Our interests

Nuclear receptors are a family of transcription factors that regulate development and physiology. Our main interest is to study the biological roles of the Liver X receptor (LXR), a member of the nuclear receptor family that is activated by specific oxydized forms of cholesterol (oxysterols) and metabolites of the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway. Two isoforms of LXR have been identified, LXR-alpha and LXR-beta. LXRs are key regulators of lipid and glucose homeostasis and also play an important role in the regulation of immune and inflammatory responses. We are interested in further exploring the roles of LXRs in the immune response and in the development of diseases with an inflammatory origin, with a special focus in the tumor microenvironment. 

In the news

La UB amb la Marató

¿Se puede vencer la resistencia al tratamiento contra el cáncer?

Researchers describe a mechanism that inhibits tumor-associated macrophage immunosupressive activity

A novel macrophage checkpoint inhibitor for cancer immunotherapy-CaixaImpulse

Nit de la Recerca UB 2020: El coronavirus dins i fora del cos humà - Youtube

Webinar sobre la resposta immunitària i la COVID-19

Achievements of the Mye-EUNITER Cost Action

A new pathway to avoid macrophage pathogenic infections

Una recerca de la UB revela que el zinc és capaç de modular la virulència del bacteri ‘Escherichia coli’

Masterclass de La Marató de TV3 a la Facultat de Biologia

Presentación de la Red NuRCaMeIn 

UB: Un equipo científico describe un nuevo mecanismo molecular para luchar contra las infecciones bacterianas

La Vanguardia: "Describen un nuevo mecanismo molecular para luchar contra las infecciones"

Telecinco: "Identifican un nuevo mecanismo molecular para luchar contra las infecciones bacterianas"

Cuatro: "Identifican un nuevo mecanismo molecular para luchar contra las infecciones bacterianas"

Entregadas las ayudas de La Marató 2015 para proyectos de investigación sobre diabetes y obesidad

El País: "Descubierta una forma de frenar a las células "comedoras de hueso" en la osteoporosis"

UB participates in three COST Actions conferred in 2014

"La Marató 2007. El cor no avisa" 

Recent publications

-Liver X Receptors and Inflammatory-Induced C/EBPβ Selectively Cooperate to Control CD38 Transcription. Glaría E, Martínez PR, Font-Díaz J, De la Rosa JV, Castrillo A, Crawshaw DJ, Vidal Taboada JM, Saura J, Matalonga J, Nunes Chini E, Caelles C, Valledor AF. J Innate Immun. 2025;17:56-77. doi: 10.1159/000543274.

-Endogenous LXR signaling controls pulmonary surfactant homeostasis and prevents lung inflammation. Hernández-Hernández I, De La Rosa JV, Martín-Rodríguez P, Díaz-Sarmiento M, Recio C, Guerra B, Fernández-Pérez L, León TE, Torres R, Font-Díaz J, Roig A, de Mora F, Boscá L, Díaz M, Valledor AF, Castrillo A, Tabraue C. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2024;81:287. doi: 10.1007/s00018-024-05310-3.

-Macrophage CD5L is a target for cancer immunotherapy. Sanchez-Moral L, Paul T, Martori C, Font-Díaz J, Sanjurjo L, Aran G, Téllez É, Blanco J, Carrillo J, Ito M, Tuttolomondo M, Ditzel HJ, Fumagalli C, Tapia G, Sidorova J, Masnou H, Fernández-Sanmartín MA, Lozano JJ, Vilaplana C, Rodriguez-Cortés A, Armengol C, Valledor AF, Kremer L, Sarrias MR. EBioMedicine. 2023;91:104555. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2023.104555.

-The multivalency of the glucocorticoid receptor ligand-binding domain explains its manifold physiological activities. Jiménez-Panizo A, Alegre-Martí A, Tettey TT, Fettweis G, Abella M, Antón R, Johnson TA, Kim S, Schiltz RL, Núñez-Barrios I, Font-Díaz J, Caelles C, Valledor AF, Pérez P, Rojas AM, Fernández-Recio J, Presman DM, Hager GL, Fuentes-Prior P, Estébanez-Perpiñá E. Nucleic Acids Res. 2022;50:13063-13082. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkac1119.

