VITORICA FERRÁNDEZ , Francisco Javier

Most neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by a complex and mostly still unresolved pathology. This fact, together with the lack of reliable disease models, has precluded the development of effective therapies counteracting the disease progression. The advent of human pluripotent stem cells has revolutionized the field allowing the...

There is growing evidence that Alzheimer's disease may be a widespread systemic disorder, so peripheral organs could be affected by pathological mechanisms occurring in this neurodegenerative disease. For this reason, a double metabolomic platform based on the combination of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and ultra-high performance liquid...

Metabolomic analysis of brain tissue from transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's disease has demonstrated a great potential for the study of pathological mechanisms and the development of new therapies and biomarkers for diagnosis. However, in order to translate these investigations to the clinical practice it is necessary to corroborate these...

Inflammation plays a prominent role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease, affecting both brain and the peripheral system. Thus, modulation of inflammation in animal models of this neurodegenerative disorder may be of great interest to elucidate the pathological mechanisms underlying this inflammatory component. To this end, a metabolomic...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder worldwide, but its etiology is still not completely understood. The identification of underlying pathological mechanisms is becoming increasingly important for the discovery of biomarkers and therapies, for which metabolomics presents a great potential. In this work, we...

The transgenic mouse APP/PS1 is widely employed by neuroscientists because reproduces well some of the neuropathological and cognitive deficits observed in human Alzheimer's disease. In this study, serum samples from APP/PS1 mice (n = 30) and wild-type controls (n = 30) were analyzed using a metabolomic multiplatform based on the combination of...

The identification of pathological mechanisms underlying to Alzheimer's disease is of great importance for the discovery of potential markers for diagnosis and disease monitoring. In this study, we investigated regional metabolic alterations in brain from the APP/PS1 mice, a transgenic model that reproduces well some of the neuropathological...

We have investigated the age-dependent modifications in the expression of eight different subunits of the γ-aminobutyric acid, type A (GABAA) receptor (α1, α2, α3, α5, β2, β3, γ2S, and γ2L) and all four subunits of the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylsoxazole-4-propionate (AMPA) receptor (GluR1–4) in the hippocampus of 24-month-old rats. All aged...

We have investigated the existence, molecular composition, and benzodiazepine binding properties of native cortical α1-α3 γ- aminobutyric acid(A) (GABA(A)) receptors using subunit-specific antibodies. The co-existence of α1 and α3 subunits in native GABA(A) receptors was demonstrated by immunoblot analysis of the anti-α1- or anti-α3-...

Astrocytes actively participate in neuro-inflammatory processes associated to Alzheimer's disease (AD), and other brain pathologies. We recently showed that an astrocyte-specific intracellular signaling pathway involving an interaction of the phosphatase calcineurin with the transcription factor FOXO3 is a major driver in AD associated...

The brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) present elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), a cytokine that has a dual function in neuronal cells. On one hand, TNFα can activate neuronal apoptosis, and on the other hand, it can protect these cells against amyloid-β (Aβ) toxicity. Given the dual behavior of this molecule,...

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), and other tauopathies, microtubule destabilization compromises axonal and synaptic integrity contributing to neurodegeneration. These diseases are characterized by the intracellular accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau leading to neurofibrillary pathology. AD brains also accumulate amyloid-beta (Aβ) deposits....

Astrocytes actively participate in neuro-inflammatory processes associated to Alzheimer's disease (AD), and other brain pathologies. We recently showed that an astrocyte-specific intracellular signaling pathway involving an interaction of the phosphatase calcineurin with the transcription factor FOXO3 is a major driver in AD-associated...

The implication of soluble Abeta in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology is currently accepted. In fact, the content of soluble extracellular Abeta species, such as monomeric and/or oligomeric Abeta, seems to correlate with the clinicopathological dysfunction observed in AD patients. However, the nature (monomeric, dimeric or other...