Organ Transplant
Research projects
Content with Investigacion .
- Título: Desvelando la genómica de las bacterias anaerobias procedentes de bacteriemias
Referencia Proyecto: PID202-1127477OB-I00-MPY 302/22.
Entidad financiador: Agencia Estatal de Investigación.
Fechas de ejecución: 2023-2026
Financiación 108.900 €.
Investigadora principal: Sylvia Valdezate
- Título: Plataformas MALDI-TOF/CMI SENSITITRETM Personal Técnico Apoyo
Referencia: PTA2019-016623-I.
Entidad Financiadora: Agencia Estatal de Investigación.
Fechas ejecución 12/2020-11/2023
Investigadora principal: Sylvia Valdezate
- Título: Elementos genéticos móviles protagonistas en la evolución de los serotipos pandémicos M1 y M89 de Streptococcus pyogenes en el síndrome del shock tóxico y otras infecciones invasivas
Referencia: (MPY 377/18).
Entidad financiadora: Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Agencia Estatal de Investigación en Salud Intramural (AESI).
Fechas de ejecución: 11/2018-12/2022.
Financiación: 40.000 €.
Investigadoras principales: Pilar Villalón. Co-IP Sylvia Valdezate.
- Título: Plataformas genéticas y su influencia en la resistencia a co-trimoxazol, macrólidos y tetraciclina en Nocardia spp.
Referencia: MPY 1278/15
Entidad financiadora: Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Agencia Estatal de Investigación en Salud Intramural (AESI).
Fechas de ejecución: 2015-2017.
Financiación: 88.141,8 €.
Investigadora principal: Sylvia Valdezate
- Título: Filogenia y caracterización de mecanismos moleculares de resistencia en Nocardia spp.
Referencia: MPY 1446/11
Entidad financiadora: Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (AES). ()
Fechas de ejecución: 04/2012-10/2015
Financiación: 115.457 €.
Investigadora principal: Sylvia Valdezate.
- Título: Iberian network of laboratories of biological alert. Accreditation of methods for detection highly pathogenic agents (IB-BIOALERTNET).
Entidad financiadora: COMISIÓN EUROPEA HOME/2012/ISEC/AG/CBRN/4000003810. (Instituto de Salud Carlos III (VISAVET, IVIA, INSA, INIAV))
Referencia: SAFI 1132/13-7.
Fecha de ejecución: 2013-2015.
Financiación: 699.175 €.
Tipo de participación: Miembro del equipo investigador.
- Título: EQUATOX Project Establishment of Quality Assurances for theDetection of Biological Toxins of potential Bioterrorism risk.
Entidad financiadora y convocatoria: Seven Framework Programme for Research FP7-SECURITY. (Robert Koch-Institut Berlin Alemania).
Referencia: SEC-2011.5.4-1.
Fechas de ejecución: 2012-2014.
Publications
Comparative Analysis of Aspergillus fumigatus Strains: The Reference Genome as a Matter of Concern.
Buitrago MJ, Martín-Gómez T. Timely Diagnosis of Histoplasmosis in Non-endemic Countries: A Laboratory Challenge. Front Microbiol. 2020 Mar 24; 11:467. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00467. eCollection 2020. PMID: 32269555.
PUBMED DOIIdentification of Novel Short C-Terminal Transcripts of Human SERPINA1 Gene.
Matamala N, Aggarwal N, Iadarola P, Fumagalli M, Gomez-Mariano G, Lara B, Martinez MT, Cuesta I, Stolk J, Janciauskiene S, Martinez-Delgado B. Identification of Novel Short C-Terminal Transcripts of Human SERPINA1 Gene. PLoS One. 2017 Jan 20;12(1):e0170533.
PUBMED DOIA case of respiratory toxigenic diphtheria: Contact tracing results and considerations following a 30-year disease-free interval, Catalonia, Spain, 2015.
Jané, M., Vidal, M.J., Camps, N., Campins, M., Martínez, A., Balcells, J., Martin-Gomez, M.T., Bassets, G., Herrera-Leon, S., Foguet, A., Maresma, M., Follia, N., Uriona, S., Pumarola, T. A case of respiratory toxigenic diphtheria: Contact tracing results and considerations following a 30-year disease-free interval, Catalonia, Spain, 2015. (2018) Eurosurveillance, 23 (13).