-Pharmacological activation of LXR alters the expression profile of tumor-associated macrophages and the abundance of regulatory T cells in the tumor microenvironment. Carbó JM, León TE, Font-Díaz J, De la Rosa JV, Castrillo A, Picard FR, Staudenraus D, Huber M, Cedó L, Escolà-Gil JC, Campos L, Bakiri L, Wagner EF, Caelles C, Stratmann T, Van Ginderachter JA, Valledor AF. Cancer Res. 2021;81:968-985. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-19-3360.

-Nuclear receptors: lipid and hormone sensors with essential roles in the control of cancer development. Font-Díaz J, Jiménez-Panizo A, Caelles C, Vivanco MD, Pérez P, Aranda A, Estébanez-Perpiñá E, Castrillo A, Ricote M, Valledor AF. Semin Cancer Biol. 2020:S1044-579X(20)30267-4. doi: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2020.12.007. 

-Nicotinamide Prevents Apolipoprotein B-Containing Lipoprotein Oxidation, Inflammation and Atherosclerosis in Apolipoprotein E-Deficient Mice. Lara KA, Letelier N, Farré N, Diarte-Añazco EMG, Nieto-Nicolau N, Rodríguez-Millán E, Santos D, Pallarès V, Escolà-Gil JC, Vázquez Del Olmo T, Lerma E, Camacho M, Casaroli-Marano RP, Valledor AF, Blanco-Vaca F, Julve J. Antioxidants. 2020;9:1162.

-Integrating the roles of liver X receptors in inflammation and infection: mechanisms and outcomes. Glaría E, Letelier NA, Valledor AF. Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2020;53:55-65. 

-Roles of CD38 in the Immune Response to Infection. Glaría E, Valledor AF. Cells. 2020;9. pii: E228. doi: 10.3390/cells9010228.

-Expression of a novel class of bacterial Ig-like proteins is required for IncHI plasmid conjugation. Hüttener M, Prieto A, Aznar S, Bernabeu M, Glaría E, Valledor AF, Paytubi S, Merino S, Tomás J, Juárez A. PLoS Genet. 2019;15:e1008399. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008399. 

-Methods for Assessing the Effects of LXR Agonists on Macrophage Bacterial Infection. Glaría E, Matalonga J, Valledor AF. Methods Mol Biol. 2019;1951:135-141. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9130-3_10.

-MDSCs in infectious diseases: regulation, roles, and readjustment. Dorhoi A, Glaría E, Garcia-Tellez T, Nieuwenhuizen NE, Zelinskyy G, Favier B, Singh A, Ehrchen J, Gujer C, Münz C, Saraiva M, Sohrabi Y, Sousa AE, Delputte P, Müller-Trutwin M, Valledor AF. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2018. doi: 10.1007/s00262-018-2277-y.

-A new role for Zinc limitation in bacterial pathogenicity: modulation of α-hemolysin from uropathogenic Escherichia coli. Velasco E, Wang S, Sanet M, Fernández-Vázquez J, Jové D, Glaría E, Valledor AF, O’Halloran TV, Balsalobre C. Sci Rep 8: 6535 (2018). doi:10.1038/s41598-018-24964-1.

-LXR nuclear receptors are transcriptional regulators of dendritic cell chemotaxis. Beceiro S, Pap A, Czimmerer Z, Sallam T, Guillén JA, Gallardo G, Hong C, A-Gonzalez N, Tabraue C, Diaz M, Lopez F, Matalonga J, Valledor AF, Dominguez P, Ardavin C, Delgado-Martin C, Partida-Sanchez S, Rodriguez-Fernandez JL, Nagy L, Tontonoz P, Castrillo A. Mol Cell Biol. 2018. pii: MCB.00534-17. doi: 10.1128/MCB.00534-17. 

