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Flora de Pablo | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 February 1952 Salamanca, Castilla y León, Spain |
| Alma mater | University of Salamanca |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Cellular and molecular biology |
| Institutions | Spanish National Research Council |
Flora de Pablo (born 25 February 1952) is a Spanish doctor of medicine, specialising in cellular and molecular biology. [1]
She received her degree in medicine in 1975 and continued her studies in psychology at the University of Salamanca. Between 1976 and 1979, she worked as a Resident Medical Intern and did a predoctoral internship in the Pathology Department, Service of Endocrinology, at the University of Salamanca clinical Hospital, where she got her doctorate in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology. She worked for several years in the United States as a researcher (1984–1991 and 1995–1996) for the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda) and for the California Institute of Technology (Caltech, Pasadena). During 1982-1984 she worked as an assistant doctor, in the Service of Endocrinology in the Hospital de la Santa Cruz y San Pablo in Barcelona.
In 1991, she came back to Spain as a research scientist for the Center of Biological Research (CIB) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Madrid. Between 2007 and 2008 she was the managing director of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. She now works as a CSIC research professor for the Cell and Molecular Biology Department of the CIB.
In 2001, she was one of the main founders of the Association of Women Researchers and Technologists, and the chairwoman till 2007. She is concerned about the poor recognition of women's work in scientific and technological areas, as well as the lack of representation in the relevant positions and in the decision-making.
In 1991, she created the research group Factores de Crecimiento en el Desarrollo de Vertebrados, that from 2007 was known as Laboratorio 3D: desarrollo, diferenciación, degeneración. Her research has always been related to Cell and Molecular Biology, the embryonic development, insulin and growth factors, as well as neurogenesis. The team that she manages has specially studied the role of Proinsulin/insulin in the development of the central nervous system.
Pablo cowrote over 130 research articles, including:
Insulin is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (INS) gene. It is the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and protein by promoting the absorption of glucose from the blood into cells of the liver, fat, and skeletal muscles. In these tissues the absorbed glucose is converted into either glycogen, via glycogenesis, or fats (triglycerides), via lipogenesis; in the liver, glucose is converted into both. Glucose production and secretion by the liver are strongly inhibited by high concentrations of insulin in the blood. Circulating insulin also affects the synthesis of proteins in a wide variety of tissues. It is thus an anabolic hormone, promoting the conversion of small molecules in the blood into large molecules in the cells. Low insulin in the blood has the opposite effect, promoting widespread catabolism, especially of reserve body fat.
The blastocyst is a structure formed in the early embryonic development of mammals. It possesses an inner cell mass (ICM) also known as the embryoblast which subsequently forms the embryo, and an outer layer of trophoblast cells called the trophectoderm. This layer surrounds the inner cell mass and a fluid-filled cavity or lumen known as the blastocoel. In the late blastocyst, the trophectoderm is known as the trophoblast. The trophoblast gives rise to the chorion and amnion, the two fetal membranes that surround the embryo. The placenta derives from the embryonic chorion and the underlying uterine tissue of the mother.
Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), also called somatomedin C, is a hormone similar in molecular structure to insulin which plays an important role in childhood growth, and has anabolic effects in adults. In the 1950s IGF-1 was called "sulfation factor" because it stimulated sulfation of cartilage in vitro, and in the 1970s due to its effects it was termed "nonsuppressible insulin-like activity" (NSILA).
Fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2), also known as basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and FGF-β, is a growth factor and signaling protein encoded by the FGF2 gene. It binds to and exerts effects via specific fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) proteins, themselves a family of closely related molecules. Fibroblast growth factor protein was first purified in 1975; soon thereafter three variants were isolated: 'basic FGF' (FGF2); Heparin-binding growth factor-2; and Endothelial cell growth factor-2. Gene sequencing revealed that this group is the same FGF2 protein and is a member of a family of FGF proteins.
Insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF-2) is one of three protein hormones that share structural similarity to insulin. The MeSH definition reads: "A well-characterized neutral peptide believed to be secreted by the liver and to circulate in the blood. It has growth-regulating, insulin-like and mitogenic activities. The growth factor has a major, but not absolute, dependence on somatotropin. It is believed to be a major fetal growth factor in contrast to insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which is a major growth factor in adults."
Miodrag Stojković is a Serbian researcher in genetics with the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle University. He holds a PhD from the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. As of January 2006, he is serving as a deputy director and head of Cellular Reprogramming Laboratory, Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, Spain.
The insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) receptor is a protein found on the surface of human cells. It is a transmembrane receptor that is activated by a hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and by a related hormone called IGF-2. It belongs to the large class of tyrosine kinase receptors. This receptor mediates the effects of IGF-1, which is a polypeptide protein hormone similar in molecular structure to insulin. IGF-1 plays an important role in growth and continues to have anabolic effects in adults – meaning that it can induce hypertrophy of skeletal muscle and other target tissues. Mice lacking the IGF-1 receptor die late in development, and show a dramatic reduction in body mass. This testifies to the strong growth-promoting effect of this receptor.
Implantation, also known as nidation, is the stage in the mammalian embryonic development in which the blastocyst hatches, attaches, adheres, and invades into the endometrium of the female's uterus. Implantation is the first stage of gestation, and, when successful, the female is considered to be pregnant. An implanted embryo is detected by the presence of increased levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in a pregnancy test. The implanted embryo will receive oxygen and nutrients in order to grow.
The liver receptor homolog-1 (LRH-1) also known as totipotency pioneer factor NR5A2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the NR5A2 gene. LRH-1 is a member of the nuclear receptor family of intracellular transcription factors.
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, also known as the glitazone reverse insulin resistance receptor, or NR1C3 is a type II nuclear receptor functioning as a transcription factor that in humans is encoded by the PPARG gene.
Transcription factor SOX-3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SOX3 gene. This gene encodes a member of the SOX family of transcription factors involved in the regulation of embryonic brain development and in determination of cell fate. The encoded protein acts as a transcriptional activator.
Krueppel-like factor 11 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the KLF11 gene.
Janet Rossant, is a developmental biologist well known for her contributions to the understanding of the role of genes in embryo development. She is a world renowned leader in developmental biology. Her current research interests focus on stem cells, molecular genetics, and developmental biology. Specifically, she uses cellular and genetic manipulation techniques to study how genes control both normal and abnormal development of early mouse embryos. Rossant has discovered information on embryo development, how multiple types of stem cells are established, and the mechanisms by which genes control development. In 1998, her work helped lead to the discovery of the trophoblast stem cell, which has assisted in showing how congenital anomalies in the heart, blood vessels, and placenta can occur.
Carlos Martínez Alonso, was born in Villasimpliz, in the province of León, on January 9, 1950. In 1974 he obtained a chemistry degree from the Universidad Complutense of Madrid. Four years later, in 1978, he obtained a Ph.D. in immunology by the same university. He was appointed President of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) from 2004 to 2008, and Secretary of State for Research in the Ministry of Science and Innovation from early 2008 to December 2009.
Adipogenesis is the formation of adipocytes from stem cells. It involves 2 phases, determination, and terminal differentiation. Determination is mesenchymal stem cells committing to the adipocyte precursor cells, also known as lipoblasts or preadipocytes which lose the potential to differentiate to other types of cells such as chondrocytes, myocytes, and osteoblasts. Terminal differentiation is that preadipocytes differentiate into mature adipocytes. Adipocytes can arise either from preadipocytes resident in adipose tissue, or from bone-marrow derived progenitor cells that migrate to adipose tissue.
Neurogenin-3 (NGN3) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the Neurog3 gene.
Margarita Salas Falgueras, 1st Marchioness of Canero was a Spanish scientist, medical researcher, and author in the fields of biochemistry and molecular genetics.
Elizabeth Jane Robertson is a British developmental biologist based at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford. She is Professor of Developmental Biology at Oxford and a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow. She is best known for her pioneering work in developmental genetics, showing that genetic mutations could be introduced into the mouse germ line by using genetically altered embryonic stem cells. This discovery opened up a major field of experimentation for biologists and clinicians.
A prohormone is a committed precursor of a hormone consisting of peptide hormones synthesized together that has a minimal hormonal effect by itself because of its expression-suppressing structure, often created by protein folding and binding additional peptide chains to certain ends, that makes hormone receptor binding sites located on its peptide hormone chain segments inaccessible. Prohormones can travel the blood stream as a hormone in an inactivated form, ready to be activated later in the cell by post-translational modification.
María Domínguez Castellano is a Spanish neuroscientist and director of the Department of Developmental Neurobiology in the Institute of Neurosciences, Alicante, Spain, which is a joint Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) and Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) institution.
