Research

About

Fifteen million people around the world suffer a stroke every year and less that 15% will ever be able to return back to normal life. The group’s goal is to generate scientific knowledge of the pathophysiology of neurovascular disorders and stroke; cerebral iron dysregulation in the ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke; and multimodal imaging of the pathophysiological hallmarks of the ischemic or haemorrhagic stroke. This knowledge will enable the development of healthcare innovations in the fields of therapy, stratification/classification/predictive biomarkers, and machine/deep learning neurobehavioral assessment. These innovations are tested in proofs of concept in vitro/in silico or in in vivo preclinical models of stroke.

The CMN research group promotes an ecosystem of interdisciplinary collaborations to generate new ideas addressed to protecting the brain against stroke. These products of a CMN-developed first-in-class new generation of therapeutic approaches for stroke patients are under development to reduce mortality and provide a better quality of life for survivors.

Keywords: Stroke, ischemic stroke, haemorrhagic stroke, mechanisms of neurodegeneration, treatments, ferroptosis, transferrin, machine/deep learning assessment of behaviour, animal models of stroke.

Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology (CMN) research group

Research lines

Novel glutamate-related targets for neuroprotection

The study of the mechanisms driving excitotoxic neuronal death through NMDA-glutamate receptor signalling to find and test targets for neuroprotection.

Ferroptosis in neuronal death and antiferroptotic neuroprotective compounds

To understand ferroptosis in neuronal death in stroke and other brain diseases: finding new targets of intervention and new treatments.

Experimental modelling of stroke in rodents and swine

Models of ischemic and haemorrhagic stroke damage in rats, mice and in gyrencephalic, human-like, swine's brain, with a special focus on damage of the white matter and brain areas connectivity.

Discovery of new biomarkers to improve stroke treatment

Discovery of new biochemical and bioimaging biomarkers useful to address point of care stroke type identification, stroke patient stratification, patient selection for treatment allocation and/or outcome prediction.

Computational biology: machine/deep learning assessment of behaviour in in vivo stroke models

Models of ischemic and haemorrhagic stroke damage in rats, mice and in gyrencephalic, human-like, swine's brain, with a special focus on damage of the white matter and brain areas connectivity.

Active projects

Innovative BIomarkers to DIagnose Ischemic stroke: the bet on miRNAs in extracellular vesicles in humanized swine models (IBIDI-Stroke)

PI: Teresa Gasull Dalmau
Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
Agency code: PI21/0192
Start date: 01/01/2022
End date: 01/01/2025

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Apotransferrin to treat acute stroke as a novel neuroprotector strategy /Apotransferrina com a nou tractament per a l'Ictus agut

PI: Teresa Gasull Dalmau
Funding agency: Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR), Generalitat de Catalunya
Agency code: 2019PROD00120
Start date: 22/07/2020
End date: 22/01/2022

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RICORS-ICTUS Redes de Investigación Cooperativa ENFERMEDADES VASCULARES

Objective of the group: validation of new treatments for stroke. Several CMN research group team members are members of the RICORS-ICTUS Network
Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
Agency code: RD21/0006/0024
Start date: 01/01/2022
End date: 31/12/2024

Development of an humanized model of ischemic stroke through endovascular access in the pig for the dynamic study of infarct and cerebral reperfusion

PI: Teresa Gasull Dalmau
Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
Agency code: PI18/01813 
Start date: 01/01/2019
End date: 31/06/2023

GRUP DE RECERCA NEUROVASCULAR GERMANS TRIAS I PUJOL (GRNVGT)

Objective of the group: Neurovascular Research- SGR_Cat 21 recognised and funded group. Several CMN research group team members are members of the GRNVGT
Funding agency: Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR), Generalitat de Catalunya
Agency code: 021 SGR 00925
Start date: 01/01/2022
End date: 31/12/2024

Kintsugi Therapeutics/IGTP co-development project. Efecto de los inhibidores de caspasa-2 desarrollados por Kintsugi en neuroprotección en isquemia

PI and scientific coordinators
Funding agency: Kintsugi Therapeutics
Start date: 19/07/2021
End date: 19/07/2022

Scientific publications

Gasull T, Arboix A. Molecular Mechanisms and Pathophysiology of Acute Stroke: Emphasis on Biomarkers in the Different Stroke Subtypes. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Aug 22;23(16):9476. DOI: 10.3390/ijms23169476.

Faura J, Ramiro L, Simats A, Ma F, Penalba A, Gasull T, Rosell A, Montaner J, Bustamante A. Evaluation and Characterization of Post-Stroke Lung Damage in a Murine Model of Cerebral Ischemia. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Jul 22;23(15):8093. DOI: 10.3390/ijms23158093.

Group's publications

News

- Research

Apotransferrin shows promise as an early treatment for stroke

Researchers from IGTP have discovered that administering human apotransferrin to mice models affected by intracerebral haemorrhage can mitigate the damaging effects of this severe type of stroke. This finding highlights the promising role of apotransferrin as a pre-hospital and pre-triage frontline treatment for all stroke patients. The study has been published in the journal Antioxidants.

New reproducible and minimally invasive stroke model through an endovascular approach

Researchers of the Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology (CMN) Research Group at the IGTP have developed and established a novel, reproducible and minimally invasive stroke model in pigs through an endovascular approach. The work has been conducted at the Centre for Comparative Medicine and Bioimage (CMCiB), a centre devoted to translational medicine at the very core of the Can Ruti Campus in Badalona together with the IGTP and the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital.

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