- The Nuclear Receptor LXR Limits Bacterial Infection of Host Macrophages through a Mechanism that Impacts Cellular NAD Metabolism. Matalonga J, Glaria E, Bresque M, Escande C, Carbó JM, Kiefer K, Vicente R, León TE, Beceiro S, Pascual-García M, Serret J, Sanjurjo L, Morón-Ros S, Riera A, Paytubi S, Juarez A, Sotillo F, Lindbom L, Caelles C, Sarrias MR, Sancho J, Castrillo A, Chini EN, Valledor AF. Cell Rep. 2017;18:1241. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.01.007.

-Myeloid C/EBPβ deficiency reshapes microglial gene expression and is protective in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Pulido-Salgado M, Vidal-Taboada JM, Garcia Diaz-Barriga G, Serratosa J, Valente T, Castillo P, Matalonga J, Straccia M, Canals JM, Valledor A, Solà C, Saura J. J Neuroinflammation. 2017;14:54. doi: 10.1186/s12974-017-0834-5.

- ApoA-I mimetic administration, but not increased apoA-I-containing HDL, inhibits tumour growth in a mouse model of inherited breast cancer. Cedó L, García-León A, Baila-Rueda L, Santos D, Grijalva V, Martínez-Cignoni MR, Carbó JM, Metso J, López-Vilaró L, Zorzano A, Valledor AF, Cenarro A, Jauhiainen M, Lerma E, Fogelman AM, Reddy ST, Escolà-Gil JC, Blanco-Vaca F. Sci Rep. 2016;6:36387. doi: 10.1038/srep36387.

- The nuclear receptor LXR modulates interleukin-18 levels in macrophages through multiple mechanisms. Pourcet B, Gage MC, León TE, Waddington KE, Pello OM, Steffensen KR, Castrillo A, Valledor AF, Pineda-Torra I. Sci Rep. 2016;6:25481. doi: 10.1038/srep25481.

- AIM/CD5L: a key protein in the control of immune homeostasis and inflammatory disease. Sanjurjo L, Aran G, Roher N, Valledor AF, Sarrias MR. J Leukoc Biol. 2015;98:173. doi: 10.1189/jlb.3RU0215-074R.

- Retinoid X receptors orchestrate osteoclast differentiation and postnatal bone remodeling. Menéndez-Gutiérrez MP, Röszer T, Fuentes L, Núñez V, Escolano A, Redondo JM, De Clerck N, Metzger D, Valledor AF, Ricote M. J Clin Invest. 2015;125:809. doi: 10.1172/JCI77186.

- Reciprocal negative cross-talk between liver X receptors (LXRs) and STAT1: effects on IFN-γ-induced inflammatory responses and LXR-dependent gene expression. Pascual-García M, Rué L, León T, Julve J, Carbó JM, Matalonga J, Auer H, Celada A, Escolà-Gil JC, Steffensen KR, Pérez-Navarro E, Valledor AF. J Immunol. 2013;190:6520.

- Human scavenger protein AIM increases foam cell formation and CD36-mediated oxLDL uptake. Amézaga N, Sanjurjo L, Julve J, Aran G, Pérez-Cabezas B, Bastos-Amador P, Armengol C, Vilella R, Escolà-Gil JC, Blanco-Vaca F, Borràs FE, Valledor AF, Sarrias MR. J. Leukoc. Biol., 2013; 95:509.  

- Acute psychological stress accelerates reverse cholesterol transport via corticosterone-dependent inhibition of intestinal cholesterol absorption. Silvennoinen R, Escola-Gil JC, Julve J, Rotllan N, Llaverias G, Metso J, Valledor AF, He J, Yu L, Jauhiainen M, Blanco-Vaca F, Kovanen PT, Lee-Rueckert M. Circ Res. 2012;111:1459.

- Biological roles of liver X receptors in immune cells. Pascual-García M, Valledor AF. Arch Immunol Ther Exp (Warsz). 2012;60:235.

- Liver X receptors inhibit macrophage proliferation through downregulation of cyclins D1 and B1 and cyclin-dependent kinases 2 and 4. Pascual-García M, Carbó JM, León T, Matalonga J, Out R, Van Berkel T, Sarrias MR, Lozano F, Celada A, Valledor AF. J Immunol. 2011;186:4656.

Funding