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AIDS Immunopathology

Research Lines

Content with Investigacion Hepatitis .

Hepatitis

  1. Diseño de métodos diagnósticos para el estudio de los virus de las hepatitis (VH) A, B, C, D, E: Diseñamos sistemas de PCR para su detección y caracterización.
  2. Evaluación de métodos diagnósticos de los VH. Colaboramos con empresas para estudios de sensibilidad y especificidad de equipos diagnósticos.
  3.  Estudios de Seroprevalencia de los virus de las hepatitis.
  4.  Epidemiología genómica de genomas completos de VHA, VHB, VHC, VHD y VHE en colaboración con el ECDC. Estudios de trazabilidad del VHE.
  5. Caracterización molecular de virus de las hepatitis mediante secuenciación masiva:               a) VHB: mutantes de escape HBsAg (prevalencia y efectos en la detección del HBsAg). Estudio de mutaciones en epítopos de estimulación inmune y mutaciones asociadas a evolución clínica desfavorable.
    1. b) VHC: resistencias a los antivirales de acción directa. Análisis molecular de subtipos poco frecuentes.
      c) Estudios filogenéticos del VHD.
       d) Análisis genómico del VHE.
       e) Investigación etiológica de hepatitis no filiadas mediante estudios de metagenómica.

Research projects

Content with Investigacion Hepatitis .

1.    Proyecto CIBEREPS 2022. Microbiological and genomic investigation of hepatitis in children by metagenomic approach in case and control subjects (IP: Ana Avellón).
2023-2024. En colaboración con el Hospital San Joan de Deu de Barcelona.

2.    MPY 501-19: Tracking hepatitis E virus infection by means of epidemiological research and whole genome sequencing. Project TrazHE. (IP: Ana Avellón). 2020-2024.

3.    Proyecto CIBEREPS 2021 Metagenomic sequencing to identify viral aetiologies in undiagnosed paediatric cases of meningitis and encephalitis (IP: D. Tarragó). 2021-2022.

4.    MPY 383/19 (PEJ2018-004446-A). Ayudas para la promoción de empleo joven e implantación de la garantía juvenil en I+D+I. análisis de la complejidad de secuencias de los virus de la hepatitis A, B, C; D y E (VHA, VHB, VHC, VHD y VHE) mediante técnicas de secuenciación masiva. (IP: Ana Avellón). 2020-2021.

5.    MPY 1285/16 Movilidad "Salvador de Madariaga" programa estatal de promoción de talento y su empleabilidad. (IP: Ana Avellón). 2016.​

Publications

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CD45 expression discriminates waves of embryonic megakaryocytes in the mouse.

Cortegano, I., Serrano, N., Ruiz, C., Rodríguez, M., Prado, C., Alía, M., Hidalgo, A., Cano, E., de Andrés B. and Gaspar, ML. 2018. Haematologica, 104(9):1853-1865

PUBMED DOI

Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae: Epidemiology outside Asian countries, antibiotic resistance association, methods of detection and clinical management

12. Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae: Epidemiology outside Asian countries, antibiotic resistance association, methods of detection and clinical management. Autores: García-Cobos S, Oteo-Iglesias J, Pérez-Vázquez M. Revista: Enferm Infecc Microbiol Clin (Engl Ed). 2025 Feb;43(2):102-109.

PUBMED DOI

Vector-mediated gene transfer engenders long-lived neutralizing activity and protection against SIV infection in monkeys

Johnson PR, Schnepp BC, Zhang J, Connell MJ, Greene SM, Yuste E, Desrosiers RC, Clark KR; Nat Med. 2009 Aug;15(8):901-6

PUBMED DOI

Listeriosis outbreak caused by contaminated stuffed pork, Andalusia, Spain, July to October 2019

Fernández-Martínez NF, Ruiz-Montero R, Briones E, Baños E, García San Miguel Rodríguez-Alarcón L, Chaves JA, Abad R, Varela C; LISMOAN team; Lorusso N. Euro Surveill . 2022 Oct;27(43):2200279

PUBMED DOI

Resistance gene pool to co-trimoxazole in non-susceptible Nocardia strains

Valdezate S, Garrido N, Carrasco G, Villalón P, Medina-Pascual MJ, Saéz-Nieto JA. (2015). Resistance gene pool to co-trimoxazole in non-susceptible Nocardia strains. Front Microbiol. 2015 Apr 28;6:376

PUBMED DOI

A novel typing method for Streptococcus pneumoniae using selected surface proteins

Domenech A, Moreno J, Ardanuy C, Liñares J, de la Campa AG, Martin-Galiano AJ. Front Microbiol. 2016; 31;7:420.