PUBMED DOIDevelopment of three multiplex PCR assays targeting the 21 most clinically relevant serogroups associated with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infection in humans
Sánchez, S., Llorente, M.T., Echeita, M.A., Herrera-León, S. Development of three multiplex PCR assays targeting the 21 most clinically relevant serogroups associated with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infection in humans (2015) PLoS ONE, 10 (1).
PUBMED DOIShiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli and atypical enteropathogenic E. coli infection in a Spanish household
Sánchez, S., Cenoz, M.G., Martín, C., Beristain, X., Llorente, M.T., Herrera-León, S. Cluster investigation of mixed O76:H19 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli and atypical enteropathogenic E. coli infection in a Spanish household (2014) Epidemiology and Infection, 142 (5), pp. 1029-1033.
PUBMED DOIOff-label use of maraviroc in HIV-1-infected paediatric patients in clinical practice.
Palladino C, Navarro Gomez ML, Soler-Palacin P, Gonzalez-Tome MI, Jiménez de Ory S, Espiau M, Pérez-Hoyos S, León-Leal JA, Méndez M, Moreno-Pérez D, Fortuny C, uer A, Pocheville I, Moreno S, Briz V, on behalf of the CoRISpe Working Group. Off-label use of maraviroc in HIV-1-infected paediatric patients in clinical practice. AIDS 2015; 29-16, pp.2155-2159. (A; FI= 4,407; Q1 Infectious Disease).
PUBMED DOIComparative sensitivity of commercial tests for hepatitis E genotype 3 virus antibody detection.
Comparative sensitivity of commercial tests for hepatitis E genotype 3 virus antibody detection. Avellon A, Morago L, Garcia-Galera del Carmen M, Munoz M, Echevarría JM. J Med Virol. 2015 Nov;87(11):1934-9. Epub 2015 May 29.
PUBMED DOIRelative telomere length impact on mortality of COVID-19: sex differences.
Virseda-Berdices A, Concostrina-Martinez L, Martínez-González O, Blancas R, Resino S, Ryan P, De Juan C, Moreira-Escriche P, Martin-Vicente M, Brochado-Kith O, Blanca-López N, Jiménez-Sousa MA (‡,*), Fernández-Rodríguez A (‡). Relative telomere length impact on mortality of COVID-19: sex differences. J Med Virol 2023; 98 (1): e28368 (A; FI= 20.96; D1, Virology; JCR 2021).
PUBMEDActivity of host antimicrobials against multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii acquiring colistin resistance through loss of lipopolysaccharide
García-Quintanilla, M., Pulido, M. R., Moreno-Martínez, P., Martín-Peña, R., López-Rojas, R., Pachón, J. and McConnell, M.J.* Activity of host antimicrobials against multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii acquiring colistin resistance through loss of lipopolysaccharide. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 2014. May;58(5):2972-5.
PUBMED DOICharacterization of broadly neutralizing antibody responses to HIV-1 in a cohort of long term non-progressors
Characterization of broadly neutralizing antibody responses to HIV-1 in a cohort of long term non-progressors. González N, McKee K, Lynch RM, Georgiev IS, Jimenez L, Grau E, Yuste E, Kwong PD, Mascola JR, Alcamí J. PLoS One. 2018;13:e0193773.
PUBMED DOIDiverse large HIV-1 non-subtype B clusters are spreading among men who have sex with men in Spain
Delgado E, Benito S, Montero V, Cuevas MT, Fernández-García A, Sánchez-Martínez M, García-Bodas E, Díez-Fuertes F, Gil H, Cañada J, Carrera C, Martínez-López J, Sintes M, Pérez-Álvarez L, Thomson MM; Spanish Group for the Study of New HIV Diagnoses. Diverse large HIV-1 non-subtype B clusters are spreading among men who have sex with men in Spain. Front Microbiol. 2019; 3;10:655.
PUBMED DOIImprovement of HIV-1 coreceptor tropism prediction by employing selected nucleotide positions of the env gene in a Bayesian network classifier.
Díez-Fuertes F, Delgado E, Vega Y, Fernández-García A, Cuevas MT, Pinilla M, García V, Pérez-Álvarez L, Thomson MM. Improvement of HIV-1 coreceptor tropism prediction by employing selected nucleotide positions of the env gene in a Bayesian network classifier. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2013; 68:1471-1485.
PUBMED DOIPredominance of CXCR4 tropism in HIV-1 CRF14_BG strains from newly diagnosed infections.
Pérez-Álvarez L, Delgado E, Vega Y, Montero V, Cuevas T, Fernández-García A, García-Riart B, Pérez-Castro S, Rodríguez-Real R, López-Álvarez MJ, Fernández-Rodríguez R, Lezaun MJ, Ordóñez P, Ramos C, Bereciartua E, Calleja S, Sánchez-García AM, Thomson MM. Predominance of CXCR4 tropism in HIV-1 CRF14_BG strains from newly diagnosed infections. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2014; 69:246-253.
PUBMED DOIMolecular epidemiology, phylogeny, and phylodynamics of CRF63_02A1, a recently originated HIV-1 circulating recombinant form spreading in Siberia.
Shcherbakova NS, Shalamova LA, Delgado E, Fernández-García A, Vega Y, Karpenko LI, Ilyichev AA, Sokolov YV, Shcherbakov DN, Pérez-Álvarez L, Thomson MM. Molecular epidemiology, phylogeny, and phylodynamics of CRF63_02A1, a recently originated HIV-1 circulating recombinant form spreading in Siberia. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2014; 30:912-919.
PUBMED DOIEpidemiological surveillance of HIV-1 transmitted drug resistance in Spain in 2004-2012: relevance of transmission clusters in the propagation of resistance mutations.
Vega Y, Delgado E, Fernández-García A, Cuevas MT, Thomson MM, Montero V, Sánchez M, Sánchez AM, Pérez-Álvarez L; Spanish Group for the Study of New HIV-1 Diagnoses in Galicia and Basque Country. Epidemiological surveillance of HIV-1 transmitted drug resistance in Spain in 2004-2012: relevance of transmission clusters in the propagation of resistance mutations. PLoS One. 2015; 10:e0125699.
PUBMED DOIPhylogeny and phylogeography of a recent HIV-1 subtype F outbreak among men who have sex with men in Spain deriving from a cluster with a wide geographic circulation in Western Europe.
Delgado E, Cuevas MT, Domínguez F, Vega Y, Cabello M, Fernández-García A, Pérez-Losada M, Castro MÁ, Montero V, Sánchez M, Mariño A, Álvarez H, Ordóñez P, Ocampo A, Miralles C, Pérez-Castro S, López-Álvarez MJ, Rodríguez R, Trigo M, Diz-Arén J, Hinojosa C, Bachiller P, Hernáez-Crespo S, Cisterna R, Garduño E, Pérez-Álvarez L, Thomson MM. Phylogeny and phylogeography of a recent HIV-1 subtype F outbreak among men who have sex with men in Spain deriving from a cluster with a wide geographic circulation in Western Europe. PLoS One. 2015; 10:e0143325.
PUBMED DOIIdentification of an HIV-1 BG intersubtype recombinant form (CRF73_BG), partially related to CRF14_BG, which Is circulating in Portugal and Spain.
Fernández-García A, Delgado E, Cuevas MT, Vega Y, Montero V, Sánchez M, Carrera C, López-Álvarez MJ, Miralles C, Pérez-Castro S, Cilla G, Hinojosa C, Pérez-Álvarez L, Thomson MM. Identification of an HIV-1 BG intersubtype recombinant form (CRF73_BG), partially related to CRF14_BG, which Is circulating in Portugal and Spain. PLoS One. 2016; 11:e0148549.
PUBMED DOISequence analysis of in vivo-expressed HIV-1 spliced RNAs reveals the usage of new and unusual splice sites by viruses of different subtypes
Vega Y, Delgado E, de la Barrera J, Carrera C, Zaballos Á, Cuesta I, Mariño A, Ocampo A, Miralles C, Pérez-Castro S, Álvarez H, López-Miragaya I, García-Bodas E, Díez-Fuertes F, Thomson MM. Sequence analysis of in vivo-expressed HIV-1 spliced RNAs reveals the usage of new and unusual splice sites by viruses of different subtypes. PLoS One. 2016; 11:e0158525.
PUBMED DOIHIV-1 genetic diversity in recently diagnosed infections in Moscow: predominance of AFSU, frequent branching in clusters, and circulation of the Iberian subtype G variant.
Karamov E, Epremyan K, Siniavin A, Zhernov Y, Cuevas MT, Delgado E, Sánchez-Martínez M, Carrera C, Kornilaeva G, Turgiev A, Bacqué J, Pérez-Álvarez L, Thomson MM. HIV-1 genetic diversity in recently diagnosed infections in Moscow: predominance of AFSU, frequent branching in clusters, and circulation of the Iberian subtype G variant. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2018; 34:629-634.
PUBMED DOIBayesian phylogeographic analyses clarify the origin of the HIV-1 subtype A variant circulating in former Soviet Union's countries.
Díez-Fuertes F, Cabello M, Thomson MM. Bayesian phylogeographic analyses clarify the origin of the HIV-1 subtype A variant circulating in former Soviet Union's countries. Infect Genet Evol. 2015; 33:197-205.
PUBMED DOIContent with Investigacion .
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María Luisa Gaspar Alonso-Vega
Research Professor
ORCID code: 0000-0001-9858-3862
Dr. María Luis Gaspar Alons-Vega graduated in 1980 and obtained her PhD in 1985 in Medicine and Surgery from the Autonomous University of Madrid. She completed the specialty of Immunology (1981-1985), and her doctoral thesis under the direction of Dr. Carmen Gutierrez, in the Immunology laboratory of the Puerta de Hierro Clinic directed by Dr. Miguel Kreisler. She completed a predoctoral stay in the Cytogenetics Laboratory of the National Institute of Autoimmune, Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, NIH), under the supervision of Dr. JH Tjio and Dr. E. Raveché. She joined the Immunology Service of the National Center for Health Microbiology, Virology and Immunology (CNMVIS, AISNA and later ISCIII) as a Physician-Specialist in 1986, in the Immunology Laboratory directed by Dr. Alfredo Toraño. She completed a postdoctoral stay (1989-1991) at the Immunogenetics Unit of the Pasteur Institute (Paris) directed by Dr. T. Meo. From 1991 to 2006 she was Head of the Immunology Section successively at the CNMVIS, at the National Center for Fundamental Biology (CNBF-ISCIII) and at the National Center for Microbiology (CNM-ISCIII). From 2006 to 2016 she has been a Senior Researcher and Senior Scientist of OPIs, in the Immunobiology laboratory of the CNM-ISCIII. From 2016 to 2018 she was a Scientific Researcher at OPIs and since 2018, she is a Research Professor at OPIs at the CNM.
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Belén de Andrés Muguruza
Research Scientist
ORCID code: 0000-0002-7391-2823
Graduated in Biology in 1987 and PhD in 1992 from the Autonomous University of Madrid. He completed his doctoral thesis in the laboratory of Dr. Carlos Lahoz in the Immunology department of the Jiménez Díaz Foundation with a pre-doctoral stay at the Institute Curie in Paris, in the laboratory of Dr. Wolf H. Fridman. Subsequently, he completed a two-year postdoctoral stay in the Department of Pathology of the College of Medicine at the University of Iowa, USA, in the laboratory of Dr. Richard G. Lynch. After a year as an Adjunct in the Immunology department of the Jiménez Diaz Foundation, she worked for 2 years with a reinstatement contract from the Ministry of Science in the Immunobiology department of the CNM/ISCIII in the laboratory of Dr. Mª Luisa Gaspar and later with a Ramón y Cajal contract. In 2006 she obtained a position as Staff Senior Scientist.
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Isabel Cortegano Jimeno
Research Scientist
ORCID code: 0000-0002-6504-6347
Graduated in Biology in 1995 (Specialty in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) and PhD in 1999 from the Autonomous University of Madrid. He completed his doctoral thesis at the Jiménez Díaz Foundation in the Immunology laboratory directed by Dr. Carlos Lahoz. Later he obtained a postdoctoral fellowship in the Immunobiology laboratory of Dr. Mª Luisa Gaspar at the National Center of Microbiology (CNM) of the Carlos IIII Health Institute (ISCIII) (2002-2006). He then enjoyed an I3P contract from the CSIC in the laboratory of Professor Miguel Ángel Rodríguez-Marcos (2007-2009). She has been a researcher associated with research projects in the ISCIII Immunobiology laboratory during the years 2010-2018. Since 2018 she has been an associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology of the UCM Faculty of Medicine. He coordinates the scientific dissemination group of the Spanish Society of Immunology (GESEI), is part of the editorial committee of the SEI magazine and is a member of the board of the CAM Immunology Society. She is a Senior Scientist of the ISCIII at the National Center for Microbiology since 2020.
