DrMario Manresa

Our current research program focuses in identifying molecules that promote the transition of intestinal fibroblasts to an inflammatory phenotype, understand the mechanisms underlying this phenomena and investigating the mechanisms and outcomes of interactions between these cells and the innate immune system. In particular, our current research focuses on the following main aspects:

1. We have identified several factors of the TNF super family of cytokines that dysregulate intestinal fibroblast and epithelial cell behaviour, pushing these cells toward a pathogenic phenotype. We are currently seeking to understand the molecular mechanisms that define such transformation and investigating how microenvironmental factors such as hypoxia or the extra cellular matrix composition may affect this process.

2. We are aiming to understand how to restore homeostatic signals of the WNT pathway and investigate the potential of these factores as promoters of resolution of inflammatory phenotypes in structural cells.

3. We are investigating how inflammatory structural cells interact with monocytes, whether they promote migration and differentiation. Expanding on this, we aim to understand whether different structural cell phenotypes may push monocytes down diverse differentiation pathways, including their potential to promote inflammatory macrophage phenotypes, and whether this promotes expression of disease-relevant mediators in IBD.

4. We will evaluate the potential to interfere structural cell-monocyte/macrophage interactions as a therapeutic strategy to treat chronic inflammatory disorders of the intestinal tract, such as IBD.