Research group on Metabolic Diseases

Metabolism and Organic Damage Area

The main objective of the group is the identification of new biomarkers and therapeutic targets to restrain the main pathologies associated with metabolic dysfunction caused by diabetes and dyslipidemia. The two most important pathological consequences in severity and prevalence of the metabolic dysfunction are atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). Tissue inflammation is one of the key mechanisms of these pathologies, so the lines of research focus on the study of the effect of inflammatory mediators, specifically the family of lymphotoxins and their receptors, on their development. To this end, experimental approaches of gain and loss of function of these mediators are used in animal models of disease and human cell cultures to evaluate their impact on key cellular events of diseases. The lines of research also include clinical studies in collaboration with the Endocrinology Service in subjects with cardiovascular pathology and diabetes. More recently, research also includes transcriptomic studies of both human and murine tissue samples in order to identify new determinants of the disease.

Dra. Herminia González Navarro
Coordinator
Dra. Herminia González Navarro
herminia.gonzalez@uv.es
RESEARCHERS
Leading, R4
Established, R3

Herminia González Navarro    

Recognised/Emerging, R2

Elena Jiménez Martí

First Stage, R1

Elía Ruiz Merino
Gema Hurtado Genovés
María Aguilar Ballester

STAFF
Collaborating Researchers
Nurse
Technicians
Administrative assistant
Publications
Light deficiency in Apoe-/-mice increases atheroma plaque size and vulnerability by modulating local immunity. Hurtado-Genoves G, Herrero-Cervera A, Vinue A, Martin-Vano S, Aguilar-Ballester M, Taberner-Cortes A, Jimenez-Marti E, Martinez-Hervas S, Gonzalez-Navarro H. Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta. Molecular Basis Of Disease. 2024 Feb 8;1870(4):167052. doi: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2024.167052. PMID: 38336102
CCL17 and CCL22 chemokines are upregulated in human obesity and play a role in vascular dysfunction. Hueso L, Marques P, Morant B, Gonzalez-Navarro H, Ortega J, Real J, Sanz M, Piqueras L. Frontiers in Endocrinology. 2023 Apr 12;14:1154158. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1154158. PMID: 37124725Vascular smooth muscle cell phenotype is modulated by ligands of the lymphotoxin β receptor and the tumor necrosis factor receptor. Martin-Vano S, Miralles-Abella A, Castano P, Hurtado-Genoves G, Aguilar-Ballester M, Herrero-Cervera A, Vinue A, Martinez-Hervas S, Gonzalez-Navarro H. Clinica e Investigacion en Arteriosclerosis. 2023 Jan-Feb;35(1):1-11. English, Spanish. doi: 10.1016/j.arteri.2022.05.003. PMID: 35738949

Neutrophils in chronic inflammatory diseases. Herrero-Cervera A, Soehnlein O, Kenne E. Cellular & Molecular Immunology. 2022 Feb;19(2):177-191. doi: 10.1038/s41423-021-00832-3. PMID: 35039631Novel therapies for cardiometabolic disease: recent findings in studies with hormone peptide-derived G protein coupled receptor agonists. Jimenez-Marti E, Hurtado-Genoves G, Aguilar-Ballester M, Martinez-Hervas S, Gonzalez-Navarro H. Nutrients. 2022 Sep 13;14(18):3775. doi: 10.3390/nu14183775. PMID: 36145148

RUNAT-BI: A Ruthenium(III) Complex as a Selective Anti-Tumor Drug Candidate against Highly Aggressive Cancer Cell Lines. Albanell-Fernandez M, Oltra S, Orts-Arroyo M, Ibarrola-Villava M, Carrasco F, Jimenez-Marti E, Cervantes A, Castro I, Martinez-Lillo J, Ribas G. Cancers. 2022 Dec 22;15(1):69. doi: 10.3390/cancers15010069. PMID: 36612065

