Medicinal Chemistry Section

Sonia Martínez Head of Section
T +34 (+34) 917 328 000 (Ext 3739)
smartinezg@cnio.es

Staff Scientists

Ana B. García
Cristina Ana Gómez
Esther González
Sonsoles Rodríguez
Carmen Varela

Technicians

Lucía De Andrés
Francisco Javier García

The Medicinal Chemistry Section is part of the interdisciplinary Experimental Therapeutics Programme dedicated to early Drug Discovery. Our activities consist of the design and synthesis of potential drugs with a therapeutic use in the field of cancer. Other activities integrated in our Section include the synthesis of high-quality chemical probes – potent, selective and cell-permeable compounds that are essential for target validation activities and the early stages of the drug discovery process. Additionally, we help CNIO’s basic research groups to decipher the mechanism of action that mediates an observed phenotype in cancer cells after screening for small organic molecules. Identifying the molecular target is essential to increase our knowledge about cancer and is a great aid to start drug discovery activities. To do this, we synthesise affinity chemical probes that enable cellular localisation of the target through imaging techniques and target identification through pull-down experiments coupled with proteomics.

Publications

Klett J, Gómez-Casero E, Méndez-Pertuz M, Urbano-Cuadrado M, Megias D, Blasco MA, Martínez S, Pastor J, Blanco-Aparicio C (2020). Screening protocol for the identification of modulators by immunofluorescent cell-based assay. Chem Biol Drug Des 95, 66-78. CNIO Publication.
Cash TP, Alcalá S, Rico-Ferreira MDR, Hernández-Encinas E, García J, Albarrán MI, Valle S, Muñoz J, Martínez-González S, Blanco-Aparicio C, Pastor J, Serrano M, Sainz B Jr (2020). Induction of Lysosome Membrane Permeabilization as a Therapeutic Strategy to Target Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells. Cancers (in press). CNIO Publication. Open Access
Trigg RM, Lee LC, Prokoph N, Jahangiri L, Reynolds CP, Amos Burke GA, Probst NA, Han M, Matthews JD, Kai Lim H, Manners E, Martinez S, Pastor J, Blanco-Aparicio C, Merkel O, de Los Fayos Alonso IG, Kodajova P, Tangermann S, Högler S, Luo J, Kenner L, Turner SD. (2019). The targetable kinase PIM1 drives ALK inhibitor resistance in high-risk neuroblastoma independent of MYCN status.. Nat Commun 10, 5428. CNIO Publication. Open Access
López-Guadamillas E, Muñoz-Martin M, Martinez S, Pastor J, Fernandez-Marcos PJ, Serrano M (2016). PI3K inhibition reduces obesity in mice.. Aging (Albany NY) 8, 2747-2753. CNIO Publication.
Aragoneses-Fenoll L, Montes-Casado M, Ojeda G, Acosta YY, Herranz J, Martínez S, Blanco-Aparicio C, Criado G, Pastor J, Dianzani U, Portolés P, Rojo JM (2016). ETP-46321, a dual p110a/d class IA phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor modulates T lymphocyte activation and collagen-induced arthritis. Biochem Pharmacol 106, 56-59. CNIO Publication.
Ortega-Molina A, Lopez-Guadamillas E, Mattison JA, Mitchell SJ, Muñoz-Martin M, Iglesias G, Gutierrez VM, Vaughan KL, Szarowicz MD, González-García I, López M, Cebrián D, Martinez S, Pastor J, de Cabo R, Serrano M (2015). Pharmacological inhibition of PI3K reduces adiposity and metabolic syndrome in obese mice and rhesus monkeys.. Cell Metab 21, 558-570. CNIO Publication.
García-Beccaria M, Martínez P, Méndez-Pertuz M, Martínez S, Blanco-Aparicio C, Cañamero M, Mulero F, Ambrogio C, Flores JM, Megias D, Barbacid M, Pastor J, Blasco MA (2015). Therapeutic inhibition of TRF1 impairs the growth of p53-deficient K-RasG12V-induced lung cancer by induction of telomeric DNA damage. EMBO Mol Med 7, 930-949. CNIO Publication. Open Access
Alonso-Curbelo D, Osterloh L, Cañón E, Calvo TG, Martínez-Herranz R, Karras P, Martínez S, Riveiro-Falkenbach E, Romero PO, Rodríguez-Peralto JL, Pastor J, Soengas MS (2015). RAB7 counteracts PI3K-driven macropinocytosis activated at early stages of melanoma development. Oncotarget 6, 11848-11862. CNIO Publication. Open Access