Recent Submissions

The phenotypic plasticity behind the origin of animals: functional genomics, cell biology, and new genetic tools 

Suárez Ara, Patricia (Date of defense: 2024-04-12)

The origin of animals has puzzled scientists for centuries. The transition from a unicellular eukaryote to animals is undoubtedly one of the biggest evolutionary transitions in Earth’s history. To unravel the evolutionary ...

Hacia una medicina basada en la precisión en entornos de rehabilitación: evaluación del estado nutricional y la sarcopenia en pacientes con enfermedades crónicas = Towards a precision-based rehabilitation medicine: asssessment of nutritional status and sarcopenia in patients with chronic diseases referred to rehabilitation 

Dávalos Yerovi, Natalia Vanesa (Date of defense: 2024-04-12)

Esta tesis aborda la malnutrición y la sarcopenia en pacientes con enfermedades crónicas, centrándose en la enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica (EPOC) y la enfermedad renal crónica. Utilizando los criterios de la Global ...

Characterization of allosteric communication networks in GPCRs 

Morales Pastor, Adrián (Date of defense: 2024-04-11)

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are central to cellular signaling and pivotal in drug development. This thesis investigates allosteric communication in GPCRs, crucial for their effective modulation in pharmacotherapy. ...

PET in preclinical AD: image harmonization, characterization of the centiloid metric of Aβ load and associations with tau fluid biomarkers 

Shekari, Mahnaz (Date of defense: 2024-04-03)

This thesis explores technical factors influencing brain PET quantification, developing brain PET harmonization framework, assessing Centiloid robustness as a clinical biomarker, and evaluating the associations between ...

Decoding the epitranscriptomic complexity through computational methods based on long-read sequencing 

Delgado Tejedor, Anna (Date of defense: 2024-03-21)

RNA modifications, collectively known as the ‘epitranscriptome’, play a major role in multiple biological processes, including splicing regulation, gene expression regulation and antibiotic resistance. Unfortunately, ...

Development of a low input chromatin profiling technique to examine the role of PRC2 proteins in development and leukaemia 

Sondermann, Nathalie Allegra Faye (Date of defense: 2024-03-21)

Polycomb repressive complexes (PRC1/2) are key chromatin regulators in development. Their deregulation is implicated in various cancers including leukaemia. Meanwhile, MLL-rearrangements by chromosomal translocations and ...

Influencias del entorno alimentario de los centros educativos sobre el peso de los escolares 

Londoño Cañola, Catalina (Date of defense: 2024-03-18)

Esta tesis tiene como objetivos evaluar el entorno alimentario alrededor de las escuelas de Barcelona en términos de proximidad y disponibilidad de establecimientos alimentarios y su relación con el nivel socioeconómico ...

Dinámica clonal en las neoplasias mieloproliferativas crónicas 

Fernández Ibarrondo, Lierni (Date of defense: 2024-04-05)

Las neoplasias mieloproliferativas Philadelphia-negativas son enfermedades clonales que se originan en las células madre hematopoyéticas, ocasionadas por la adquisición de mutaciones driver que afectan a la vía JAK/STAT. ...

Precise writing of human genomes: engineering & characterizing genome editors for programmable DNA integration in human cells 

Ivancic, Dimitrie (Date of defense: 2024-04-03)

Methods for genome engineering have enabled construction of synthetic genomes, therapeutically reprogrammed cells, synthetic organs, and modification of human genomes. Design and discovery of genome editors has enabled ...

Neural entrainment to languages of different rhythms in adults and infants 

Özer, Ege Ekin (Date of defense: 2024-03-21)

In this thesis, we explored neural entrainment as a potential mechanism to underline the behavioral evidence that certain phonological properties of listeners’ native language affects speech segmentation. In two experimental ...

Analysis of circulating RNAs for the early detection of complex diseases using liquid biopsy 

Cabús Fornas, Lluc (Date of defense: 2024-03-15)

RNA is a molecule that is released by the different tissues into the circulation. When it is found in the circulation it is called cell-free RNA (cfRNA). This type of molecule has great potential as a noninvasive biomarker ...

Dissecting γTuRC recruitment and microtubule nucleation at MTOCs 

Vineethakumari Muraleedharan, Chithran (Date of defense: 2024-03-14)

Microtubules form diverse arrays according to the cell type or the cell cycle stage to facilitate the context-specific functions of the cytoskeleton. One way by which cells achieve this is by restricting the formation of ...

Bilingual insights into the initial lexicon: the role of cognates in word acquisition 

García de Castro García, Gonzalo (Date of defense: 2024-03-11)

Bilingual infants acquire words at a similar rate as monolingual ones, despite navigating a more intricate linguistic environment. The mechanisms behind this phenomenon remain elusive. Our project addressed the potential ...

Dietary palmitic acid estabishes an epigenetic memory that promotes metastasis: Implications of neural-related processes in enhacing dissemination 

Domínguez Rodríguez, Diana (Date of defense: 2021-05-04)

La metàstasis és responsable del 90% de les morts per càncer, demostrant l’existent manca de coneixement en relació als seus mecanismes moleculars. Investigacions anteriors del nostre laboratori han demostrat la importància ...

Genetically engineering living systems: From complex computational scenarios to multiple market applications 

Mogas Diez, Sira (Date of defense: 2022-01-28)

This PhD thesis explores the potential embedded in living organisms, understood as highly complex machines which can sense, compute, and react to changes in their surroundings. From this general idea, we have made use of ...

Cognitive and synaptic outcomes of targeting peripheral cannabinoid type-1 receptor: focus on naïve and intellectual disability mouse models 

Bergadà Martínez, Araceli (Date of defense: 2024-03-08)

Cognition is a physiological brain function that refers to the process of acquiring and managing knowledge and understanding. It embraces multiple domains, including memory. Intellectual disability disorders such as fragile ...

Understanding and targeting mitochondria to counteract cellular senescene: elucidation of novel senotherapies 

López Polo, Vanessa (Date of defense: 2024-03-07)

The pathologic role of senescent cells is well established in a variety of diseases. Despite the ample evidence that mitochondria play a central role in cellular senescence, the understanding of the adaptations in the ...

Role of polycomb-like proteins in mouse embryonic stem cell differentiation 

Condemi, Livia (Date of defense: 2024-03-07)

Polycomb repressive complex (PRC) 2 is one of the key regulators of the transcriptional programs, it maintains stem cell properties and guides cell lineage specification. It is a multiprotein complex formed by a core and ...

Uso de los cambios en el soporte ventilatorio no invasivo durante la insuficiencia respiratoria aguda hipoxémica 

Parrilla Gómez, Francisco (Date of defense: 2024-03-01)

El soporte respiratorio no invasivo (SRNI) es utilizado ampliamente en los Servicios de Medicina Intensiva para el tratamiento de la Insuficiencia Respiratoria Aguda Hipoxémica (IRAH). A pesar de los múltiples estudios ...

Demographic inference in complex populations: the North African case 

Serradell Noguera, Jose Miguel (Date of defense: 2024-03-01)

Since the first peopling of the region, multiple demographic events have occurred generating a complex genetic landscape in North Africa characterized by high genetic heterogeneity and constant gene flow from surrounding ...