The Lab

Our vision is to translate fundamental science to the clinic through a collaborative effort among scientists, physicians, and industry. We integrate academia with the private sector to achieve more efficient patient care. We believe in strong scientific commitment and reproducible findings to contribute to the understanding of metabolism and disease.

The Signal Transduction & Metabolism Laboratory is located on the Erasme campus of the ULB Faculty of Medicine. This provides opportunities for interactions between researchers and clinicians and promotes translational research.

 
“Don’t be afraid of hard work. Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Don’t let others discourage you or tell you that you can’t do it”
— Gertrude Elion (Nobel Laureate)

Team Members

Mobility is crucial in the scientific arena to develop new collaborations and share knowledge with people that may have different scientific ideas, skills and cultural backgrounds. We are proud and celebrate the international diversity, gender equality and family friendly environment of our laboratory.

If you are a Postdoctoral researcher, PhD candidate or master student interested in joining our groups, please contact us.

 

GURZOV Esteban Nicolas

Director (Argentina, Spain, Australia)

CARDOZO Alessandra

Group Leader (Brazil, Belgium)

 

Postdoctoral Fellows

  • BANSAL Mayank (India)

  • BUSS Carlos (Brazil)

  • GILGLIONI Eduardo (Brazil)

  • HOSSEINZADEH Leila (Iran)

  • TRAINI Leonardo (Italy)

Doctoral Fellows

  • COSTA Francisco (Portugal)

  • GARABET Ani (Belgium, Cardozo Group)

  • HOVHANNISYAN Garnik (Belgium)

  • LI Ao (China)

  • MAGGIORE Sara (Italy)

  • NEGUERUELA Javier (Spain)

  • PERÉZ CHÁVEZ Israel (Cuba)

  • SHEN Tzu-Keng (Taiwan)

  • St PIERRE WIJCKMANS Wadsen (Belgium)

  • TALAMANTES Stephanie (U.S.A.)

  • VANDENBEMPT Valerie (Belgium)

Research Assistants

  • ARROBA Erick (Ecuador, Belgium)

  • DAHILI Rabéa (Algeria)

  • MAYANGA Héléna (Belgium)

  • PINTO Cláudia (Portugal)

  • VAN PRAET Anne (Belgium)

Visiting/Master Students

  • LOMMEL Tania (Belgium)

  • BEHA Noémie (Belgium)

 

STML 2023

These are our publications in the last years

  1. Gilglioni EH, Li A, St-Pierre-Wijckmans W, Shen TK, Pérez-Chávez I, Hovhannisyan G, Lisjak M, Negueruela J, Vandenbempt V, Bauzá-Martinez J, Herranz JM, Ezerina E, Demine S, Feng Z, Vignane T, Otero-Sánchez L, Lambertucci F, Prašnická A, Devière J, Hay DC, Encinar JA, Singh SP, Messens J, Filipovic MR, Sharpe HJ, Trépo E, Wu W, Gurzov EN. Protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor kappa regulates glycolysis and de novo lipogenesis to promote hepatocyte metabolic reprogramming in obesity. Nature Communications, 15(01):9522, 2024

  2. Pérez-Chávez I, Koberstein JN, Pueyo JM, Gilglioni EH, Vertommen D, Baeyens N, Ezeriņa D, Gurzov EN, Messens J. Tracking fructose 1,6-bisphosphate dynamics in liver cancer cells using a fluorescent biosensor. iScience 27(12):111336, 2024

  3. Negueruela J, Vandenbempt V, Talamantes S, Ribeiro-Costa F, Nunes M, Dias A, Bansal M, Gurzov EN. Protocol for CRISPR-Cas12a genome editing of protein tyrosine phosphatases in human pluripotent stem cells and functional β-like cell generation. STAR Protocols 5(3):103297, 2024

  4. Vandenbempt V, Eski SE, Brahma MK, Negueruela J, Bruggeman Y, Demine S, Xiao P, Cardozo AK, Baeyens N, Martelotto LG, Singh SP, Mariño E, Gysemans C, Gurzov EN. HAMSAB diet ameliorates dysfunctional signalling in pancreatic islets in autoimmune diabetes. iScience 27(1):108694, 2023

  5. Talamantes S, Lisjak M, Gilglioni EH, Llamoza-Torres CJ, Ramos-Molina B, Gurzov EN. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and diabetes mellitus as growing aetiologies of hepatocellular carcinoma. JHEP Rep 5(9):100811, 2023

  6. Takiishi T, Xiao P, Franchimont M, Gilglioni EH, Arroba EN, Gurzov EN, Bertrand MJ, Cardozo AK. Inhibition of RIPK1 kinase does not affect diabetes development: β-Cells survive RIPK1 activation. Molecular Metabolism 69:101681, 2023