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Carolina Ruiz Sánchez
Specialized Technician
ORCID code: 0000-0002-2177-8132
Graduated in Chemical Sciences (biochemistry specialty) in 1998 and PhD in 2022 from the Complutense University of Madrid. In 2008 he joined the OPIS Assistant in the Immunobiology laboratory of the National Center for Microbiology of the ISCIII, specializing in flow cytometry the first year and subsequently becoming part of the laboratory's technical team. In 2012 he was promoted to Intermediate Level Technician and in 2018 to Higher Specialized Technician of the OPIS, currently occupying this position in the same laboratory.
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Mercedes Rodríguez García
Specialized Higher Technician
Graduated in Biology from the Complutense University of Madrid in 2003, she began her doctoral studies in the Bone Metabolism laboratory of the La Paz University Hospital.
In 2007 he joined as a Research Assistant at the Carlos III Health Institute, at the CNM, in the Transplant Immunology laboratory. After 5 years, he began working in the Immunobilology laboratory where he was promoted in 2018 to Specialized Technician, in 2024 to Senior Specialized Technician and where he currently continues to develop his professional career. -

Alejandro Arrabal Sierra
Predoctoral Contract (Industrial Doctorate from CAM / Inmunotek).
ORCID code: 0000-0002-9354-9224
Graduated in Biotechnology in 2021 from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, carrying out his final degree project in the Immunobiology laboratory of the National Microbiology Center of the ISCIII. In 2021, he completed a Master's Degree in Research in Immunology at the Complutense University of Madrid and completed his master's thesis in the same CNM laboratory. Subsequently, he worked for a year as a Research Assistant in the laboratory of Dr. Elena Fernández Ruiz at the Hospital Universitario de la Princesa. Since the end of 2023, he has been a predoctoral fellow in the CNM Immunobiology laboratory with an Industrial Doctorate scholarship from the Community of Madrid in collaboration with the company Inmunotek.
List of staff
Additional Information
Induction of allograft tolerance remains a goal to be achieved in organ transplantation. Most therapeutic strategies focus on inhibition of the adaptive immune system, but recent data demonstrate that allogeneic recognition of myeloid cells initiates transplant rejection. Therapies targeting myeloid cells “in vivo” represent a potential target to induce immunological tolerance, but remain clinically unexplored.
Our laboratory uses a revolutionary nanoimmunotherapy of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) nanoparticles loaded with rapamycin (mTORi-HDL) that prevents epigenetic modifications associated with trained immunity, a recently discovered functional state of macrophages. Using an experimental mouse transplant model, our results demonstrate that the administration of this immunotherapy with mTORi-HDL prevents the immune response and promotes tolerance to the transplanted organ.
Our laboratory shows a multidisciplinary research approach articulated in three different objectives to evaluate the clinical relevance and therapeutic effects of immunotherapy in preparation for a clinical trial in organ transplantation. The general objectives will be aimed at confirming the identification of trained immunity as a biomarker and analytical value to predict the risk of rejection in transplant patients under three conditions: prolonged periods of ischemic reperfusion (IRI) (objective 1), allosensitization (objective 2) and infection (objective 3).
Induction of allograft tolerance remains a goal to be achieved in organ transplantation. Most therapeutic strategies focus on inhibition of the adaptive immune system, but recent data demonstrate that allogeneic recognition of myeloid cells initiates transplant rejection. Therapies targeting myeloid cells “in vivo” represent a potential target to induce immunological tolerance, but remain clinically unexplored.
Our laboratory uses a revolutionary nanoimmunotherapy of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) nanoparticles loaded with rapamycin (mTORi-HDL) that prevents epigenetic modifications associated with trained immunity, a recently discovered functional state of macrophages. Using an experimental mouse transplant model, our results demonstrate that the administration of this immunotherapy with mTORi-HDL prevents the immune response and promotes tolerance to the transplanted organ.
Our laboratory shows a multidisciplinary research approach articulated in three different objectives to evaluate the clinical relevance and therapeutic effects of immunotherapy in preparation for a clinical trial in organ transplantation. The general objectives will be aimed at confirming the identification of trained immunity as a biomarker and analytical value to predict the risk of rejection in transplant patients under three conditions: prolonged periods of ischemic reperfusion (IRI) (objective 1), allosensitization (objective 2) and infection (objective 3).