The Brain Tumor Research Laboratory (BTL: Brain Tumour Lab) is formed by a multidisciplinary team of researchers. The group includes Molecular and Cellular Biologists, Biotechnologists and Physicians, with extensive experience in basic and translational research. These researchers are in direct contact with the specific problems of the different types of brain tumors; developing different projects aimed at increasing the knowledge of the biology of these tumors, through in vitro and in vivo models and identifying new therapeutic targets, diagnostic biomarkers, drug monitoring and sensitivity, and evaluation or improvement of different therapeutic alternatives. In addition, the group is strongly committed both to the continuing education of clinical staff and to the training of new researchers.

In this sense, it participates in research rotations programs, and has pre-doctoral students, master students and students from exchanges through different programs.

Dr. Angel Ayuso Sacido   angel.ayuso@ufv.es

Dr. Noemí García Romero
Dr. Rodrigo Madurga Lacalle

Álvaro Monago Sánchez
Sara Aljama López
Irina Palacín Aliana
Ana Hernández Martínez

Pepa Carrión Navarro

The main lines of research on which the group has focused its work in 2017 are described below.

1. Study of the biology of tumor stem cells isolated from surgical samples of patients and their use as a model in vitro and in vivo for the identification of new therapeutic targets, evaluation of drug response and the development of new therapeutic approaches.
2. Study of adult stem cell biology, microenvironments and alterations leading to tumor stem cell formation.
3. Study of the influence of metabolism and changes in metabolomic profiles on the tumor microenvironment.
4. Identification and validation of diagnostic/prognostic markers for disease monitoring and treatment response from solid and liquid biopsies taken throughout the course of the disease.
5. Evaluation of different immunotherapy-based approaches for the treatment of brain tumors.
6. Evaluation of oncolytic virus-based therapies for the treatment of brain tumors.
7. To transfer to clinical practice the latest advances in research in the field of central nervous system tumors, as well as to contribute to the dissemination of these advances to patients and their families

Development of a dynamic platform for rapid detection of actionable molecular alterations from liquid and solid biopsies of oncology patients. Retos Colaboración

Code according to the funding entity: RTC2019- 006918-1

Start-End date: 01/07/2020 – 31/12/2022

Total amount: € 244,450

 

Use of liquid biopsy in the clinical management of adult and pediatric brain tumors.

Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Exp.: PI17/01489)

Start-End date: 01/01/2018 – 31/12/2020

Total amount: € 123,400

 

Study of response to treatment, among patients of different sex, diagnosed with high-grade glial brain tumor, linked to differences in tumor biology.

La Caixa

Code according to the funding entity: 2019

Start-End date: 01/10/2019 – 30/09/2020

Total amount: € 20,000

 

Towards an active bypass for neural reconnection. Horizon 2020 – Research and Innovation Framework

Programme (-FETOPEN-1-2016-2017); Proposal (737116 – ByAxon)

European Commission

Start-End date: 01/01/2017 – 01/01/2020

Total amount: € 3,752,058

 

Utilization of liquid biopsies for the molecular diagnostic and follow-up of pediatric patients with DIPG.

Fundación Mutua Madrileña

Start-End date: 01/09/2016 – 01/09/2019

Total amount: € 70,000

 

Evaluate the potential antitumoral effects of the PharmaMar Compound in the most common Glioblastoma phenotypes.

PharmaMar € 30,000

 

Prediction of response to immunotherapy in patients with GBM based on their immune profile, and identification of biomarkers in liquid biopsy. PI21/01353.

Sponsor: Vithas-UFV

Total amount: € 171,820

Pienkowski T, Kowalczyk T, Garcia-Romero N, Ayuso-Sacido A, Ciborowski M.Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer. 2022 Mar 15:188721.Proteomics and metabolomics approach in adult and pediatric glioma diagnostics. doi: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2022.188721.

Crainiciuc G, Palomino-Segura M, Molina-Moreno M, Sicilia J, Aragones DG, Li JLY, Madurga R, Adrover JM, Aroca-Crevillén A, Martin-Salamanca S, Del Valle AS, Castillo SD, Welch HCE, Soehnlein O, Graupera M, Sánchez-Cabo F, Zarbock A, Smithgall TE, Di Pilato M, Mempel TR, Tharaux PL, González SF, Ayuso-Sacido A, Ng LG, Calvo GF, González-Díaz I, Díaz-de-María F, Hidalgo A.Nature. 2022 Jan;601(7893):415-421.. Epub 2022 Jan 5. Behavioural immune landscapes of inflammation. doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04263-y

Hernández Martínez A, Madurga R, García-Romero N, Ayuso-Sacido Á.Cancer Lett. 2022 Feb 28;527:66-79. Epub 2021 Dec 10. Unravelling glioblastoma heterogeneity by means of single-cell RNA sequencing. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2021.12.008.

Duraj T, Carrión-Navarro J, Seyfried TN, García-Romero N, Ayuso-Sacido A.Mol Metab. 2021 Dec;54:101389. Epub 2021 Nov 5. Metabolic therapy and bioenergetic analysis: The missing piece of the puzzle. doi: 10.1016/j.molmet.2021.101389.

