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MOLECULAR METABOLISM AND DISEASE

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biomedicine Faculty of Biology. University of Barcelona

Our research group is focused on the study of the molecular and physiological basis of control of energy metabolism, and how it relates to human pathologies. We study the molecular mechanisms of brown, beige and white adipocyte plasticity, as well as muscle and hepatic metabolism. Molecular actors conveying new metabolic and endocrine functions of cells, tissues and organs are identified and characterized. Identification of the signaling molecules determining cellular and organ cross-talk is a main research subject.

LATEST NEWS


Pablo Fernández from Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid; and Laura Fei, from University of Florence, Italy, completed fruitful research stays at our lab on distinct projects on adipocyte pathophysiology. Our lab is happy to host young promising researchers and we appreciate their input and enthusiasm.



Under the moto "Science is catchy", the University of Barcelona reports a
dialogue between Professor Marta Giralt and her daughter, doctoral student Palmira Llorens. On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the University of Barcelona released an interview about these issues with two women who live and share research in their closest environment: at home. They are Marta Giralt, from our research team, and her daughter Palmira Llorens, a PhD student in genetics at the UB.
For full information click here.



Our research team is proud to participate in the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the first academic year in the Historical Building of the University of Barcelona. A concert by the UB orchestra, in which our team member Dr. Joan Villarroya participates as a violinist, performing concert pieces by Catalan composers, kicks off the commemorative activities.







Increased adiposity is a current concern in people living with HIV treated with the last-generation antiretroviral drugs of the integrase inhibitor family. The platform NAM-AIDSMAP, devoted to provision of independent, accurate & accessible information about HIV, highlights our findings recently published in Life Sciences (doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2022.120948). We showed that the integrase inhibitor dolutegravir suppresses the production of adiponectin, a chemical secreted by fat tissue that regulates insulin sensitivity, which provides further evidence that dolutegravir can have direct effects on the human cells that store fat (see https://www.aidsmap.com/news/oct-2022/dolutegravir-has-direct-effects-fat-cells).







The "2nd symposium of research Institutes at University of Barcelona was devoted to interdisciplinary research on climate change and global warming. In this context, as a contribution from IBUB, Marta Giralt presented the current knowledge and research perpectives on the cross-talk between climate change events and obesity pandemics, and how worldwide altered adiposity is both a consequence and a potential actor in climate change and global warming.







The Stanford University has released a study on the 2% top influential worldwide scientists according to a complex analysis of publications and citations (see: https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/3). F. Villarroya and M. Giralt are among this 2% and F.Villarroya is in fact among the 1/1000 most influential worldwide researchers. Regardless of individuals, this success in scientific ranking is exemplifying the excellent task and dedication of everybody in our research team to advance in scientific knowledge and biomedical prospects in our research. Congrats to everybody!.







International Journal of Obesity quotes a selection of articles from 2021, which top the
Dr Tania Quesada was awarded for her PhD thesis supervised by Dr. M.Giralt and Dr. F.Villarroya. Among other contributions, the thesis gave rise to the publication "The lipid sensor GPR120 promotes brown fat activation and FGF21 release from adipocytes."  Nature Communications 2016, 7:13479. doi: 10.1038/ncomms13479. The rector of the University of Barcelona gave the award on the occasion of the ceremony in the "Paraninfo" of the University.







International Journal of Obesity quotes a selection of articles from 2021, which top the
Current research on the prevention of metabolic alterations such as obesity or cardiovascular disease in people living with HIV under antiretroviral treatments were presented to the general public of the Guinardó district , Barcelona. The recording of the presentation can be seen at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quDGLLBLQXM