  7. Elvira B, Vandenbempt V, Bauzá-Martinez J, Crutzen R, Negueruela J, Ibrahim H, Winder ML, Brahma MK, Vekeriotaite B, Martens PJ, Singh SP, Rossello F, Lybaert P, Otonkoski T, Gysemans C, Wu W, Gurzov EN. PTPN2 Regulates the Interferon Signaling and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Response in Pancreatic β-Cells in Autoimmune Diabetes. Diabetes 71(4):653-668, 2022

  8. Xiao P, Takiishi T, Violato NM, Licata G, Dotta F, Sebastiani G, Marselli L, Singh SP, Sze M, Van Loo G, Dejardin E, Gurzov EN, Cardozo AK.NF-κB-inducing kinase (NIK) is activated in pancreatic β-cells but does not contribute to the development of diabetes. Cell Death Dis 13(5):476, 2022

  9. Bell KJ, Saad S, Tillett BJ, McGuire HM, Bordbar S, Yap YA, Nguyen LT, Wilkins MR, Corley S, Brodie S, Duong S, Wright CJ, Twigg S, de St Groth BF, Harrison LC, Mackay CR, Gurzov EN, Hamilton-Williams EE, Mariño E. Metabolite-based dietary supplementation in human type 1 diabetes is associated with microbiota and immune modulation. Microbiome 10(1):9, 2022

  10. Eriksson M, Litwak SA, Yun Y, Stanley WJ, Thorn P, Ahlgren U, Gurzov EN. Insulin-Binding Peptide Probes Provide a Novel Strategy for Pancreatic β-Cell Imaging. Mol Pharm online, 2021

  11. Brahma MK, Gilglioni EH, Zhou L, Trepo E, Chen P, Gurzov EN. Oxidative Stress in Obesity-Associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma : Sources, Signaling and Therapeutic Challenges. Oncogene 40(33):5155-5167, 2021

  12. Schaschkow A, Pang L, Vandenbempt V, Elvira B, Litwak SA, Vekeriotaite B, Maillard E, Vermeersch M, Paula FM, Pinget M, Perez-Morga D, Gough DJ, Gurzov EN. STAT3 regulates mitochondrial gene expression in pancreatic β-cells and its deficiency induces glucose intolerance in obesity. Diabetes 70(9):2026-2041, 2021

  13. Gurzov EN, Ke PC, Ahlgren U, Garcia Ribeiro RS, Gotthardt M. Novel Strategies to Protect and Visualize Pancreatic β Cells in Diabetes. Trends Endocrinol Metab 31(12):905-917, 2020

  14. Xi F, Li Y, Fu C, Javed I, Huang X, Schaschkow A, Garcia Ribeiro R,  Gurzov EN, Davis TP, Zhang X, Ke PC, Quiao R. A multimodal nanoprobe for pancreatic beta-cell detection and amyloidosis mitigation. Chemistry of Materials 32:1080-1088, 2020 

  15. Grohmann M, Wiede F, Dodd GT, Gurzov EN, Ooi GJ, Butt T, Rasmiena AA, Kaur S, Gulati T, Goh PK, Treloar AE, Archer S, Brown WA, Muller M, Watt MJ, Ohara O, McLean CA, Tiganis T. Obesity Drives STAT-1-Dependent NASH and STAT-3-Dependent HCC. Cell 175(5):1289-1306, 2018

  16. Eizirik DL, Gurzov EN. Can GABA turn pancreatic α-cells into β-cells? Nat Rev Endocrinol 14:629-630, 2018 

  17. Miani M, Elvira B, Gurzov EN. Sweet Killing in Obesity and Diabetes: The Metabolic Role of the BH3-only Protein BIM. J Mol Biol 430:3041-3050, 2018

  18. Papin J, Zummo FP, Pachera N, Guay C, Regazzi R, Cardozo AK, Herchuelz A. Na+/Ca2+ Exchanger a Druggable Target to Promote β-Cell Proliferation and Function. J Endocr Soc 2:631-645, 2018 

  19. Meyerovich K, Ortis F, Cardozo AK. The non-canonical NF-κB pathway and its contribution to β-cell failure in diabetes. J Mol Endocrinol 61:F1-F6, 2018

  20. Nardelli TR, Vanzela EC, Benedicto KC, Brozzi F, Fujita A, Cardozo AK, Eizirik DL, Boschero AC, Ortis F. Prolactin protects against cytokine-induced beta-cell death by NFκB and JNK inhibition. J Mol Endocrinol 61:25-36, 2018

  21. Wali JA, Galic S, Tan CY, Gurzov EN, Frazier AE, Connor T, Ge J, Pappas EG, Stroud D, Varanasi LC, Selck C, Ryan MT, Thorburn DR, Kemp BE, Krishnamurthy B, Kay TW, McGee SL, Thomas HE Loss of BIM increases mitochondrial oxygen consumption and lipid oxidation, reduces adiposity and improves insulin sensitivity in mice. Cell Death Diff 25:217-225, 2018

  22. Litwak SA, Pang L, Galic S, Igoillo-Esteve M, Stanley WJ, Turatsinze J-V, Loh K, Thomas HE, Sharma A, Trepo E, Moreno C, Gough DJ, Eizirik DL, de Haan JB, Gurzov EN JNK activation of BIM promotes hepatic oxidative stress, steatosis and insulin resistance in obesity. Diabetes 66:2973 -2986, 2017

