Angel R. Nebreda obtained his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Salamanca (Spain) and then worked as a postdoc at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda (USA), and the Cancer Research-UK Clare Hall Laboratories in South Mimms (UK). In 1995, he started his own group at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg (Germany) where he worked for 9 years and then moved to the newly created Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas in Madrid (Spain). He is currently an ICREA Research Professor at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, in Barcelona (Spain). His research interests focus on signal transduction mechanisms (MAPKs, CDKs) in cell proliferation, differentiation and survival, particularly in relation to cancer. He was elected EMBO member in 2003 and is an Editor of FEBS Letters and the Biochemical Journal.

Research interests

We are investigating molecular mechanisms of tumorigenesis, specially regarding how the p38 MAPK signaling pathway regulates cell viability, proliferation and invasion, using a combination of biochemical approaches and studies in human cancer cell lines. An important question is how this signalling pathway contributes to the ability of tumor cells to bypass normal controls. We also use genetically modified mice, which allow the inactivation of this pathway in a regulated and tissue-specific manner, and chemical inhibitors to investigate physiological functions of p38 MAPKs and their role in lung, colon and breast cancer, as well as the connection between inflammation and tumorigenesis. We are very interested in the identification of therapeutic opportunities based on the modulation of p38 MAPK signaling. Moreover, we are studying the regulation and functions of a new family of proteins named RINGO that can activate the cell cycle kinases Cdk1 and Cdk2.