Genexartis

Research

Insulin Resistance

We aim to determine the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of insulin resistance and, in particular, to identify novel obesity and type 2 diabetes susceptibility genes. This general objective is structured into five different reseach lines:

  • 1. Identification of genes responsible for the development of insulin resistance associated with obesity or type 2 diabetes, with special emphasis on those genes implicated in novel mechanisms involving mitochondrial processes (i.e., mitochondrial dynamics), encoding proteins involved in the regulation of nuclear gene expression, or encoding proteins involved in novel signalling events
  • 2. Analysis of the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of lipotoxicity
  • 3. Pathophysiology of muscle metabolism in insulin resistant state: role of neuregulins
  • 4. Role of caveolin-1/caveolae on the physiology of the adipose cell
  • 5. Identification of novel targets and development of new compounds for the treatment of the metabolic syndrome

Heteromeric Amino acid Transporters

We aim to determine the molecular mechanisms involved in the transport mechanism of the Heteromeric Amino acid Transporters (HATs) and in the role of these transporters in tumorigenesis This general objective is structured in four research lines:

  • 1. Atomic structure of prokaryotic homologues of the light subunits of HATs
  • 2. Atomic structure of mammalian HATs
  • 3. Structure-function relationship of HATs
  • 4. Analysis of the molecular mechanisms involved in the role of 4F2hc in tumorigenesis