Biology of Neurodegeneration and Ageing Research Group
The Research Group on the Biology of Neurodegeneration and Ageing investigates the biological bases that promote the onset and progress of Alzheimer's and other ageing-related diseases.
It has three objectives:
- understanding ageing-related processes that determine the progressive neurodegeneration observed in Alzheimer's disease;
- proposing new markers that can be used for the diagnosis and prognosis of Alzheimer's disease;
- roposing and validating, in pre-clinical models, new therapeutic strategies based on the biological mechanisms of ageing that may be useful for Alzheimer's disease.
Research lines
Characterisation of new markers of senescence
Accumulation of senescent cells has been shown to play an important role in ageing and, above all, related diseases, such as Alzheimer's. Current hypotheses suggest that excessive presence of senescent cells in the brain generates a microenvironment favourable to the accumulation of aggregates and the progression of neurodegeneration characteristic of Alzheimer's. Therefore, markers that help detect the presence of senescent cells in the brain could be used to predict the risk of developing Alzheimer's and measure the speed of progression of the disease. Using a mixture of animal models and clinical samples, and applying the most advanced omics technologies, we look for markers in blood and cerebrospinal fluid that serve to measure the changes appearing in a brain with Alzheimer's.
Defining new therapeutic possibilities for Alzheimer's
Discovering that senescent cells play an important role in the progression of Alzheimer's disease opens up new therapeutic possibilities. Using the senescence markers described in the laboratory and the tools we have been developing (which include everything from new drugs to nanoparticles, antibodies and even dietary interventions), we can propose new treatments aimed at slowing down Alzheimer's disease and test them in animal models, and also in preliminary clinical trials in patients.