International Journal of Obesity quotes a selection of articles from 2021, which top the
list of the journal’s most cited, downloaded and most shared (including press
coverage, blogs, Twitter, Facebook and Weibo) articles. They showcase the breadth of
scope and coverage that the journal consistently delivers to its readers. Our paper
“The chemokine CXCL14 is negatively associated with obesity and concomitant type-2
diabetes in humans” by R. Cereijo, T. Quesada-López, A. Gavaldà-Navarro, J. Tarascó, S.
Pellitero, M. Reyes, M. Puig-Domingo, M. Giralt, D. Sánchez-Infantes & F.Villarroya,
published in January 2021, has been selected. The article states the importance of
CXCL14 as a biomarker of obesity/diabetes in humans after our previous study in Cell
Metabolism 2018 identifying CXCL14 as a novel batokine on the basis of rodent model
studies. The International Journal of Obesity is a leading multi-disciplinary journal
from the Nature editorial group publishing research describing basic, clinical and
applied studies in obesity and related disorders.







The project "ACBP, a new cadiomyokine for dtection and treatment of cardiac disease" has been awarded as research project by "Sociedad Española de Cardiología" and "Fundación Española del Corazón 2021". The project is leaded by Anna Planavila with participation of Francesc Villarroya and Albert Blasco, and the award will support translational research on molecular cardiology. Dr Planavila received the award at the Awards Ceremony on occasion of the recent "SEC 2021 - Annual Congress of the Spanish Society of Cardiology" at Zaragoza, Spain, last October 29.



Since the affiliation of our research team at Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Deu, a fruitful program of collaborative research in pediatric endocrinology has developed with the team leaded by Dr. Lourdes Ibàñez. Recent results on the importance of sex differences in brown fat activity in the first year of life and the role of the batokine CXCL14 have been presented at the III IRSJD Scientific Meeting  held at Facultat de Biologia, University of Barcelona, the last  October, 28 These results have been recently published at J Clin Endocr Metab.



 




Obesity is expanding in dogs leading to disease conditions in these domestic pets and affecting their quality of life and that from their owners. Moreover, management of obesity in pets has relevant economic implications. F.Villarroya participated as invited speaker in the on-line symposium with a presentation on the mechanisms involved in the pathogenic consequences of hypertrophied fat, plasticity of adipose tissue and evidence of these phenomena in dogs.

 




The event of presentation of Sanna Laurila thesis, from the PET laboratory at the University of Turku, took place last 13 August, with Francesc Villarroya acting as opponent, a honorary role for doctorate qualification in the Finish University. The work by S.Laurila was related to the role of secretin in the control of human brown adipose tissue activity and was developed in the laboratory of K.Virtanen and P.Nuutila, international leader in research on human brown fat.





In line with our affiliation to Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu (IRSJD), we participated in a study published recently in Science Translational Medicine (DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abb0322), the prestigious journal from the Science group. This research, led by Dr. Carles Lerin at IRSJD, identified an inverse relationship between maternal breast milk betaine content and infant growth, and it was demonstrated that  maternal betaine supplementation during lactation induced a transient increase in offspring intestinal Akkermansia abundance, and reduced early weight gain. Furthermore, it was shown that maternal betaine supplementation decreased adiposity and improved glucose metabolism throughout adulthood, demonstrating a link between breast milk betaine content and long-term metabolic health. Our participation in this study is a follow up of  our long standing research on the molecular basis of the healthy properties of breastfeeding.
A recent article  (https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000918) published in PLOS Biology, presents a list of the 2% of scientists worldwide that lead different disciplines. This ranking has been conducted with the information provided by the Scopus database. Francesc Villarroya appears as one of these top 2% influential researchers in field of Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Albert Mestres Arenas, PhD student at our team, has been awarded by "Comissió de dinamització Lingüística de la Facultat de Biologia UB" with the prize to the best graduation thesis document written in Catalan (academic year 2019-20) for his work “Caracterització fenotípica del teixit adipós perivascular aòrtic i estudi comparatiu amb altres dipòsits adiposos”, developed at our laboratory. Congratulations!
The "Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu" (IRSJD) has been recognized by the Board of Trustees of the Institution of the Research Centers of Catalonia (CERCA) as a CERCA center. This  implies the recognition of the frontier biomedical research developed at IRSJD and oriented to the improvement of quality of life in children and adults. The CERCA recognition implies entering the Catalan research structure, as a top quality research center showing efficient management, and will allow access to additional funds to develop scientific activities.