PUBMED DOI

Podocytes as new cellular targets of hemoglobin toxicity in massive intravascular hemolysis.

Rubio-Navarro A, Sanchez-Niño MD, Guerrero-Hue M, García-Caballero C, Gutiérrez E, Yuste C, Sevillano A, Praga M, Egea J, Román E, Cannata P, Ortega R, Cortegano I, de Andrés B, Gaspar ML, Cadenas S, Ortiz A, Egido J, Moreno JA. Podocytes as new cellular targets of hemoglobin toxicity in massive intravascular hemolysis. 2018. J.Pathol. 244(3):296-310.

PUBMED DOI

Carbapenemase-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in COVID-19 Intensive Care Patients: Identification of IncL-VIM-1 Plasmid in Previously Non-Predominant Sequence Types.

13. Carbapenemase-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in COVID-19 Intensive Care Patients: Identification of IncL-VIM-1 Plasmid in Previously Non-Predominant Sequence Types. Autores: Cañada-García JE, Ramírez de Arellano E, Jiménez-Orellana M, Viedma E, Sánchez A, Alhambra A, Villa J, Delgado-Iribarren A, Bautista V, Lara N, García-Cobos S, Aracil B, Cercenado E, Pérez-Vázquez M, Oteo-Iglesias J. Revista: Antibiotics (Basel). 2023 Jan 6;12(1):107.

PUBMED DOI

Identification and characterization of HIV-1 CD8+ T cell escape variants with impaired fitness

Sanchez-Merino V, Farrow MA, Brewster F, Somasundaran M, Luzuriaga K; J Infect Dis. 2008 Jan 15;197(2):300-8

PUBMED DOI

Pertactin-Deficient Bordetella pertussis with Unusual Mechanism of Pertactin Disruption, Spain, 1986-2018

14. Mir-Cros A, Moreno-Mingorance A, Martín-Gómez MT, Abad R, Bloise I, Campins M, González-Praetorius A, Gutiérrez MN, Martín-González H, Muñoz-Almagro C, Orellana MÁ, de Pablos M, Roca-Grande J, Rodrigo C, Rodríguez ME, Uriona S, Vidal MJ, Pumarola T, Larrosa MN, González-López JJ. Emerg Infect Dis. 2022 May;28(5):967-976

PUBMED DOI

Genomic Background and Phylogeny of cfiA-Positive Bacteroides fragilis Strains Resistant to Meropenem-EDTA

Medina-Pascual MJ, Valdezate S, Carrasco G, Villalón P, Garrido N, Saéz-Nieto JA. (2015) Increase in isolation of Burkholderia contaminans from Spanish patients with cystic fibrosis. Clin Microbiol Infect. ;21(2):150-6.

PUBMED DOI

An increase in negative supercoiling in bacteria reveals topology-reacting gene clusters and a homeostatic response mediated by the DNA topoisomerase I gene

Ferrándiz MJ, Martín-Galiano AJ, Arnanz C, Camacho-Soguero I, Tirado-Vélez JM, de la Campa AG. 2016. Nucl Acids Res. 44:7292-7303 (2016).

PUBMED DOI

Spatially-restricted JAG1-Notch signaling in the human thymus provides permissive microenvironments for dendritic cell development.

Martín Gayo, E., González-García, S., García-León, M., Murcia-Ceballos, A., Alcain, J., García-Peydró, M., Allende, L., de Andrés, B., Gaspar, ML. and Toribio, ML. J.Exp.Med. (2017) 214:3361-3379

PUBMED DOI

Carbapenemase-producing Emergence of NDM-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli in Spain: phylogeny, resistome, virulence and plasmids encoding blaNDM-like genes as determined by WGS. aeruginosa in Spain: interregional dissemination of the high risk-clones ST175 and ST244 carrying blaVIM-2, blaVIM-1, blaIMP-8, blaVIM-20 and blaKPC-2

14. Emergence of NDM-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli in Spain: phylogeny, resistome, virulence and plasmids encoding blaNDM-like genes as determined by WGS. Autores: Pérez-Vázquez M, Sola Campoy PJ, Ortega A, Bautista V, Monzón S, Ruiz-Carrascoso G, Mingorance J, González-Barberá EM, Gimeno C, Aracil B, Sáez D, Lara N, Fernández S, González-López JJ, Campos J, Kingsley RA, Dougan G, Oteo-Iglesias J; Spanish NDM Study Group. Revista: J Antimicrob Chemother. 2019 Dec 1;74(12):3489-3496.

