The research group of Joan X. Comella focuses on characterizing and understanding the molecular mechanisms of certain proteins that block cell death in the nervous system. This cell death is often associated with neuroinflammatory processes. “These proteins protect neurons from cell death,” explained Comella framed in a lecture in the series of seminars IDIBELL on 17 June.
“We want to characterize these proteins, know what are the mechanisms that regulate their levels in the nervous system,” explained Comella because, although in neurodegenerative diseases affect many other factors, the state of the neuron before receiving neuroinflammatory aggression may also be important: “If we have more ‘muscular’ neurons, meaning they have elevated levels of these proteins, they are more protected in a hostile environment, such as neuroinflammation situations.”

In this sense, the group of cell signaling and apoptosis led by Joan X. Comella at the Research Institute Vall d’Hebron (VHIR) is working in collaboration with the University of Barcelona, ​​for a model of transgenic mice that overexpress these protective proteins to see how this increased protection acts on neuronal diseases such as Alzheimer or Ischemia. “In diseases like Alzheimer’s we have seen that the decrease in the expression of these proteins occurs just before the neurons begin to die. This suggests, although it is not proven, that the drop in protein levels makes neurons do not withstand the attack and die” so, Comella said, “we want to overexpress them artificially and see if the neurons survive”. If so, these proteins would be candidates to be a therapeutic target to prevent or treat these diseases.