
Malu Martinez Chantar has an extensive experience in the study of liver biology, particularly NAFLD, to which she has dedicated all of her professional career. She has a very high-level track of record productivity with publications in a very high-percentage of publications of the 1st decile in the category of Nature, Nature Communications, Cell Metabolism, Hepatology and Gastroenterology. Since 2005, when she initiated her laboratory as a Principal Investigator and got “tenure” at CIC bioGUNE, Spain, her laboratory work has been continuously financially supported by government and private funding competitive sources, both national and international. Remarkably, she has been co-PI of NIH with Dr. Lu (USC, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, USA) in the field of liver disease. She was one of the partners in an ambitious European project so called HEPADIP Consortium, which was created in response to the topic of the 3rd call for proposals in the EU FP6 Programme. Actually, she is the coordinator of the Traslational Area of the National Institute for the study of Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases (CIBEREHD) and the Scientific Advisory Board of national and international centers. Finally, she is part of the select multinational group "Women in Hepatology" composed only of women, experts in the field of Hepatology, with representatives from Europe and USA.
She has also held several collaborations with Pharmaceutical companies with 5 resultant patent applications and 4 licensed products. Finally, she has maintained a closed collaboration with the company OWL Metabolomics in the development of OWLiver® Care and OWLiver®, two non-invasive assays for fatty liver screening and for NASH diagnosis.
Latest Publications
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During 2015-2018 Liver Disease Lab (LDL) has published 35 peer reviewed articles, 18 of them in the first Decil (Nature Communicaton, Cell Metab, Nature, Hepatology, Gut, Gastroenterology etc) and eleven of them in the first quartile with an average impact factor of 9. We have been successful obtaining funding from different national and internationals agencies such as the Ministry of Economy Science and Competitiveness, Carlos III Health Institute, Foundations, crowdfunding and international projects derived from NIH. The visibility of our research group in the liver field has been intensified through an extensive participation in different national and international networks such as Ciberehd (Carlos III Health Institute), Women in Hepatology (International Consortium) and different European COST actions PROTEOSTASIS, TRANSAUTOPHAGY and MITOEAGLE.
Tutoring is an important factor in LDL and along these three years, nine PhD theses, 4 master's and multiple undergraduate and technician students have been trained. The co-direction of PhD students with different agencies like hospitals and technology centers has been of special relevance, contributing to enrich our research vision.
Regarding the research lines carried out in the LDL, we have generated three new areas of knowledge in this period of time, two of them practically unexplored, which have led us to be Cover Page of Hepatology in 2017 and to reach high impact journals such as Nature Communications, Gut or Cell Metabolism among others. These areas open new ways of knowledge in the liver field regarding metabolism, physiology and disease. These areas are a) post-translational modifications mainly NEDDylation b) Mitochondrial activity c) microRNAS and d) Magnesium metabolism. In all of them, we have developed new biological tools, preclinical animal models and new therapeutic approaches that have ended in the generation of patents and the development of a robust translational research.
In fact, one of the relevant points during 2015 -2018 of LDL has been the transfer of our knowledge to biomedical and pharmaceuticals companies. We have generated three patents, all of them licensed and other two under development. Importantly, we have promoted the generation of Mitotherapeutix LLC (USA), a biopharmaceutical company that develops products for treatment of degenerative liver disorders, based on our R&D, with a first product in Phase I Clinical Trial and another molecule under development. We have also participated in the OWL Liver and OWL Test, the first test for non-invasive diagnose of NAFLD, currently commercialized. We have actively collaborated with international companies such as Takeda Pharmaceutical and AGIOS in preclinical trials of their drugs and we have formal initiatives to transfer our R&D to important pharmaceutical companies. Regarding Basque Health cluster we have generated and consolidate initiatives with technological Engineers Centers (bioGUNE / TEKNIKER) with the aim to validate a candidate molecule as a predictive circulating marker of liver injury developing a promising low-cost effective Point-Of-Care technology to facilitate diagnosis and monitoring solutions in primary healthcare centers, pharmaceutical industry and for consumers
Therefore, in these three years we have generated knowledge, an extensive network of collaborations and we have proven preclinical models and transfer our R&D to national and international pharmaceutical companies.
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Associate Principal Investigator
Alfonso Martínez de la Cruz
POST DOCTORAL RESEARCHER -
Jorge Simon Espinosa
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Miren Bravo Garmendia
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Álvaro Eguileor Giné
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Teresa Cardoso
TECHNICIANS / EARLY STAGE RESEARCHER -
Begoña Rodríguez Iruretagoyena
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Sofia Lachiondo
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Maria Mercado Gómez
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Arantza Sanz Parra
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Claudia Gil Pitarch
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Irene González Recio
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Naroa Goikoetxea
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Marina Serrano
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Ruben Rodriguez
Members
Latest Publications
Methionine adenosyltransferase 1a antisense oligonucleotides activate the liver-brown adipose tissue axis preventing obesity and associated hepatosteatosis
de Urturi, DS;Buque, X;Porteiro, B;Folgueira, C;Mora, A;Delgado, TC;Prieto-Fernandez, E;Olaizola, P;Gomez-Santos, B;Apodaka-Biguri, M;Gonzalez-Romero, F;Nieva-Zuluaga, A;de Gauna, MR;Goikoetxea-Usandizaga, ...