PUBMED DOI

Glycosylation of gp41 of simian immunodeficiency virus shields epitopes that can be targets for neutralizing antibodies

Yuste E, Bixby J, Lifson J, Sato S, Johnson W, Desrosiers R*. 2008. J Virol 82:12472-86.

PUBMED DOI

Large Increase in Azithromycin-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Northern Spain

Carballo R, Povoa MC, Abad R, Navarro C, Martin E, Alvarez M, Salgado A, Potel C. Microb Drug Resist. 2022 Jan;28(1):81-86

PUBMED DOI

Epidemiology of the Acinetobacter-derived cephalosporinase, carbapenem-hydrolysing oxacillinase and metallo-beta-lactamase genes, and of common insertion sequences, in epidemic clones of Acinetobacter baumannii from Spain

Villalón P, Valdezate S, Medina-Pascual MJ, Carrasco G, Vindel A, Saez-Nieto JA. Epidemiology of the Acinetobacter-derived cephalosporinase, carbapenem-hydrolysing oxacillinase and metallo-beta-lactamase genes, and of common insertion sequences, in epidemic clones of Acinetobacter baumannii from Spain. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2013;68(3):550-3.

PUBMED DOI

Reactive oxygen species contribute to the bactericidal effects of the fluoroquinolone moxifloxacin in Streptococcus pneumoniae

Ferrándiz MJ, Martín-Galiano AJ, Arnanz C, Zimmerman T, de la Campa AG. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 60:409-417 (2016).

PUBMED DOI

Altered Marginal Zone and innate-like B cells in aged SAMP8 mice with defective IgG1 responses

Cortegano, I., Rodriguez, M., Martin, I., Prado, C., Ruiz, C., Hortigüela, R., Alia, M., Vilar, M., Mira, H., Cano, E., de Andrés, B., and Gaspar, ML. Cell death & disease (2017) 8, e3000

PUBMED DOI

Rapid cross-border emergence of NDM-5-producing Escherichia coli in the European Union/European Economic Area, 2012 to June 2022

15. Rapid cross-border emergence of NDM-5-producing Escherichia coli in the European Union/European Economic Area, 2012 to June 2022. Autores: Linkevicius M, Bonnin RA, Alm E, Svartström O, Apfalter P, Hartl R, Hasman H, Roer L, Räisänen K, Dortet L, Pfennigwerth N, Hans JB, Tóth Á, Buzgó L, Cormican M, Delappe N, Monaco M, Giufrè M, Hendrickx AP, Samuelsen Ø, Pöntinen AK, Caniça M, Manageiro V, Oteo-Iglesias J, Pérez-Vázquez M, Westmo K, Mäkitalo B, Palm D, Monnet DL, Kohlenberg A. Revista: Euro Surveill. 2023 May;28(19):2300209.

PUBMED DOI

Content with Investigacion Hepatitis .

List of staff

Additional Information

The AIDS Immunopathology Unit has been coordinated since 2000 by Dr. José Alcamí, bringing together during its history more than 20 independent researchers who collaboratively study different aspects of HIV infection. During this years, more than 30 visiting researchers and more than 50 national and international students have passed through the unit. From the beginning of the year 2025, Javier García Pérez and Francisco Díez Fuertes assumed the coordination of the AIDS Immunopathology Unit, with the aim of projecting its scientific competitiveness following multidisciplinary approaches and through the maintenance of the current close collaborations, as well as the promotion of participation in new national and international research networks.
Historically, the current members of the unit have focused on different lines of basic research that include the study of antibodies and the development of vaccines against HIV-1, the study of viral entry and tropism of the virus or the study of the host through the genomic characterization of populations with an extreme phenotype. Currently, the activity of our unit in the field of HIV-1 is focused on three main lines:
1.    Mecanismos moleculares asociados a la protección de la infección por VIH-1 en pacientes con distrofia muscular de cinturas dominante D2 (LGMDD2).
2.    Generación de anticuerpos neutralizantes de uso terapéutico basados en la respuesta neutralizante de amplio espectro frente a virus fundadores.
3.    Cribado y caracterización de nuevos fármacos anti-latencia frente al VIH-1.
A partir del año 2020, nuestra unidad se vuelca con la investigación sobre COVID-19, participando y liderando diferentes proyectos de investigación aplicada y clínica. Fruto de esta fuerte implicación en el campo, en la actualidad se mantienen diferentes estudios sobre la caracterización de la respuesta inmune frente a SARS-CoV-2, integrando diferentes técnicas de virología molecular, estrategias de inteligencia epidemiológica y tecnologías de célula única.
We also participate in different research consortiums and networks, such as the Spanish AIDS Research Network or the Center for Biomedical Research in Infectious Diseases Network (CIBER-INFEC), in which we participate as researchers in different lines and work packages within the research programs “Global Health, emerging and re-emerging infections” as well as “HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections”.