Our research team has been part of IRSJD for a few years, which has enhanced our translational research in metabolism and endocrinology in collaboration with clinics at Sant Joan de Déu hospital. Examples of our translational research in pediatrics follow:


Reduced circulating levels of chemokine CXCL14 in adolescent girls with polycystic ovary syndrome: normalization after insulin sensitization.
García-Beltran C, Cereijo R, Quesada-López T, Malpique R, López-Bermejo A, de Zegher F, Ibáñez L, Villarroya F.
BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care. 2020 Feb;8(1):e001035.

Circulating growth-and-differentiation factor-15 in early life: relation to prenatal and postnatal growth and adiposity measurements.
Díaz M, Campderrós L, Guimaraes MP, López-Bermejo A, de Zegher F, Villarroya F, Ibáñez L.
Pediatr Res. 2020 Apr;87(5):897-902.

Growth Differentiation Factor 15 is a potential biomarker of therapeutic response for TK2 deficient myopathy.
Dominguez-Gonzalez C, Badosa C, Madruga-Garrido M, Martí I, Paradas C, Ortez C, Diaz-Manera J, Berardo A, Alonso-Pérez J, Trifunov S, Cuadras D, Kalko SG, Blázquez-Bermejo C, Cámara Y, Martí R, Mavillard F, Martin MA, Montoya J, Ruiz-Pesini E, Villarroya J, Montero R, Villarroya F, Artuch R, Hirano M, Nascimento A, Jimenez-Mallebrera C.
Sci Rep. 2020 Jun 22;10(1):10111.


Brown adipose tissue in prepubertal children: associations with sex, birthweight, and metabolic profile.
Malpique R, Gallego-Escuredo JM, Sebastiani G, Villarroya J, López-Bermejo A, de Zegher F, Villarroya F, Ibáñez L.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2019 Feb;43(2):384-391.


LAST PUBLICATIONS

Meteorin-like/Meteorin-β protects heart against cardiac dysfunction

C. Rupérez, G. Ferrer-Curriu, A. Cervera-Barea, L. Florit, M. Guitart-Mampel, G. Garrabou, M.Zamora, F. Crispi, J. Fernandez-Solà, J. Lupón, A. Bayes-Genis, F. Villarroya, A. Planavila

Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2021 May 3;218(5):e20201206.
doi: 10.1084/jem.20201206.

Meteorin-like/Meteorin-β (Metrnl/Metrnβ) is a secreted protein produced by skeletal muscle and adipose tissue that exerts metabolic actions that improve glucose metabolism. The role of Metrnβ in cardiac disease is completely unknown. Here, we show that Metrnβ-null mice exhibit asymmetrical cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and enhanced signs of cardiac dysfunction in response to isoproterenol-induced cardiac hypertrophy and aging. Conversely, adeno-associated virus-mediated specific overexpression of Metrnβ in the heart prevents the development of cardiac remodeling. Furthermore, Metrnβ inhibits cardiac hypertrophy development in cardiomyocytes in vitro, indicating a direct effect on cardiac cells. Antibody-mediated blockage of Metrnβ in cardiomyocyte cell cultures indicated an autocrine action of Metrnβ on the heart, in addition to an endocrine action. Moreover, Metrnβ is highly produced in the heart, and analysis of circulating Metrnβ concentrations in a large cohort of patients reveals that it is a new biomarker of heart failure with an independent prognostic value.

CONTACT US

  • 934021523 / 606148772
  • g.moreno@ub.edu
  • Departament de Bioquímica i Biomedicina Molecular.
    Facultat de Biologia (UB)
    Avda. Diagonal, 645
    Edifici nou Pl. -1
    08028 Barcelona

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