Dissecting abdominal aortic aneurysm is aggravated by genetic inactivation of LIGHT (TNFSF14). Herrero-Cervera A, Espinos-Estevez C, Martin-Vano S, Taberner-Cortes A, Aguilar-Ballester M, Vinue A, Piqueras L, Martinez-Hervas S, Gonzalez-Navarro H. Biomedicines. 2021 Oct 22;9(11):1518. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines9111518. PMID: 34829747Intra-tumour genetic heterogeneity and prognosis in high-risk neuroblastoma. Lopez-Carrasco A, Berbegall A, Martin-Vano S, Blanquer-Maceiras M, Castel V, Navarro S, Noguera R. Cancers. 2021 Oct 15;13(20):5173. doi: 10.3390/cancers13205173. PMID: 34680323

Overexpression of glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase preserves mouse pancreatic beta cells function until late in life. De la Rosa A, Gomez-Cabrera M, Vinue A, Gonzalez-Navarro H, Sanchez-Andres J, Vina J. Free radical biology & medicine. 2021 Feb 20;164:149-153. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2020.12.439. PMID: 33418115

Postprandial triglyceridemia is modulated by insulin resistance but not by grade of obesity in abdominal and morbid obese subjects. Moreno-Perez B, Benito E, Civera M, Alabadi B, Martinez-Hervas S, Peiro M, Gonzalez-Navarro H, Piqueras L, Jesus Sanz M, Ascaso J, Real J. International Journal of Clinical Practice. 2021 Apr;75(4):e13776. doi: 10.1111/ijcp.13776. PMID: 33089594

Therapies for the Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease Associated with Type 2 Diabetes and Dyslipidemia. Aguilar-Ballester M, Hurtado-Genoves G, Taberner-Cortes A, Herrero-Cervera A, Martinez-Hervas S, Gonzalez-Navarro H. International Journal Of Molecular Sciences. 2021 Jan 11;22(2):660. doi: 10.3390/ijms22020660. PMID: 33440821

Unraveling the extracellular matrix-tumor cell interactions to aid better targeted therapies for neuroblastoma. Burgos-Panadero R, El Moukhtari SH, Noguera I, Rodriguez-Nogales C, Martin-Vano S, Vicente-Munuera P, Canete A, Navarro S, Blanco-Prieto MJ, Noguera R. International Journal of Pharmaceutics. 2021 Aug 28;608:121058. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.121058. PMID: 34461172

Projects
Reference: PI22/00062
Title: Identificación de nuevas dianas terapéuticas y mecanismos de la modulación de la inflamación en las enfermedades metabólicas
Funding body: Instituto de Salud Carlos III – Cofinanciado FEDER
Principal Investigator: Herminia González Navarro, Sergio Martínez Hervás
Duration: 2023 – 2025
Total budget: 147.620,00 €
Reference: CDEI0420B
Title: Plan GenT
Funding body: Conselleria de Sanidad
Principal Investigator: Herminia González Navarro
Duration: 2020 – 2023
Total budget: 253.000 €
Reference: PI19/00169
Title: Papel de los procesos inflamatorios en las enfermedades metabólicas y en las complicaciones asociadas
Funding body: Instituto de Salud Carlos III – Cofinanciado FEDER
Principal Investigator: Herminia González Navarro, Sergio Martínez Hervás
Duration: 2020 – 2022
Total budget: 159.720 €
Reference: COST Action CA17129
Title: Catalysing transcriptomics research in cardiovascular disease
Funding body: European Commission
Principal Investigator: Yvan Devaux
Duration: 2018 – 2023
Total budget: 0
Reference: PI16/00091
Title: Papel de los procesos inflamatorios asociados a la diabetes en la estabilidad de la placa de ateroma y estudio del uso potencial de estrategias terapéuticas
Funding body: Instituto de Salud Carlos III – Cofinanciado FEDER
Principal Investigator: Herminia González Navarro
Duration: 2017 – 2019
Total budget: 122.815 €
+ Info
Title: Efecto de la dapagliflozina en la aterosclerosis diabética y caracterización de un modelo murino de EHNA inducido por dieta
Doctoral candidate: Taberner Cortés, Aida
Director(s): González Navarro, Herminia
Date of the defense: 11/11/2021
University: Universitat Politècnica de ValènciaTitle: Papel de la citoquina light en la esteatosis hepática y la resistencia a insulina
Doctoral candidate: Herrero Cervera, Andrea
Director(s): González Navarro, Herminia
Date of the defense: 21/01/2020
University: Universitat Politècnica de València