Projects

Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER)

Project Code PI20/01039

Team members: B.  Mothe, A. Llano, S. Cedeño, M. Rosàs, T.Escribà, L. Bailón, Y. Alarcón.

Multicolour flow cytometry, as a powerful tool for analysing cell functions, has yielded important new insights into the immune system. However, the hardware has advanced faster than the software, causing an analytical bottleneck and holding back the potential of multicolour flow cytometry. Our multidisciplinary team, in taking up the challenge of multicolour flow cytometry data analysis, has developed OURflow as an automated analysis tool compiled in an R environment that is capable of generating rapid and objective analyses of flow cytometry data, while reducing analysis time by 90%. This application offers academic and industrial users access to high-performance analysis.

HIV-infected patients present a higher prevalence of morbidities and immunosenescence (aging of the immune system). In aged organisms, the accumulation of cells with unrepaired DNA lesions contributes to genome instability, rendering them more susceptible to enter senescence. Although genomic instability is one of the hallmarks of aging and senescence, the relationship between immunosenescence and genomic instability remains to be described/has not been assessed. The overall objective of the project is to determine the prevalence of immunosenescence, cellular aging and senescence markers (shortening of telomeres, DNA damage, 53BP1 recruitment, cell proliferation capacity and expression of senescence markers) in HIV-infected and uninfected adults (40-45 years) and elderly (60-70 years).

We aim to:

1. Establish the relation between these two mechanisms (immunosenescence and cellular aging/senescence 
2. Determine if HIV induces them earlier and in a more accelerated way 
3. Characterize target biomarkers that would allow their surveillance in these patients.

• Funding entity: Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universitites - Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII)