Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Laureano de la Vega is a biochemist graduate from the University of Cordoba (Spain), he finished his PhD in Biochemistry in 2007 obtaining the highest degree, Summa Cum Laude, for his work investigating the molecular mechanisms regulating HIV latency. Following this, he moved to Giessen (Germany) to join the team of Prof. Lienhard Schmitz as a postdoctoral researcher from 2007 to 2013. During that time his research was focused on post-translational modifications of HIPK2, an important regulator of cell growth, cell death and differentiation. In 2013 he moved to Dundee where he started his own group focused on the regulation of stress response pathways in cancer.
Research interests
Stress Responses
Organisms need to be able to adapt to change in order to survive, and certain cellular programs (stress response pathways) have evolved to respond to a dynamic environment. Example of stress responses pathways include p53, NRF2, and HSF1 pathways. Stress responses are by definition acute, and their transient activation help normal cells to cope with cellular stresses. Interestingly, there is a large body of evidence showing that, in contrast to normal cells, cancer cells are constitutively under cellular stress (i.e. DNA damage/replication stress, proteotoxic stress, mitotic stress, metabolic stress, and oxidative stress) and they depend on the sustained activation of cytoprotective stress response pathways to survive.
The essential nature of the stress response pathways in cancer cells makes them attractive targets, and thus, a better understanding of how these pathways are regulated could help identify new ways to modulate stress responses to impair cancer cell survival. In that sense, our lab is focused in obtaining a detailed understanding of stress response pathways and their aberrations in cancer. For that, we are interested not only on key master regulators of stress responses (e.g. NRF2, HSF1 or P53) but as well in the upstream regulatory pathways that modulate their activity (i.e. upstream kinases).
HIPK/DYRK family
Homeodomain-Interacting Protein Kinases (HIPKs) are a subfamily of the Dual specificity tYrosine Regulated Kinase (DYRK) family of kinases. These kinases function as hubs for a wide variety of stress signals, ranging from DNA damage and hypoxia to reactive oxygen species and metabolic stress. HIPK/DYRKs function as integrators for these stress signals and modulate different downstream pathways in order to allow cells to cope with these situations. Different posttranslational modifications modulate the activity and physiological role of HIPK/DYRKs, and the study of how their activity is regulated in different pathophysiological scenarios is an important line of investigation in cancer research.
Based on the literature and on previous studies from the lab it has become apparent that HIPK/DYRKs can play a dual role in cancer; either inducing apoptosis or promoting cell survival. While the pathways involved in their tumour suppressor role are relatively well studied, the underlying mechanisms mediating their pro-survival function(s) are not well characterised. Specifically, we are interested in i) understanding how this family of kinases is regulated in cancer cells; ii) identifying novel HIPK/DYRK-regulated pro-survival/oncogenic pathways and iii) to identify the basis for such functional duality in cancer, as it will inform us in which type of cancer or under which conditions (i.e. initial stages of cancer versus well stablished cancers) these kinases can support cancer cell survival and tumour growth.
Teaching
Laureano currently teaches on the MRes Cancer Biology Course as a module lead, and on the BSc (Hons) level 3 Molecular Biology module and as a Journal Club leader.
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Projects 2013 2023
HIPK2 as a Novel Determinant of Tumour Progression and Therapeutic Resistance
1/02/17 → 31/01/23
Project: Research
Use CRISPR/Cas9 Technology to Improve the Study of HIPKs Role and Regulation in Cancer Cells
1/04/15 → 31/03/16
Project: Research
Uncovering the Acetylome of Basal-like Breast Cancer Cells Under Hypoxic Conditions
1/07/14 → 30/06/15
Project: Research
Research Output 2003 2020
- 461 Citations
- 13 h-Index
- 22 Article
Cannabidiol induces antioxidant pathways in keratinocytes by targeting BACH1
Casares Perez, L., García, V., Garrido-Rodríguez, M., Millán, E., Collado, J. A., García-Martín, A., Peñarando, J., Calzado, M. A., de la Vega, L. & Muñoz, E., 5 Sep 2019, In : Redox Biology. 28, p. 1-15 15 p., 101321.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Induction of the Antioxidant Response by the Transcription Factor NRF2 Increases Bioactivation of the Mutagenic Air Pollutant 3-Nitrobenzanthrone in Human Lung Cells
Murray, J. R., de la Vega, L., Hayes, J. D., Duan, L. & Penning, T. M., 20 Nov 2019, In : Chemical Research in Toxicology. 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Inhibition of dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinase 2 perturbs 26S proteasome-addicted neoplastic progression
Banerjee, S., Wei, T., Wang, J., Lee, J. J., Gutierrez, H. L., Chapman, O., Wiley, S. E., Mayfield, J. E., Tandon, V., Juarez, E. F., Chavez, L., Liang, R., Sah, R. L., Costello, C., Mesirov, J. P., de la Vega, L., Cooper, K. L., Dixon, J. E., Xiao, J. & Lei, X., 3 Dec 2019, In : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 116, 49, p. 1-11 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Phosphorylation-dependent regulation of the NOTCH1 intracellular domain by dual-specificity tyrosine-regulated kinase 2
Morrugares, R., Correa-Sáez, A., Moreno Dorta, R., Garrido-Rodríguez, M., Muñoz, E., de la Vega, L. & Calzado, M. A., 11 Oct 2019, In : Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
The isothiocyanate sulforaphane inhibits mTOR in an NRF2-independent manner
Zhang, Y., Gilmour, A., Ahn, Y-H., de la Vega, L. & Dinkova-Kostova, A., 5 Aug 2019, In : Phytomedicine. 153062.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Thesis
An autoregulatory loop between NRF2 and HIPK2 shapes cytoprotective responses
Author: Torrente Fernandez, L., 2017Supervisor: de la Vega, L. (Supervisor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy