Research projects

Receptors bound to G proteins (GPCR) mediate the actions of several messengers which play an essential role in the functioning and dysfunctions of the cardiovascular system. These receptors regulate a broadly interconnected network of biochemical routes, including the control of activity by members of the MAPKs (mitogen-activated protein kinases) family, which are extremely important in cardiovascular pathologies. Our group recently described a new signalling pathway in the context of GPCR bound to Gqproteins that may form a part of a new Gαq interactome. These previous results indicate that there is a functional interaction between Gαq and PKCζ, identifying this kinase as a new Gαq effector, and showing that activation of this pathway seems to be important for the development of cardiac hypertrophy.

In this context, our aims are:

1. To characterise the functional repercussions deriving from the activation of the Gαq-PKCζ pathway and that of the Gαq interactome with other proteins such as PKCζ which possess PB1 domains, such as p62/SQTSM1
2. To determine the possible involvement of this pathway in cell death processes, autophagy and oxidative stress, as well as in the development of cardiovascular diseases. Knowledge of these new signalling pathways and their mechanisms of regulation in cardiac pathologies is essential to explain variations observed in different cardiomyopathologies of different types, thereby making it possible to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.