Supervised doctoral theses

1.    GENOMIC AND FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF HIV-1 PROTECTION PARAMETERS IN PATIENTS WITH SLOW PROGRESSION OF INFECTION. 
Student: Erick de la Torre Tarazona.
Supervisors: José Alcamí and Francisco Díez Fuertes.
Academic entity: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
Defense date: July 14th, 2020.
2.    ANALYSIS OF MIARN EXPRESSION PROFILES AND FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERIZATION IN HIV-POSITIVE INDIVIDUALS WITH DIFFERENT PROGRESSION TO AIDS.
Student: Rubén Ayala Suárez.
Supervisors: José Alcamí and Francisco Díez Fuertes.
Academic entity: Universidad de Alcalá.
Defense date: June 12nd, 2023.

The AIDS Immunopathology Unit has been coordinated since 2000 by Dr. José Alcamí, bringing together during its history more than 20 independent researchers who collaboratively study different aspects of HIV infection. During this years, more than 30 visiting researchers and more than 50 national and international students have passed through the unit. From the beginning of the year 2025, Javier García Pérez and Francisco Díez Fuertes assumed the coordination of the AIDS Immunopathology Unit, with the aim of projecting its scientific competitiveness following multidisciplinary approaches and through the maintenance of the current close collaborations, as well as the promotion of participation in new national and international research networks.
Historically, the current members of the unit have focused on different lines of basic research that include the study of antibodies and the development of vaccines against HIV-1, the study of viral entry and tropism of the virus or the study of the host through the genomic characterization of populations with an extreme phenotype. Currently, the activity of our unit in the field of HIV-1 is focused on three main lines:
1.    Mecanismos moleculares asociados a la protección de la infección por VIH-1 en pacientes con distrofia muscular de cinturas dominante D2 (LGMDD2).
2.    Generación de anticuerpos neutralizantes de uso terapéutico basados en la respuesta neutralizante de amplio espectro frente a virus fundadores.
3.    Cribado y caracterización de nuevos fármacos anti-latencia frente al VIH-1.
A partir del año 2020, nuestra unidad se vuelca con la investigación sobre COVID-19, participando y liderando diferentes proyectos de investigación aplicada y clínica. Fruto de esta fuerte implicación en el campo, en la actualidad se mantienen diferentes estudios sobre la caracterización de la respuesta inmune frente a SARS-CoV-2, integrando diferentes técnicas de virología molecular, estrategias de inteligencia epidemiológica y tecnologías de célula única.
We also participate in different research consortiums and networks, such as the Spanish AIDS Research Network or the Center for Biomedical Research in Infectious Diseases Network (CIBER-INFEC), in which we participate as researchers in different lines and work packages within the research programs “Global Health, emerging and re-emerging infections” as well as “HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections”.


Supervised doctoral theses

1.    GENOMIC AND FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF HIV-1 PROTECTION PARAMETERS IN PATIENTS WITH SLOW PROGRESSION OF INFECTION. 
Student: Erick de la Torre Tarazona.
Supervisors: José Alcamí and Francisco Díez Fuertes.
Academic entity: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
Defense date: July 14th, 2020.
2.    ANALYSIS OF MIARN EXPRESSION PROFILES AND FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERIZATION IN HIV-POSITIVE INDIVIDUALS WITH DIFFERENT PROGRESSION TO AIDS.
Student: Rubén Ayala Suárez.
Supervisors: José Alcamí and Francisco Díez Fuertes.
Academic entity: Universidad de Alcalá.
Defense date: June 12nd, 2023.

Content with Investigacion Terapias Farmacológicas .