Eva Balada Prades Institutions of which they are part Senior researcher Microbiology Vall Hebron Institut de Recerca Email Eva Balada Prades Email Institutions of which they are part Senior researcher Microbiology Vall Hebron Institut de Recerca
Research lines DNA methylation study in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients. DNA is hypomethylated in T cells from SLE patients. It may lead to an increase in the expression of some genes that are usually silenced and, consequently, autoimmune phenomena may develop. On the other hand, this "unprotected" DNA could be the responsible for triggering anti-DNA antibodies. To find out the reason why this DNA hypomethylation is taking place, we have evaluated the expression level of different DNA methylases and demethylases. We have observed that two demethylases (MBD2 and MBD4) are overexpressed in T CD4+ lymphocytes of patients with SLE. We are now studying the effect the overexpression of these proteins may have in the expression regulation of different molecules involved in the immunologic response. IP: Eva Balada Prades Infection and Autoimmunity: relevance of Human Endogenous Retrovirus (HERV) in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Antibodies against HERVs have been detected in patients suffering from some autoimmune diseases such as SLE, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's syndrome, and multiple sclerosis. We mainly focus our research on trying to detect these antibodies in our patients affected with SLE. We have recently cloned some recombinant proteins specific for HERVs. We are simultaneously evaluating the transcription levels of several HERV proteins in T CD4+ lymphocytes from SLE patients. IP: Eva Balada Prades Detection of retrovirus XMRV in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. The presence of the recently discovered retrovirus XMRV ("xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus") is being currently studied in our lab in patients with SLE. This virus has been detected in blood samples of patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Interestingly, many patients with lupus also suffer from CFS. Based on these facts, with this project we establish as a hypothesis the possibility of finding XMRV DNA and RNA sequences in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from SLE patients, especially in those with CFS. We are nowadays setting up the already described XMRV-specific PCR and RT-PCR assays. We will also study the immunologic response of these patients against particular XMRV proteins. IP: Eva Balada Prades Projects Estudio de las vías IFN-gamma/STAT y TGF-beta/Smad en pacientes de lupus con afectación cutánea. Papel en la evolución a fibrosis IP: Miguel Vilardell Tarres Collaborators: Segundo Bujan Rivas, Eva Balada Prades, Vicente García-Patos Briones, Maria Urquizu Padilla Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III Funding: 49980 Reference: PI050249 Duration: 01/01/2006 - 31/12/2008 Infección y autoinmunidad: relevancia de los retrovirus endógenos humanos (HERVs) en el lupus eritematoso sistémico IP: Eva Balada Prades Collaborators: Moisés Labrador Horrillo, José Ordi Ros, Miguel Vilardell Tarres, Fernando Martínez Valle Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III Funding: 39865 Reference: PI050242 Duration: 01/01/2006 - 31/12/2008 Estudio de la metilación del DNA en pacientes con lupus. IP: José Ordi Ros Collaborators: Eva Balada Prades, Miguel Vilardell Tarres Funding agency: Instituto de Salud Carlos III Funding: 42550 Reference: PI020532 Duration: 06/11/2002 - 06/11/2005
