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Staff Scientists
Post-Doctoral Fellows
- Giuseppe Bosso
- João Tiago Carvalho Jordão
- Buyun Ma
- Sergio Piñeiro
Graduate Students
- José Carlos González
- Óscar Laguía
- Jessica Louzame
- Amparo Sánchez
- Raúl Sánchez
Technicians
- Ana Guío
- Rosa María Serrano
We study the mechanisms by which tumour cells are immortal and normal cells are mortal. Immortality is one of the most universal characteristics of cancer cells. The enzyme telomerase is present in more than 95% of all types of human cancers and absent in normal cells in the body. Telomeres are nucleoprotein complexes located at the ends of chromosomes, essential for chromosome protection and genomic stability.
Progressive shortening of telomeres associated with organism ageing leads to ageing. When telomeres are altered, adult stem cells have a maimed regenerative capacity.
Our research focuses on:
- Generating mouse models to validate telomeres and telomerase as therapeutic targets for cancer and agerelated diseases.
- The interplay between telomeres and DNA repair pathways.
- The role and regulation of non-coding telomeric RNAs or TERRA.
- Testing telomerase gene therapy in ‘telomere syndromes’and age-related diseases.
- The role of telomerase and telomeres in adult stem cell biology and in nuclear reprogramming of differentiated cells to iPS cells.
Publications
- (2020). Transient Exposure to miR-203 Enhances the Differentiation Capacity of Established Pluripotent Stem Cells. EMBO J 39, e104324. CNIO Publication.
- (2020). Reply to Udroiu: Interesting Mathematical Analysis of Telomere Shortening Rate and Life Span. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 117, 2250. CNIO Publication.
- (2020). Dynamics of telomeric repeat-containing RNA expression in early embryonic cleavage stages with regards to maternal age. Aging (Albany NY) 12, 15906-15917. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2020). Screening protocol for the identification of modulators by immunofluorescent cell-based assay. Chem Biol Drug Des 95, 66-78. CNIO Publication.
- (2020). Telomerase treatment prevents lung profibrotic pathologies associated with physiological aging. J Cell Biol 219, e202002120.. CNIO Publication.
- (2020). 53BP1 Enforces Distinct Pre- And Post-resection Blocks on Homologous Recombination. Mol Cell 77, 26-38. CNIO Publication.
- (2020). The mTOR pathway is necessary for survival of mice with short telomeres.. Nat Commun 11, 1168. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2020). The effect of rapamycin on bovine oocyte maturation success and metaphase telomere length maintenance.. Aging (Albany NY) 12, 7576-7584. CNIO Publication.
- (2020). Splicing machinery dysregulation drives glioblastoma development/aggressiveness: oncogenic role of SRSF3. Brain 143, 3273-3293. CNIO Publication.
- (2020). Long telomeres: A new prognostic factor for severity in triple-negative breast cancer patients. J Transl Sci (in press). CNIO Publication.
- (2020). miR-490 suppresses telomere maintenance program and associated hallmarks in glioblastoma. Cell Mol Life Sci (in press). CNIO Publication.
- (2019). Telomerase gene therapy ameliorates the effects of neurodegeneration associated to short telomeres in mice. Aging (Albany NY) 11, 2916-2948. CNIO Publication.
- (2019). Multiple cancer pathways regulate telomere protection.. EMBO Mol Med 11, e10292. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2019). Maternal telomere length is shorter in intrauterine growth restriction versus uncomplicated pregnancies, but not in the offspring or in IVF-conceived newborns. Reprod Biomed Online 38, 606-612. CNIO Publication.
- (2019). Telomere shortening rate predicts species life span.. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116, 15122-15127. CNIO Publication.
- (2019). Safety of Whole-Body Abrogation of the TRF1 Shelterin Protein in Wild-Type and Cancer-Prone Mouse Models.. iScience 19, 572-585. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2019). The red blood cell proportion of arachidonic acid relates to shorter leukocyte telomeres in Mediterranean elders: A secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial. Clin Nutr 38, 958-961. CNIO Publication.