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
2022-03-01
PI3K-regulated Glycine N-methyltransferase is required for the development of prostate cancer
Zabala-Letona, A;Arruabarrena-Aristorena, A;Fernandez-Ruiz, S;Viera, C;Carlevaris, O;Ercilla, A;Mendizabal, I;Martin, T;Macchia, A;Camacho, L;Pujana-Vaquerizo, M;Sanchez-Mosquera, P;Torrano, ...
ONCOGENESIS
2022-02-23
Genetic and pharmacological inhibition of XBP1 protects against APAP hepatotoxicity through the activation of autophagy
Ye, H;Chen, CB;Wu, HH;Zheng, K;Martin-Adrados, B;Caparros, E;Frances, R;Nelson, LJ;del Moral, MG;Asensio, I;Vaquero, J;Banares, R;Avila, MA;Andrade, RJ;Lucena, MI;Martinez-Chantar, ML;Reeves, ...
CELL DEATH & DISEASE
2022-02-10
Inhibition of ATG3 ameliorates liver steatosis by increasing mitochondrial function
Lima, ND;Fondevila, MF;Novoa, E;Buque, X;Mercado-Gomez, M;Gallet, S;Gonzalez-Rellan, MJ;Fernandez, U;Loyens, A;Garcia-Vence, M;Chantada-Vazquez, MD;Bravo, SB;Maranon, P;Senra, A;Escudero, A;Leiva, ...
JOURNAL OF HEPATOLOGY
2022-01-01
A Shortcut from Metabolic-Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD) to Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC): c-MYC a Promising Target for Preventative Strategies and Individualized Therapy
Guo, FF;Estevez-Vazquez, O;Benede-Ubieto, R;Maya-Miles, D;Zheng, K;Gallego-Duran, R;Rojas, A;Ampuero, J;Romero-Gomez, M;Philip, K;Egbuniwe, IU;Chen, CB;Simon, J;Delgado, TC;Martinez-Chantar, ...
CANCERS
2022-01-01
Mitochondrial bioenergetics boost macrophage activation, promoting liver regeneration in metabolically compromised animals
Goikoetxea-Usandizaga, N;Serrano-Macia, M;Delgado, TC;Simon, J;Ramos, DF;Barriales, D;Cornide, ME;Jimenez, M;Perez-Redondo, M;Lachiondo-Ortega, S;Rodriguez-Agudo, R;Bizkarguenaga, M;Zalamea, ...
HEPATOLOGY
2021-12-15
Impact of lifestyle interventions targeting physical exercise and caloric intake on cirrhosis regression in rats
Lafoz, E;Camprecios, G;Garcia-Caldero, H;Anton, A;Vilaseca, M;Ruart, M;Guasch, E;Garrabou, G;Delgado, TC;Martinez-Chantar, ML;Garcia-Martinez, R;Gracia-Sancho, J;Hernandez-Gea, V;Garcia-Pagan, ...
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-GASTROINTESTINAL AND LIVER PHYSIOLOGY
2021-12-01
Neddylation inhibition ameliorates steatosis in NAFLD by boosting hepatic fatty acid oxidation via the DEPTOR-mTOR axis
Serrano-Macia, M;Simon, J;Gonzalez-Rellan, MJ;Azkargorta, M;Goikoetxea-Usandizaga, N;Lopitz-Otsoa, F;De Urturi, DS;Rodriguez-Agudo, R;Lachiondo-Ortega, S;Mercado-Gomez, M;de Juan, VG;Bizkarguenaga, ...
MOLECULAR METABOLISM
2021-11-01
O-GlcNAcylated p53 in the liver modulates hepatic glucose production
Gonzalez-Rellan, MJ;Fondevila, MF;Fernandez, U;Rodriguez, A;Varela-Rey, M;Veyrat-Durebex, C;Seoane, S;Bernardo, G;Lopitz-Otsoa, F;Fernandez-Ramos, D;Bilbao, J;Iglesias, C;Novoa, E;Ameneiro, ...
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
2021-08-20
Inhibition of NAE-dependent protein hyper-NEDDylation in cystic cholangiocytes halts cystogenesis in experimental models of polycystic liver disease
Lee-Law, PY;Olaizola, P;Caballero-Camino, FJ;Izquierdo-Sanchez, L;Rodrigues, PM;Perugorria, MJ;Azkargorta, M;Elortza, F;Martinez-Chantar, ML;Aspichueta, P;Marzioni, M;Bujanda, L;Drenth, JPH;Banales, ...
UNITED EUROPEAN GASTROENTEROLOGY JOURNAL
2021-07-26