Genomic Instability Group

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Research Scientists

  • Vanesa Lafarga
  • Matilde Murga

Post-Doctoral Fellows

  • Ivó Hernández

Graduate Students

  • Gema López
  • Jorge Mota
  • Belén Navarro
  • Anabel Sáez

Technicians

  • Marta Elena Antón
  • Alicia González
  • Mario López
  • Sara Rodrigo

The Genomic Instability Group focuses its research on understanding the molecular mechanisms leading to cancer and other age-related diseases, with the ultimate goal of translating this knowledge into novel therapeutic strategies. Our initial investigations centred on Replicative Stress (RS), a type of DNA damage sensed by the ATR kinase, and that is particularly abundant in some cancer cells. Our work in this area led to the discovery of selective ATR inhibitors that were further improved to enable their clinical development as anticancer agents. Next, we became increasingly interested in understanding the mechanisms of drug resistance to specific agents, such as inhibitors of ATR or USP7. More recently, our group has revealed that one of the most frequent mutations in human cancer, inactivation of the tumour suppressor FBXW7, leads to multidrug resistance (MDR). Importantly, we have also discovered strategies to overcome MDR, which is an important area of our current research.

Publications

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