Group co-leader: David Otaegui, Ph.D.

Biodonostia HRI E-mail david.otaegui@biodonostia.org

Group co-leader: Tamara Castillo Triviño

OSI Donostialdea E-mail tamara.castillotrivino@osakidetza.eus

Our Group has been researching Multiple Sclerosis and other neuroimmunological diseases for more than 20 years. We are a multidisciplinary group who combine laboratory research with our everyday work at the clinic, focussing our interests on achieving better understanding of how the pathology functions and the variables which can affect its development. Our research is therefore fundamentally translational and patient-oriented. We also have as our objective to disseminate science and scientific culture by means of disclosing our findings, bringing our projects and outcomes to patients and society.

Strategic Objectives

• To monitor the clinical variables of Multiple Sclerosis through a database enabling us to better handle the disease.
• To understand the process of flare-ups and remyelination. Characterisation of the transcriptome and its regulation by means of non-coding RNAs in the different stages of the disease.
• To understand communication between cells through the extracellular vesicles and their potential use as a biomarker and/or therapeutic tool.
• To analyse the remyelination processes and the potential approximations for improving these processes by vehiculating snRNA to the Central Nervous System.
• To study the implication of intestinal microbiota in development of the disease and its potential modulation as a therapeutic tool.
• To understand the disease as a whole, combining the aspects learned in the different lines in order to generate biomarkers enabling the improved therapeutic handling of each patient.
• To carry out studies on quality of life, pain, side effects and environmental effects (sun, smoking, etc.) on our patients.
• To participate in clinical trials.
• Characterisation of the age effect on the disease, studying paediatric Multiple Sclerosis and the effect of imunosenescence on patients.

Main lines of research

• Our group has several open lines of research, complementary to one another:
• Regulation of the Transcriptome.
• Extracellular vesicles in Multiple Sclerosis.
• Characterisation of remyelination.
• Microbiota in autoimmune diseases.
• Paediatric Multiple Sclerosis.
• Inmunosenescence.
• Environmental effects on the progress of the disease.