EM31: Lipid Metabolism and Metabolic Diseases Group (LipidLab)

The LipidLab research group, located in the Andrés Segovia Building, focuses on studying how lipids are metabolized and why defects in lipid metabolism lead to serious human diseases, ranging from obesity to fatty liver disease. The group uses cutting-edge biochemical and genetic tools, as well as various animal and cellular models, in its research. The group’s goal is to better understand the etiology of metabolic diseases and to develop new therapeutic strategies for their treatment in order to improve human health.

Responsible researcher

Michele Alves-Bezerra:
- E-mail: michele.alves@uca.es
- ORCID: 0000-0003-4430-6434

Lines of research

Line of Research 1: Control of the metabolic fate of fatty acids in normal physiology and metabolic fatty liver disease (MAFLD). The goal of this research is to uncover the hepatic mechanisms that control the partitioning of fatty acids into specific downstream metabolic pathways, focusing on triglyceride synthesis versus lipoprotein (VLDL) secretion. Fatty acid oxidation and intrahepatic storage versus lipoprotein (VLDL) secretion. Our goal is to manipulate these pathways to reduce lipogenesis and increase lipid clearance, thereby reducing hepatic steatosis and mitigating MAFLD.
Line 2: Liver-targeted gene editing and humanized mice for disease modeling and preclinical testing of MAFLD therapies. In this unique research approach, we combine a human liver-chimeric mouse with liver-targeted genome engineering to develop a platform that accelerates the study of liver metabolic disorders and the evaluation of experimental therapies in vivo in a human-like setting. Our goal is to create a lab-to-bedside approach, from basic discovery to improving patient care.

Keywords

# Biochemistry of Lipids
# Lipid Metabolism
# Metabolic Diseases
# Obesity
# Fatty Liver
# Dyslipidemia

EM31: Lipid Metabolism and Metabolic Diseases Group (LipidLab)

Responsible researcher

Michele Alves-Bezerra:

EMERGIA Researcher, University of Cádiz.

E-mail: michele.alves@uca.es
ORCID: 0000-0003-4430-6434

Members of the Team

Principal Investigators:
- Michele Alves-Bezerra (PI) .
Researchers:
- María Antonia Mateo Marín.
- Daniel Palenque Blanco.
- Laura Cubero López.

EM31: Lipid Metabolism and Metabolic Diseases Group (LipidLab)

Production

Find all of the group's publications ( Projects, Patents , and Publications) on the I+Salud Portal of the Andalusian Public Health System: