Research Units

Metabolomics provides knowledge to identify the metabolites present in a biological sample, and is the simplest, cheapest and most efficient method to diagnose diseases.

Metabolomics focuses on the study of metabolites. These small molecules are the last step in the biological process initiated with gene expression. The study of human metabolome is a very efficient method to identify possible markers and determine if an individual person is going to suffer from a disease, helping to diagnose a specific pathology. In mammals, specially in humans, the liver plays an important role in metabolomic equilibrium. In a pathological situation like diabetis mellitus, obesity, steatohepatitis or cirrhosis, a dysregulation of the mechanism that maintains the metabolomic equilibrium takes place. The aim of this unit is to elucidate the regulation of signaling pathway by essential metabolites and analyze the mechanism of the progression and development of liver diseases. This knowledge will help us to understand the relationship between essential metabolites and proliferation, cellular death and cellular metabolism.