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DIBIOMEC. Disease Biomarker and Molecular Mechanism Group

ONCOLOGY
TARGETS

Our group Disease Biomarker and Molecular Mechanism (DIBIOMEC) was created in 2016 and belongs to the Pere Virgili Research Institute (IISPV) and the Joan XXIII University Hospital of Tarragona (HJ23). The group has also been recognized as a group consolidated by the Agency for the Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) of the Generalitat de Catalunya – Universitat Rovira i Virgili.

The main focus of the research is centred in the search of biomarkers for the diagnosis and/or prognosis of inflammatory-related diseases. The search of biomarkers is mainly based on exosome-associated microRNAs and we deepen into their related targets-genes in order to be used as therapeutic targets. Our group has also a strong background in the study of the inflammatory axis composed of the cytokine TWEAK and its receptor Fn14 in low degree inflammatory environments such as obesity or higher inflammatory microenvironments such as cancer or rheumatoid arthritis. Our research is done in close proximity to the patients, where our goal is to translate our discoveries to the clinic. To that end, we have a multidisciplinary group, that associates urologists, pathologists, and basic scientists that ask relevant clinical questions that need biological answers. Our workflow contemplates information obtained from patients that are translated to in vitro experiments to answer these questions. This design is used to find possible biomarkers for clinical diagnosis and/or prognosis and to decipher their molecular mechanism of action.

RESPONSIBLE

  • Matilde Rodríguez Chacón

  • Research lines
  • Team members
  • Research projects
  • Patents and technology transfer
  • Publications
  • Contacto

1. Role of TWEAK/Fn14 axis in the inflammatory and metabolic environment of bladder and kidney cancer

2. Role of Peritumoral adipose tissue in cancer aggressiveness

3. Characterization of cancer microenvironment exovesicles and its cargo as new cancer biomarkers for target design.

  • 1. PROJECT TITLE: Identification of TWEAK regulated Exo-oncomicroRNAs in the crosstalk between peritumoral adipose tissue and prostate cancer cells. Usefulness as biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis. FUNDIGN ENTITY: Instituo de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) PROJECT Nº: PI20/00418 PERIOD: 2021-2023 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Matilde Rodriguez Chacón, Co-PI: Xavier Ruiz Plazas

  • 2. PROJECT TITLE: Búsqueda de biomarcadores de diagnóstico en suero de pacientes con artritis reumatoide temprana mediante un enfoque multiomico combinado FUNDIGN ENTITY: Societat Catalana de Reumatologia (Beca Lilly) PERIOD: 2022-2024 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Samantha Rodriguez Co-IP: Matilde Rodriguez Chacón

  • 3. PROJECT TITLE: ExomicroRNAs asociados a artritis reumatoide naïve en biopsia líquida como biomarcadores tempranos de la enfermedad FUNDIGN ENTITY: Societat Catalana de Reumatologia (Beca Lilly) PERIOD: 2020-2022 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Samantha Rodriguez Co-IP: Matilde Rodriguez Chacón

  • 4. PROJECT TITLE: Evaluation of sTWEAK / Fn14 / CD163 axis as potential predictive biomarkers of immunological recovery and disease progression in HIV-infected patients under virological suppression. FUNDIGN ENTITY: IISPV. BOOSTING YOUNG TALENT CALL PERIOD: 2020-2021. PI: Anna Rull TEAM MEMBER: Matilde Rodriguez Chacón AMOUNT GRANTED

  • 5. PROJECT TITLE: Identification and functional characterization of microRNAs regulated by the TWEAK cytokine in the context of prostate cancer: search for new biological markers of diagnosis and prognosis as well as new therapeutic targets FUNDIGN ENTITY: Fundación Vallformosa. IV Premi Martí Via PERIOD: 2019-2020 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Xavier Ruiz-Plazas Co-PI: Matilde Rodriguez Chacón

  • 6. PROJECT TITLE: Study the TWEAK cytokine and its Fn14 and CD163 receptors as potential noninvasive biomarkers in the context of prostate cancer. Relationship with the patient’s metabolic status FUNDIGN ENTITY: ISCIII PROJECT Nº: PI 17/00877 PERIOD: 2018-2020 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Matilde Rodríguez Chacón, Co-PI: Xavier Ruiz Plazas

