The role playing by RNA-binding proteins in physiological situations as development, or pathophysiological situations as the interface of the apoptosis regulation and the development and/or establishment of the program of cell proliferation/transformation or cancer.

The research activity of our group has been focused on molecular aspects of the protist Leishmania and the immune-pathology that the infection of this parasite causes. On the one hand, we are studying molecular processes associated with the peculiar mechanisms of gene expression in an organism in which transcriptional regulation is almost absent.

The group belongs to the Biomedical Network Research Centre for Rare Diseases (CIBERER) and to Hospital La Paz Institute for Health Research (IdiPaz). Our work is focused on rare neurometabolic diseases, performing translational studies by the generation and charactetrization of cellular and animal models of disease, as research tools to understand underlying molecular and physiopathological mechanismsm, to identify biomarkers and novel therapeutical targets.

Our team is interested in the actions of steroids in the nervous system, with particular emphasis in their neuroprotective effects. Neuroactive steroids include hormonal steroids, such as estradiol, and steroids locally synthesized by neural cells.

Estudio de la neurobiologia de la enfermedad de Parkinson y el sistema dopaminérgico. Desarrollo de protocolos de trasplante de neuronas dopaminérgicas derivadas de IPs humanas en modelos animales para su posible traslación a terapias celulares en la Enfermedad de Parkinson

The laboratory is interested in the role played by IGFs in the adult brain. Knowledge of the biology of these growth factors will help us understand the physiology of neuroprotective processes to mimic or potentiate them with new drugs. Using this approach we have described new neuroprotective mechanisms and novel druggable targets for neurodegenerative diseases.

Javier DeFelipe’s laboratory has an extensive experience in the analysis on the microorganization of the cerebral cortex using various techniques (intracellular injections, histochemical and immunocytochemical techniques for light and electron microscopy, 3D reconstruction methods). In 1991, he began studies of normal human cerebral cortex and epileptic patients. In parallel, since 2006, he progressed on the study of Alzheimer's disease. In 2009, he started the participation in the Blue Brain project.

The goal of our laboratory is to understand the normal and pathological function of microcircuits of the hippocampal and para-hippocampal regions. In particular, we are interested in the mechanisms underlying diverse forms of neuronal activity, from immature population bursting to hippocampal rhythms and temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). We use a combination of electrophysiological, morphological and computational approaches.

The general work topic of Dr. Nieto Sampedro during the past 35 years has being the study of the molecular bases of neural plasticity and the possibility of using neural plasticity in the functional repair of the injured central nervous system (CNS).

The keywords that best describe the group are: identity, memory, pluriculturality, migration, globalization, gender, body, ontologies and posthumanism. This research group focus on the issues of collective identities and multiculturalism as they manifest in current societies. As far as this subject is concerned, the present and powerful globalization processes offer to the researchers a huge field of observation and analysis.