Alejandro Gella

Autonomous University of Barcelona | UAB · Institute of Neuroscience (INc)

Background Monoclonal protein (M-protein) concentrations are measured by serum protein electrophoresis (SPE). Two methods are used for demarcating the M-protein area in the electropherogram: perpendicular drop (PD) and tangent skimming (TS). The aim of this study was to compare both methods and to establish which is the most accurate and precise....

Defects in mitochondrial function lead to severe neuromuscular orphan pathologies known as mitochondrial disease. Among them, Leigh Syndrome is the most common pediatric presentation, characterized by symmetrical brain lesions, hypotonia, motor and respiratory deficits, and premature death. Mitochondrial diseases are characterized by a marked anato...

Defects in mitochondrial function lead to severe neuromuscular orphan pathologies known as mitochondrial disease. Among them, Leigh Syndrome is the most common pediatric presentation, characterized by symmetrical brain lesions, hypotonia, motor and respiratory deficits, and premature death. Mitochondrial diseases are characterized by a marked anato...

Mitochondrial deficits in energy production cause untreatable and fatal pathologies known as mitochondrial disease (MD). Central nervous system affectation is critical in Leigh Syndrome (LS), a common MD presentation, leading to motor and respiratory deficits, seizures and premature death. However, only specific neuronal populations are affected. F...

IndicesLaboratory evaluation of iron deficiencyAbstract Iron is an essential chemical element for all living organisms, and is required for abroad spectrum of vital metabolic functions. The study of iron metabolism can be challengingin some situations, such as in patients with chronic diseases, due to the effect of inflammationresponse. In recent y...

Dysfunctions of the mitochondrial energy-generating machinery cause a series of progressive, untreatable and usually fatal diseases collectively known as mitochondrial disease. High energy-requiring organs such as the brain are especially affected, leading to developmental delay, ataxia, respiratory failure, hypotonia, seizures and premature death....

Schwann cells (SCs) play a key role in peripheral nerve regeneration. After damage, they respond acquiring a repair phenotype that allows them to proliferate, migrate and redirect axonal growth. Previous studies have shown that Uridine-5'-Triphosphate (UTP) and its purinergic receptors participate in several pathophysiological responses in the nerv...

Inability of mitochondria to generate energy leads to severe and often fatal myoencephalopathies. Among these, Leigh syndrome (LS) is one of the most common childhood mitochondrial diseases; it is characterized by hypotonia, failure to thrive, respiratory insufficiency and progressive mental and motor dysfunction, leading to early death. Basal gang...

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) comprise neurodevelopmental disorders with clinical onset during the first years of life. The identification of peripheral biomarkers could significantly impact diagnosis and an individualized, early treatment. Although the aetiology of ASD remains poorly understood, there is increasing evidence that neurotrophins an...

In response to peripheral nerve injury, Schwann cells adopt a migratory phenotype and modify the extracellular matrix to make it permissive for cell migration and axonal re-growth. Uridine 5'-triphosphate (UTP) and other nucleotides are released during nerve injury and activate purinergic receptors expressed on the Schwann cell surface, but little...

El objeto del trabajo fue conocer cómo se organizan funcionalmente las áreas de proteínas plasmáticas de los laboratorios clínicos y los recursos analíticos de los que disponen para los distintos tipos de estudios que realizan. Además, mediante la comparación de los resultados de las encuestas remitidas los años 2008 y 2011 a los laboratorios parti...

Amyloid beta (Aβ aggregation and deposition is a key pathological hallmark of AD. Growing evidence suggests that neurotoxicity of this peptide is related to the formation of toxic oligomeric aggregates. Therefore, a deeply investigated therapeutic strategy comes at present from blocking the formation of these species to non-toxic aggregates. Among...

Semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) metabolizes the oxidative deamination of primary aromatic and aliphatic amines. The final cytotoxic products of its catalysis contribute to diseases involving vascular degeneration. The increasing interest in measuring SSAO activity has led to the development of several different methods. Herein, we comp...