Palacín-Aliana I, García-Romero N, Asensi-Puig A, Carrión-Navarro J, González-Rumayor V, Ayuso-Sacido Á.Biomedicines. 2021 Jul 28;9(8):906. Clinical Utility of Liquid Biopsy-Based Actionable Mutations Detected via ddPCR. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines9080906.

Duraj T, García-Romero N, Carrión-Navarro J, Madurga R, Mendivil AO, Prat-Acin R, Garcia-Cañamaque L, Ayuso-Sacido A.Cells. 2021 Jan 20;10(2):202. Beyond the Warburg Effect: Oxidative and Glycolytic Phenotypes Coexist within the Metabolic Heterogeneity of Glioblastoma. doi: 10.3390/cells10020202.

Noemi Garcia Romero; Sergio Rius Rocabert; Antonia Garcia; Angel Ayuso Sacido; Estanislao Nistal Villan. Oncolytic Virotherapy in Glioma Tumors. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 20 – 7604, MDPI.

Madurga R, García-Romero N, Jiménez B, Collazo A, Pérez-Rodríguez F, Hernández-Laín A, Fernández-Carballal C, Prat-Acín R, Zanin M, Menasalvas E, Ayuso-Sacido Á. Normal tissue content impact on the GBM molecular classification. Brief Bioinform. 2020 Jul 7:bbaa129.

García-Romero N, Palacín-Aliana I, Madurga R, Carrión-Navarro J, Esteban-Rubio S, Jiménez B, Collazo A, Pérez-Rodríguez F, Ortiz de Mendivil A, Fernández-Carballal C, García-Duque S, Diamantopoulos-Fernández J, Belda-Iniesta C, Prat-Acín R, Sánchez-Gómez P, Calvo E, Ayuso-Sacido A. Bevacizumab dose adjustment to improve clinical outcomes of glioblastoma. BMC Med. 2020 Jun 22;18(1):142.

Ricardo Gargini, Berta Segura, Esther Hernández-SanMiguel, Vega Garcia-Escudero, Andrés Romero-Bravo, Beatriz Herránz, Felipe J Núñez, Daniel García-Pérez, Angel Ayuso-Sacido, Joan Seoane, Juan M. Sepúlveda-Sánchez, Aurelio Hernández-Laín, María G. Castro, Ramón García-Escudero, Jesús Ávila and Pilar Sánchez-Gómez. The IDH-Tau-EGFR triad defines the neovascular landscape of diffuse gliomas by controlling mesenchymal differentiation. Science Translational Medicine 2020 Jan 22;12(527): eaax1501.

García-Romero N, Carrión-Navarro J, Areal-Hidalgo P, Ortiz de Mendivil A, Asensi-Puig A, Madurga R, Núñez-Torres R, González-Neira A, Belda-Iniesta C, González-Rumayor V, López-Ibor B, Ayuso-Sacido A. BRAF V600E Detection in Liquid Biopsies from Pediatric Central Nervous System Tumors. Cancers (Basel). 2019 Dec 25;12(1):66.

Guillermo Aldave, Marisol Gonzalez-Huarriz, Angel Rubio, Juan Pablo Romero, Datta Ravi, Belén Miñana, Mar Cuadrado-Tejedor, Ana García-Osta, Roeland Verhaak, Enric Xipell, Naiara Martinez-Vélez, Arlet Acanda de la Rocha, Montserrat Puigdelloses, Marc García-Moure, Miguel Marigil, Jaime Gállego Pérez-Larraya, Oskar Marín-Bejar, Maite Huarte, Maria Stella Carro, Roberto Ferrarese, Cristobal Belda-Iniesta, Angel Ayuso, Ricardo Prat-Acín, Fernando Pastor, Ricardo Díez-Valle, Sonia Tejada, and Marta M. Alonso. The aberrant splicing of BAF45d links splicing regulation and transcription in glioblastoma. Neuro-Oncology. 2018 18;20(7):930-941. doi: 10.1093/neuonc/noy007.

Noemi García Romero, Susana Esteban-Rubio, Gorjana Rackov, Josefa Carrión-Navarro, Cristobal Belda-Iniesta and Angel Ayuso-Sacido. Extracellular vesicles compartment in liquid biopsies: clinical application. Molecular Aspects of Medicine. 2018, 60:27-37. doi: 10.1016/j.mam.2017.11.009.

Peris-Celda, M., Carrión-Navarro, J., Palacín-Aliana, I., Sánchez-Gómez, P., Acín, R. P., Garcia-Romero, N., & Ayuso-Sacido, A. (2022). Suppressor of fused associates with dissemination patterns in patients with glioma. Frontiers in oncology, 12, 923681.

Erices JI, Niechi I, Uribe-Ojeda A, Toro MLÁ, García-Romero N, Carrión-Navarro J, Monago-Sánchez Á, Ayuso-Sacido Á, Martin RS, Quezada-Monrás C. The low affinity A2B adenosine receptor enhances migratory and invasive capacity in vitro and angiogenesis in vivo of glioblastoma stem-like cells. Front Oncol. 2022 Aug 18;12:969993. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.969993. PMID: 36059665; PMCID: PMC9433907.

Irina Palacin Aliana; Pepa Carrión Navarro; Angel Ayuso Sacido; Noemi Garcia Romero. Translational Autoimmunity. Elsevier, 04/2022. Autoimmunity regulation within the tumor microenvironment.