Maria Abad

Vall d’Hebron Institut d’Oncologia (VHIO), Barcelona

  • CAIXARESEARCH
    AWARDEE

    Maria Abad
    Vall d’Hebron Institut d’Oncologia (VHIO), Barcelona
    Project leader

  • PROJECT TITLE

    Defining the role of exosome-secreted micropeptides in pancreatic cancer.

  • CONSORTIUM

    • Héctor Peinado Selgas
      Fundación Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO), Madrid

    • Bruno Costa-Silva
      Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon

  • SCOPE OF
    THE PROJECT

    One of the mechanisms cells use to communicate with each other is the secretion of exosomes, small vesicles containing proteins and genetic material that act as “messengers”. In tumors, tumor cells use exosomes to send signals that promote tumor growth and metastasis. Recently it has been discovered that our cells contain thousands of small proteins called micropeptides, a new class of proteins that have been ignored until now, but that seem to have key functions in the regulation of many biological processes. The project claims that tumor cells use micropeptides as messengers secreted in exosomes. Research will focus on pancreatic cancer, one of the most aggressive cancers, and will identify which micropeptides these tumors use to promote disease progression and metastasis, which may make it possible to find new biomarkers of the disease and to develop new therapies.

  • PROFILE

    Maria Abad is the Group Leader of VHIO’s Cellular Plasticity and Cancer Group. Her areas of research include cross-talk between therapy-induced stress responses, cellular plasticity and cancer, the inhibition of cellular plasticity and stemness as an anticancer therapy, and the translation of non-canonical ORFs and the role of the microproteome in cancer.

    She has been a Ramón y Cajal Researcher and did her Postdoctoral Fellow at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas and at Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), Madrid.

    She has received Prizes such as IV Premi La Vanguardia de la Ciéncia, “Notable Advance of Year” by Nature Medicine, and “Mejores Ideas 2013” Prize, by Diario Médico. (Read full CV).

  • RESEARCH
    INTERESTS

    Her areas of interest are:

    1. Cross-talk between therapy-induced stress responses, cellular plasticity and cancer.

    2. Inhibition of cellular plasticity and stemness as an anticancer therapy.

    3. Translation of non-canonical ORFs and the role of the microproteome in cancer.

  • CONTACT INFO

    Cellex Center
    C/ Natzaret, 115-117
    08035 Barcelona, Spain
    Tel.: (+34) 93 254 34 50

    Email: [email protected]