The CaixaResearch Call for Health Research aims to promote excellent basic, clinical and translational research with great social impact. Promoted by "la Caixa" Foundation, the 2023 edition has awarded grants to 33 research projects in biomedicine and health to be carried out in research centres, hospitals and universities in Spain and Portugal. The award ceremony for its sixth edition was held on Thursday 23 November at the CosmoCaixa Science Museum.

Among the 33 projects selected were two studies led by Dr. Biola M. Javierre, head of the 3D Chromatin Organisation group, and Dr. Mariona Graupera, head of the Endothelial Pathobiology and Microenvironment group at the Josep Carreras Institute.

Identification of new biomarkers to predict the risk of relapse in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

Dr Biola M. Javierre and her group will focus their study on acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), a type of leukaemia that affects 15 out of every million people per year in developed countries, according to IARC’s data, the International Agency for Research on Cancer. This type of tumour, which represents 10 % of all leukaemias diagnosed worldwide, is a huge challenge, as one in two patients relapses and, when this happens, 90 % of them die.

The causes of relapse or, in other words, the recurrence of the disease after treatment, are still not well understood. Recent studies suggest that certain mutations that do not directly affect the genes and the tumour microenvironment may play an important role in the persistence of the disease. Being able to test whether these factors are indeed key to relapse would make it possible to better predict the future of patients and design new strategies to treat them.

Dr. Javierre's group's project, which will be carried out in consortium with Dr. Alfonso Valencia, from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS), and will include the participation of Dr. Josep-Maria Ribera and Dr. Eduard Porta, of the Josep Carreras Institute, aims to decipher the molecular and cellular basis of relapse in ALL. To do this, they will characterise the different types of cells in the tumour microenvironment and compare the cancer cell populations at the different stages: those present at the time of diagnosis, those present during remission in patients who overcome the leukaemia and those present during relapse in patients in whom the disease reappears. The aim is to identify biomarkers to predict which patients are at risk of relapse and to find new targets to treat the tumour and prevent relapse and mortality.

Study of the regenerative properties of endothelial cells that favour the formation of new blood vessels

Dr. Mariona Graupera, who will work with Dr. Rui Miguel Benedito, from the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC), and Dr. Alejo Rodriguez-Fraticelli, from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), will study the regenerative properties of endothelial cells. These cells line the blood vessels, which supply nutrients and oxygen to the body's cells. When this supply is insufficient, endothelial cells activate themselves and form new vessels in a process called angiogenesis. However, in diseases such as ischaemic heart disease, stroke, metabolic diseases or in ageing, this process fails. For the time being, the causes of its failure are unknown.

Until now, the most widely held theory has been that any endothelial cell is capable of proliferating in response to tissue damage. However, in previous studies, the project team has observed that only a small group of endothelial cells retain the ability to proliferate in response to certain signals, and these are the responsible cells for sustaining tissue growth and generation.

Now, in the new project, researchers want to identify and characterise this group of cells that retain the regenerative properties that facilitate angiogenesis. The knowledge gained will have implications for tissue engineering and will open the door to the development of new therapeutic strategies for diseases involving poor vascularisation.