Antonio Postigo

Antonio Postigo

Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona-Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer

Life & Medical Sciences

CURRENT POSITIONS: 
* ICREA Professor of Life & Medical Sciences. FCRB-IDIBAPS Research Institute (Barcelona)
* Adjunct Visiting Professor, JG Brown Cancer Center, Univ. Louisville School of Medicine (USA)
RESEARCH FUNDING: 
* Public Agencies: European Commission / National Research Agency - Spanish Ministry of Science & Innovation (AEI-MICINN) / Catalan Agency for University & Research Grants (AGAUR)
* Private Foundations: Leukemia Research Foundation / Duchenne Parent Project / Leo Fondet / AVON Breast Cancer Campaign / Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) / La Marató TV3 Foundation / Olga Torres Foundation / La Caixa Foundation / Catalan Academy of Medical & Health Sciences.
OTHER WEBSITES: IDIBAPS website
SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES: Twitter/X: @GeneRegLab

Research interests

Our group studies the molecular mechanisms that regulate cell and metabolic plasticity in health and disease, with a particular focus on transcriptional regulation. Our ultimate goal is to define markers for tracking disease onset and progression and to inform new therapeutic approaches aimed at restoring normal gene expression and function. Ongoing projects investigate gene regulation and immunometabolism in inflammation, cancer initiation and progression, stem cell determination and differentiation, and tissue injury and regeneration.
We employ a wide range of technical approaches, including unique conditional transgenic mice, ex vivo culture and gene manipulation of normal and malignant primary cells, differentiation of human embryonic stem cells, and high-throughput Omics techniques (RNAseq, scRNAseq, spatial transcriptomics, metabolomics). As molecular models, we utilize the EMT transcription factors ZEB1 and ZEB2, which play key roles in the regulation of cell plasticity.

Selected publications

– Cortés M, A Brischetto, MC Martinez-Campanario, C Ninfali, V Domínguez, S Fernández, R Celis, A Esteve-Codina, JJ Lozano, G Garrabou, AM Siegert, C Enrich, B Pintado, M Morales-Ruiz, P Castro, JD Cañete, A POSTIGO * (2023) Inflammatory macrophages reprogram to immunosuppression by reducing mitochondrial translation. Nature Communications. 14:7471. IF: 16.6 (* corresponding author).
– Martinez-Campanario MC, M Cortés, A Moreno-Lanceta, L Han, C Ninfali, V Domínguez, MJ Andrés-Manzano, M Farràs, A Esteve-Codina, C Enrich, FJ Diaz-Crespo, B Pintado, JC Escolà-Gil, PG de Frutos, V Andrés, P Melgar-Lesmes, A POSTIGO * (2023), Atherosclerotic plaque development in mice is enhanced by myeloid ZEB1 downregulation, Nature Communications, 14:8316. IF: 16.6. (* corresponding author).
– Ninfali C, M Cortés, MC Martínez-Campanario, V Domínguez, Lu Han, E Tobías, A Esteve-Codina, C Enrich, B Pintado, G Garrabou & A POSTIGO * (2023) The adaptive antioxidant response during fasting-induced muscle atrophy is oppositely regulated by ZEB1 and ZEB2. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA (PNAS), 120:e2301120120. IF: 12.7 (* corresponding author)
– Ninfali, C, L Siles, A Esteve-Codina, A POSTIGO * (2023) The mesodermal and myogenic specification of hESCs depend on ZEB1 and are inhibited by ZEB2. Cell Reports. 42:113222. IF: 9.9 (* corresponding author)
– Sánchez-Tilló E, L Pedrosa, I Vila, Y Chen, B Győrffy, L Sanchez-Moral, L Siles, JJ Lozano, A Esteve-Codina, DS Darling, M Cuatrecasas, A Castells, J Maurel, A POSTIGO * (2023) The EMT factor ZEB1 paradoxically inhibits EMT in BRAF-mutant carcinomas. JCI Insight. 8:e164629. IF: 9.5 (*corresponding author). The article was highlighted with the cover of the issue

Selected research activities

European Patent Application. Title: Cancer informative biomarker signature. Inventors: Maurel J, M Cascante, L Pedrosa, C Foguet, T Thomson, A POSTIGO, D Benitez, J Camps. IDIBAPS, UB, CSIC, ICREA. Reference: EP4137585A1.