Schwann cells (SCs) are peripheral myelinating glial cells that express the neuronal Ca(2+)-dependent cell adhesion molecule, neural cadherin (N-cadherin). N-cadherin is involved in glia-glia and axon-glia interactions and participates in many key events, which range from the control of axonal growth and guidance to synapse formation and plasticity...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder with a multifaceted pathogenesis. There are at present three Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs based on the "one drug, one target" paradigm (donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine) that improve symptoms by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase. However, apart from the beneficial...

Semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase/vascular adhesion protein-1 (SSAO/VAP-1) is involved in vascular endothelial damage as well as in the vascular degeneration underlying diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent evidence suggests that classic pathological features of AD are more pronounced in diabetic mellitus patients. To investiga...

Glial cells in the peripheral nervous system, such as Schwann cells, respond to nucleotides, which play an important role in axonal regeneration and myelination. Metabotropic P2Y receptor agonists are promising therapeutic molecules for peripheral neuropathies. Nevertheless, the proteomic mechanisms involved in nucleotide action on Schwann cells re...

Dendrimers have been proved to interact with amyloids, although most of dendrimers assayed in amyloidogenic systems are toxic to cells. The development of glycodendrimers, poly(propyleneimine) (PPI) dendrimers decorated with maltose (Mal), represents the possibility of using dendrimers with a low intrinsic toxicity. In the present paper we show tha...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly with profound medical and social consequences. The pathogenesis of AD is a complex and heterogeneous process which classical neuropathological hallmarks found in the brain are extracellular deposits of beta-amyloid (A)-containing plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary...

Genome wide association studies reported two single nucleotide polymorphisms in ANK3 (rs9804190 and rs10994336) as independent genetic risk factors for bipolar disorder. Another SNP in ANK3 (rs10761482) was associated with schizophrenia in a large European sample. Within the debate on common susceptibility genes for schizophrenia and bipolar disord...

Nucleo CMP Forte ® is a nucleotide-based drug consisting of cytidinemonophosphate, uridinemonophosphate, uridine-diphosphate and uridinetriphosphate. It has been prescribed for peripheral nervous system disorders, such as lumbo-sciatalgia, diabetic or alcoholic polyneuropathy, or trigeminal neuralgia. Its effects on brain pathologies has received l...

Semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) is present in various mammalian tissues, such as vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells, adipocytes, and as soluble form in blood plasma. SSAO is a multifunctional protein mediating inflammatory responses or glucose metabolism, through its amine-deaminating enzymatic activity. It has been involved...

One mechanism leading to neurodegeneration during Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is amyloid β peptide (Aβ)- induced neurotoxicity. Among the factors proposed to potentiate Aβ toxicity is its covalent modification through carbohydrate- derived advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs). Other experimental evidence, though, indicates that certain polymeric carb...

One mechanism leading to neurodegeneration during Alzheimer's disease (AD) is amyloid beta peptide (Abeta)-induced neurotoxicity. Among the factors proposed to potentiate Abeta toxicity is its covalent modification through carbohydrate-derived advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs). Other experimental evidence, though, indicates that certain polymer...

It has been extensively reported that diabetes mellitus (DM) patients have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), but a mechanistic connection between both pathologies has not been provided so far. Carbohydrate-derived advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) have been implicated in the chronic complications of DM and have been reported...

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a progressive dementia affecting a large proportion of the aging population. The histopathological changes in AD include neuronal cell death, formation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. There is also evidence that brain tissue in patients with AD is exposed to oxidative stress (e.g., protein oxidation, lipid...

The aetiology of muscle fatigue has yet not been clearly established. Administration of two nucleotides, cytosine monophosphate (CMP) and uridine monophosphate (UMP), has been prescribed for the treatment of neuromuscular affections in humans. Patients treated with CMP/UMP recover from altered neurological functions and experience pain relief, thus...

A25® from BioSystems is a random-access analyser useful for clinical chemistry routine assays in different kinds of biological samples. Some of its metrological characteristics were evaluated in this study in 10 methods for enzyme measurement and 16 methods for substrates. Metrological characteristics were: within- and between-run imprecision, dete...