  • 7. PROJECT TITLE: Study of the TWEAK / Fn14 / CD163 axis as a panel of non-invasive biomarkers in the diagnosis / prognosis of prostate cancer. FUNDIGN ENTITY: Fundación Para la Investigación en urología. Ayuda a la investigación Pedro Cifuentes Diaz PERIOD: 2018-2019 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Matilde Rodríguez Chacón Co-PI: Xavier Ruiz Plazas

  • 8. PROJECT TITLE: Analyses of the global kinase activities in adipose tissue to find molecular differences resulting from insulin resistance across different clinical phenotypes from lean to obese and type 2 diabetic patients. Discovery of new targets for therapy PROJECT Nº: (86/C/2016). FUNDIGN ENTITY: Marató TV3 PERIOD: 2017-2019 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Joan Vendrell Ortega TEAM MEMBER: Matilde Rodriguez Chacón

  • 9. PROJECT TITLE: Identification and characterization of microRNAs regulated by sTWEAK in the adipocyte and its role in the inflammatory response associated with Insulin Resistance. Analysis of its usefulness as biomarkers in the Pizarra and di@bet.es studies. FUNDIGN ENTITY: ISCIII PROJECT Nº: PI 14/00465 PERIOD: 2015-2018 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (PI): Matilde Rodríguez Chacón

  • INVENTORS: Matilde Rodríguez Chacón, Xavier Ruiz Plazas, Josep Segarra Tomás, Joan Francesc García Fontgivell, Salomé Martínez González, Javier Lozano Bartolomé. TÍTLE: Biomarcadors d’agressivitat de càncer de pròstata No: EP18382842.5 APPLICATION DATE: 22/11/2018 INSTITUTION: Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV)

  • INVENTORS: Matilde Rodríguez Chacón, Xavier Ruiz Plazas, Josep Segarra Tomás, Joan Francesc García Fontgivell, Salomé Martínez González, Javier Lozano Bartolomé, Antón Altuna-Coy. TÍTLE: biomarkers of prostate cancer aggressiveness No: PCT/EP2019/082081 APPLICATION DATE: 22/11/2019 INSTITUTION: Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV) https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2020104588&tab=PCTDOCUMENTS

