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leaD researcher
Casals Carro, Cristina
Universidad Complutense de madrid
Facultad de Biología
Ciudad Universitaria, s/n 28040 Madrid
(+34) 91 394 42 61 [email protected] group website
GROUP MEMBERS
Staff members: Cañadas Benito, Olga | García-Fojeda García-Valdecasas, María Belén
Associated members: Coya Raboso, Juan Manuel | Egido Martín, Virgina | Monsalve Hernando, Carmen | Muñóz Minutti, Carlos Arturo | Saenz Martínez, Alejandra
Main lines of research
The respiratory epithelium has evolved to produce a complicated network of extracellular membranes, called lung surfactant, that are essential for breathing and, ultimately, survival. Lung surfactant not only protects the lung against alveolar collapse during the breathing cycle but is involved in host defense. The manner in which surfactant components might participate in successful elimination of microorganisms without triggering excessive inflammatory response in the alveolus is still poorly understood. How biophysical surfactant properties and host defense mechanisms can be interdependent is also unknown. The focus of our group is to understand how surfactant lipids and proteins exert their action. We study:
1. Pulmonary surfactant:
a) Evaluation of the mechanisms of surfactant membranes resistance to alteration/inactivation. b) Characterization of compositional and functional changes in pulmonary surfactant during respiratory disfunction.
2. Alveolar defense mechanisms against infection and inflammation:
a) Study of the molecular mechanisms through which pulmonary collectins SP-A and SP-D modulate the inflammatory response of alveolar macrophages to pro- and anti-inflammatory stimuli. b) Determination of the mechanism through which SP-A acts in synergy with antimicrobial peptides to combat infection and modulate inflammation elicited by respiratory pathogens. c) Analysis of the molecular mechanisms that underlie the action of the lipid component of pulmonary surfactant in
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PROGRAMMES
Infectious Respiratory Diseases