- (2019). Mice with hyper-long telomeres show less metabolic aging and longer lifespans. Nat Commun 10, 4723. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2019). TERRA regulate the transcriptional landscape of pluripotent cells through TRF1-dependent recruitment of PRC2. Elife 8, e44656. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2019). Slower Rates of Accumulation of DNA Damage in Leukocytes Correlate With Longer Lifespans Across Several Species of Birds and Mammals. Aging (Albany NY) 11, 9829-9845. CNIO Publication.
- (2018). Walnut Consumption for Two Years and Leukocyte Telomere Attrition in Mediterranean Elders: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial. Nutrients 10, pii: E1907. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2018). TERRA recruitment of polycomb to telomeres is essential for histone trymethylation marks at telomeric heterochromatin. Nat Commun 9, 1548. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2018). Heart-Breaking Telomeres. Circ Res 123, 787-802. CNIO Publication.
- (2018). Therapeutic effects of telomerase in mice with pulmonary fibrosis induced by damage to the lungs and short telomeres. Elife 7, e31299. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2018). AAV9-mediated telomerase activation does not accelerate tumorigenesis in the context of oncogenic K-Ras-induced lung cancer. Plos Genetics 14, e1007562. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2018). Mice lacking RAP1 show early onset and higher rates of DEN-induced hepatocellular carcinomas in female mice. PLoS One 13, e0204909. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2017). Inhibition of Trf1 telomere protein impairs tumor initiation and progression in glioblastoma multiform mouse models and patient-derived xenografts.. Cancer Cell 32, 590-607. CNIO Publication.
- (2017). Modulation of telomere protection by the PI3K/AKT pathway. Nat Commun 8, 1278. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2017). Long Live Partial Reprogramming.. Circ Res 120, 1381-1383. CNIO Publication.
- (2017). Telomere-driven diseases and telomere-targeting therapies. J Cell Biol 216, 875-887. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2017). Common Telomere Changes during In Vivo Reprogramming and Early Stages of Tumorigenesis. Stem Cell Reports 8, 460-475. CNIO Publication.
- (2017). Telomere length defines the cardiomyocyte differentiation potency of mouse induced pluripotent stem cells.. Stem Cells 35, 362-373. CNIO Publication.
- (2017). Gene therapy with the TRF1 telomere gene rescues decreased TRF1 levels with aging and prolongs mouse health span. Aging Cell 16, 1353-1368. CNIO Publication.
- (2017). Critically short telomeres and toxicity of chemotherapy in early breast cancer. Oncotarget 8, 21472-21842. CNIO Publication.
- (2017). p53 Modulates the Fate of Cardiac Progenitor Cells Ex Vivo and in the Diabetic Heart In Vivo. EBioMedicine 16, 224-237. CNIO Publication.
- (2016). Tissue damage and senescence provide critical signals for cellular reprogramming in vivo.. Science 354, pii: aaf4445.. CNIO Publication.
- (2016). Short Telomere Load, Telomere Length, and Subclinical Atherosclerosis: The PESA Study.. J Am Coll Cardiol 67, 2467-2476. CNIO Publication.
- (2016). Telomeric RNAs are essential to maintain telomeres. Nat Commun 7, 12534. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2016). Generation of mice with longer and better preserved telomeres in the absence of genetic manipulations. Nat Commun 7, 11739. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2016). Telomerase gene therapy rescues telomere length, bone marrow aplasia and survival in mice with aplastic anemia.. Blood 127, 1770-1779. CNIO Publication.
- (2016). A genetic interaction between RAP1 and telomerase reveals an unanticipated role for RAP1 in telomere maintenance. Aging Cell 15, 1113-1125. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2016). Molecular insights into the OGG1 gene, a cancer risk modifier in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations carriers. Oncotarget 7, 25815-25825. CNIO Publication.
Open Access
- (2016). Molecular Architecture of Full Length TRF1 Favors its Interaction with DNA.. J Biol Chem 291, 21829-21835. CNIO Publication.
- (2016). ATRX driver mutation in a composite malignant pheochromocytoma.. Cancer Genet 209, 272-277. CNIO Publication.
- (2016). Telomeres and telomerase as therapeutic targets to prevent and treat age-related diseases.. F1000Res 20, 5. CNIO Publication.