    Year

    Altuna-Coy A, Ruiz-Plazas X, Sánchez-Martin S, Ascaso-Til H, Prados-Saavedra M, Alves-Santiago M, Bernal-Escoté X, Segarra-Tomás J, Chacón M.R. The lipidomic profile of the tumoral periprostatic adipose tissue reveals alterations in tumor cell's metabolic crosstalk. BMC Med. 2022 Aug 18;20(1):255. doi: 10.1186/s12916-022-02457-3IF: 11,1 Q1
    López C, Bosch R, Korzynska A, García-Rojo M, Bueno G, García-Fontgivell JF, Martínez González S, Gras Navarro A, Sauras Colón E, Casanova Ribes J, Roszkowiak L, Mata D, Arenas M, Gómez J, Roso A, Berenguer M, Reverté-Villarroya S, Llobera M, Baucells J, Lejeune M. CD68 and CD83 immune populations in non-metastatic axillary lymph nodes are of prognostic value for the survival and relapse of breast cancer patients. Breast Cancer. 2022 Jul;29(4):618-635. doi: 10.1007/s12282-022-01336-2. Epub 2022 Feb 8. PMID: 35137329 .IF etc.-
    Rodríguez-Muguruza S, Altuna-Coy A, Castro-Oreiro S, Poveda-Elices MJ, Fontova-Garrofé R, Chacón MR. A Serum Biomarker Panel of exomiR-451a, exomiR-25-3p and Soluble TWEAK for Early Diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Front Immunol. 2021 Nov 15;12: 790880. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.790880. eCollection 2021. PMID: 34868079
    Altuna-Coy, A.; Ruiz-Plazas, X.; Alves-Santiago, M.; Segarra-Tomás, J.; Chacón, M.R. Serum Levels of the Cytokine TWEAK Are Associated with Metabolic Status in Patients with Prostate Cancer and Modulate Cancer Cell Lipid Metabolism In Vitro. Cancers 2021, 13, 4688. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13184688. IF: 6.639 Q1 (WOS): 4
    Ruiz-Plazas X, Altuna-Coy A, Alves-Santiago M, Vila-Barja J, García-Fontgivell JF, Martínez-González S, Segarra-Tomás J, Chacón MR. Liquid Biopsy-Based Exo oncomiRNAs Can Predict Prostate Cancer Aggressiveness. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Jan 11;13(2):250. doi: 10.3390/cancers13020250. IF: 6.126 Q1 Citations (WOS): 5
    López C, Gibert-Ramos A, Bosch R, Korzynska A, García-Rojo M, Bueno G, García-Fontgivell JF, Martínez González S, Fontoura L, Gras Navarro A, Sauras Colón E, Casanova Ribes J, Roszkowiak L, Roso A, Berenguer M, Llobera M, Baucells J, Lejeune M. Differences in the Immune Response of the Nonmetastatic Axillary Lymph Nodes between Triple-Negative and Luminal A Breast Cancer Surrogate Subtypes. Am J Pathol. 2021 Mar;191(3):545-554. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2020.11.008. Epub 2020 Dec 10. IF: 6.126 Q1 Citations (WOS): 5
    López C, Gibert-Ramos A, Bosch R, Korzynska A, García-Rojo M, Bueno G, García-Fontgivell JF, Martínez González S, Fontoura L, Gras Navarro A, Sauras Colón E, Casanova Ribes J, Roszkowiak L, Roso A, Berenguer M, Llobera M, Baucells J, Lejeune M. Differences in the Immune Response of the Nonmetastatic Axillary Lymph Nodes between Triple-Negative and Luminal A Breast Cancer Surrogate Subtypes. Am J Pathol. 2021 Mar;191(3):545-554. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2020.11.008. Epub 2020 Dec 10.
    Ruiz-Plazas X, Rodríguez-Gallego E, Alves M, Altuna-Coy A, Lozano-Bartolomé J, Portero-Otin M, García-Fontgivell JF, Martínez-González S, Segarra J, Chacón MR. Biofluid quantification of TWEAK/Fn14 axis in combination with a selected biomarker panel improves assessment of prostate cancer aggressiveness. J Transl Med. 2019 Sep 9;17(1):307. doi: 10.1186/s12967-019-2053-6 IF: 4.098 Q1
    Fabià Mayans A, Segarra Tomás J, Ascaso Til H, Serra Deola A, Centeno Álvarez C, Ruiz Plazas X, Prados Saavedra M, Vila Barja J, Santillana Altimira JM. Bladder foreign body. Arch Esp Urol. 2018 Mar;71(2):224.
    Fabia Mayans A, Ascaso Til H, Centeno Alvarez C, Serra Deola A, Segarra Tomás J. Posterior Walnut Cracker Syndrome as a cause of gross hematuria. Arch Esp Urol. 2018 Jul;71(6):560-561. PMID: 29991667
    Lozano-Bartolomé J, Llauradó G, Portero-Otin M, Altuna-Coy A, Rojo-Martínez G, Vendrell J, Jorba R, Rodríguez-Gallego E, Chacón MR. Altered Expression of miR-181a-5p and miR-23a-3p Is Associated With Obesity and TNFα-Induced Insulin Resistance. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2018 Apr 1;103(4):1447-1458. doi: 10.1210/jc.2017-01909. IF: 5.605 Q1

Team Members

  • Principal Investigador

    • Matilde Rodríguez Chacón

  • Basic Researchers

    • Antonio Altuna Coy
    • Silvia Sánchez Martin
    • Veronica Arreaza Gil

  • Undergraduate students

    • Marina Mendieta Homs
    • Pablo Lopez Ribelles

  • Urologist

    • Xavier Ruiz Plazas
    • José Segarra Tomás

  • Pathologist

    • Joan García Fontgivell
    • Xana Bernal Escoté

  • Rheumatologist

    • Samantha Rodriguez Muguruza
    • Ramón Fontova Garrofé

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