargiu P, Ortega S, Djouder N. (2024). Endogenous retroviruses shape pluripotency specification in mouse embryos. Sci Adv 10, eadk9394. CNIO Publication.
González-Martínez J, Sánchez-Belmonte A, Ayala E, García A, Nogueira E, Muñoz J, Melati A, Giménez D, Losada A, Ortega S, Malumbres M (2024). miR-203 controls developmental timing and early fate restriction during preimplantation embryogenesis.. BioRxiv (in press). CNIO Publication. More Info
Sayago C, Sánchez-Wandelmer J, García F, Hurtado B, Lafarga V, Prieto P, Zarzuela E, Ximénez-Embún P, Ortega S, Megías D, Fernández-Capetillo O, Malumbres M, Munoz J. (2023). Decoding protein methylation function with thermal stability analysis.. Nat Commun 14, 3016. CNIO Publication. Open Access
Maus M, López-Polo V, Mateo L, Lafarga M, Aguilera M, De Lama E, Meyer K, Sola A, Lopez-Martinez C, López-Alonso I, Guasch-Piqueras M, Hernandez-Gonzalez F, Chaib S, Rovira M, Sanchez M, Faner R, Agusti A, Diéguez-Hurtado R, Ortega S, Manonelles A, Engelhardt S, Monteiro F, Stephan-Otto Attolini C, Prats N, Albaiceta G, Cruzado JM, Serrano M. (2023). Iron accumulation drives fibrosis, senescence and the senescence-associated secretory phenotype. Nat Metabolism 5, 2111-2130. CNIO Publication. Open Access
Beucher A, Miguel-Escalada I, Balboa D, De Vas MG, Maestro MA, Garcia-Hurtado J, Bernal A, Gonzalez-Franco R, Vargiu P, Heyn H, Ravassard P, Ortega S, Ferrer J (2022). The HASTER lncRNA promoter is a cis-acting transcriptional stabilizer of HNF1A. Nat Cell Biol 24, 1528-1540. CNIO Publication. Open Access
Fernández LP, Deleyto-Seldas N, Colmenarejo G, Sanz A, Wagner S, Plata-Gómez AB, Gómez-Patiño M, Molina S, Espinosa-Salinas I, Aguilar-Aguilar E, Ortega S, Graña-Castro O, Loria-Kohen V, Fernández-Marcos PJ, Efeyan A, Ramírez de Molina A. (2022). Folliculin-interacting protein FNIP2 impacts on overweight and obesity through a polymorphism in a conserved 3′ untranslated region. Genome Biol 23, 230. CNIO Publication. Open Access
Miguel V, Tituaña J, Herrero JI, Herrero L, Serra D, Cuevas P, Barbas C, Puyol DR, Márquez-Expósito L, Ruiz-Ortega M, Castillo C, Sheng X, Susztak K, Ruiz-Canela M, Salas-Salvadó J, González MAM, Ortega S, Ramos R, Lamas S (2021). Renal tubule Cpt1a overexpression protects from kidney fibrosis by restoring mitochondrial homeostasis. J Clin Invest 131, e140695. CNIO Publication.
Olmeda D, Cerezo-Wallis D, Mucientes C, Calvo TG, Cañón E, Alonso-Curbelo D, Ibarz N, Muñoz J, Rodriguez-Peralto JL, Ortiz-Romero P, Ortega S, Soengas MS. (2021). Live imaging of neolymphangiogenesis identifies acute antimetastatic roles of dsRNA mimics. EMBO Mol Med 13, e12924. CNIO Publication. Open Access
Salmón M, Paniagua G, Lechuga CG, Fernández-García F, Zarzuela E, Álvarez-Díaz R, Musteanu M, Guerra C, Caleiras E, Muñoz J, Ortega S, Drosten M, Barbacid M (2021). KRAS4A induces metastatic lung adenocarcinomas in vivo in the absence of the KRAS4B isoform. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 118, e2023112118. CNIO Publication. Open Access
Kataru RP, Baik JE, Park HJ, Ly CL, Shin J, Schwartz N, Lu TT, Ortega S, Mehrara BJ. (2021). Lymphatic-specific intracellular modulation of receptor tyrosine kinase signaling improves lymphatic growth and function. Sci Signal 14, eabc0836. CNIO Publication.
García-Silva S, Benito-Martín A, Nogués L, Hernández-Barranco A, Mazariegos MS, Santos V, Hergueta-Redondo M, Ximénez-Embún P, Kataru RP, Lopez AA, Merino C, Sánchez-Redondo S, Graña-Castro O, Matei I, Nicolás-Avila JÁ, Torres-Ruiz R, Rodríguez-Perales S, Martínez L, Pérez-Martínez M, Mata G, Szumera-Cieckiewicz A, Kalinowska I, Saltari A, Martínez-Gómez JM, Hogan SA, Saragovi HU, Ortega S, Garcia-Martin C, Boskovic J, Levesque MP, Rutkowski P, Hidalgo A, Muñoz J, Megías D, Mehrara BJ, Lyden D, Peinado H (2021). Melanoma-derived small extracellular vesicles induce lymphangiogenesis and metastasis through an NGFR-dependent mechanism. Nat Cancer 2, 1387-1405. CNIO Publication.
González-Martínez J, Cwetsch AW, Martínez-Alonso D, López-Sainz LR, Almagro J, Melati A, Gómez J, Pérez-Martínez M, Megías D, Boskovic J, Gilabert-Juan J, Graña-Castro O, Pierani A, Behrens A, Ortega S, Malumbres M. (2021). Deficient adaptation to centrosome duplication defects in neural progenitors causes microcephaly and subcortical heterotopias. JCI Insight 6, 146364. CNIO Publication.