Appendix - CNIC

SCIENTIFIC REPORT ´09
> RESEARCH INTEREST
Our laboratory researches the mammalian mitochondrial
electron transport chain (MtETC) and H+-ATP synthase,
which together constitute the oxidative phosphorylation
(OXPHOS) system. We view this system as a functional entity,
and use a range of approaches aimed at determining its role
in health and disease. We are particularly interested in the
role of the OXPHOS system in the development of the
cardiovascular system, its relevance to ischemia-reperfusion,
and its influence on microvascular blood flow.
Currently very little is known about why, where and how
impaired function of the OXPHOS system manifests in
disease. One reason for this is that there are major
deficiencies in the established models of the organization of
the electron transport chain. Thus the main lesson from
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2 Regenerative Cardiology
Functional genetics of the oxidative
phosphorylation system
Head of Laboratory: José Antonio Enríquez
Research Scientists: Acisclo Pérez Martos
Patricio Fernández Silva
Postdoctoral Researchers: Pilar Bayona Bafaluy
Erika Fernández -Vizarra
Nuria Garrido Pérez
Patricia Meade Huerta
Raquel Moreno Loshuertos
Carmen Colás
Ester Perales Clemente
Predoctoral Researchers: Ricardo Marco Lázaro
Ana Latorre Pellicer
Esther Lapuente Brun
Elena de Tomás Mateo
Support Scientists: Nieves Movilla Meno
Mª Concepción Jiménez
research to date into human OXPHOS diseases is that our
basic understanding is far from complete. In order to fill this
gap, we are implementing high-throughput strategies to
catalogue the set of the genes whose products participate in
the biogenesis and regulation of the OXPHOS system (which
we call the OXPHOME). We are also determining the factors
that regulate the structural organization of the electron
transport chain and the role that this superstructural
organization plays in the production of reactive oxygen
species (ROS). This area is linked to our interest in the role
of ROS as mitochondrial second messengers and to our aim
to deconstruct, in cellular models, the mammalian OXPHOS
system into its functional components (electron transport,
proton pumping and ATP synthesis).
Fluid, solid
and plasticity
models of the
mitochondrial
OXPHOS
system
organization.