  23. Meyerovich K, Violato NM, Fukaya M, Dirix V, Pachera N, Marselli L, Marchetti P, Strasser A, Eizirik DL, Cardozo AK MCL-1 is a key anti-apoptotic protein in human and rodent pancreatic β-cells. Diabetes 66:2446-2458, 2017

  24. Pilkington EH, Lai M, Ge X, Stanley WJ, Wang B, Wang M, Kakinen A, Sani MA, Whittaker MR, Gurzov EN, Ding F, Quinn JF, Davis TP, Ke PC Star Polymers Reduce IAPP Toxicity via Accelerated Amyloid Aggregation. Biomacromolecules 18(12):4249-4260, 2017

  25. Loh K, Shi YC, Walters S, Bensellam M, Lee K, Dezaki K, Nakata M, Ip CK, Chan JY, Gurzov EN, Thomas HE, Waibel M, Cantley J, Kay TW, Yada T, Laybutt DR, Grey ST, Herzog H Inhibition of Y1 receptor signaling improves islet transplant outcome. Nature Commun 8(1):490, 2017

  26. Stanley WJ, Trivedi PM, Sutherland AP, Thomas HE, Gurzov EN Differential regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokine signalling by protein tyrosine phosphatases in pancreatic β-cells. J Mol Endocrinology 59:325-337, 2017

  27. Ge X, Kakinen A, Gurzov EN, Yang W, Pang L, Pilkington EH, Govindan-Nedumpully P, Chen P, Separovic F, Davis TP, Ke PC, Ding F Zinc-coordination and C-peptide complexation: a potential mechanism for the endogenous inhibition of IAPP aggregation. Chemical Communications 53:9394-9397, 2017

  28. Gurzov EN, Stanley WJ, Pappas EG, Thomas HE, Gough DJ. The JAK/STAT Pathway in Obesity and Diabetes. FEBS J 283:3002-3015, 2016

  29. Jhala G, Chee J, Trivedi PM, Selck C, Gurzov EN, Graham KL, Thomas HE, Kay TW, Krishnamurthy B. Perinatal Tolerance to Proinsulin is Sufficient to Prevent Autoimmune Diabetes. JCI Insight 1:e86065, 2016

  30. Litwak SA, Stanley WJ, Pappas EG, Wali JA, Selck C, Strasser A, Thomas HE, Gurzov EN. p53-upregulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA)-deficiency affects leptin levels but does not improve glucose homeostasis in obesity. Sci Rep 6:23802, 2016

  31. Pilkington EH, Gurzov EN, Kakinen A, Litwak SA, Stanley WJ, Davis TP, Ke PC. Pancreatic b-cell Membrane Fuidity and Toxicity Induced by Human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide Species. Sci Rep 6:21274 2016

  32. Gurzov EN, Wang B, Pilkington EH, Chen P, Kakinen A, Stanley WJ, Litwak SA, Davis TP, Ding F, Ke PC. Inhibition of hIAPP Amyloid Aggregation and Pancreatic b-cell Toxicity by OH-terminated PAMAM Dendrimer. Small 12:1615-1626, 2016

  33. Meyerovich K, Fukaya M, Terra LF, Ortis F, Eizirik DL, Cardozo AK. The non-canonical NF-kappaB pathway is induced by cytokines in pancreatic beta cells and contributes to cell death and proinflammatory responses in vitro. Diabetologia 59: 512-521, 2016

  34. Gurzov EN, Stanley WJ, Brodnicki TC, Thomas HE. Protein tyrosine phosphatases: molecular switches in metabolism and diabetes. Trends Endocrinol Metab 26:30-39, 2015

  35. Nedumpully-Govidan P, Gurzov EN, Chen P, Pilkington EH, Stanley WJ, Litwak SA, Davis TP, Ke PC, Ding F. Graphene Oxide Inhibits hIAPP Amyloid Fibrillation and Toxicity in Insulin-Producing NIT-1 Cells. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 18:94-100, 2015

  36. Litwak SA, Wali JA, Pappas E, Saadi H, Stanley WJ, Varanasi LC, Kay TW, Thomas HE, Gurzov EN. Lipotoxic stress induces pancreatic beta cell death through modulation of Bcl-2 proteins by the ubiquitin/proteasome system. J Diabetes Res 2015:280615, 2015

  37. Krishnamurthy B, Chee J, Jhala G, Trivedi P, Catterall T, Selck C, Gurzov EN, Brodnicki TC, Graham KL, Wali JA, Zhan Y, Gray D, Strasser A, Allison J, Thomas HE, Kay TW. Bim deficiency protects NOD mice from diabetes by diverting thymocytes to regulatory T cells. Diabetes 64:3229-3238, 2015

  38. Stanley WJ, Litwak SA, Quah HS, Tan SM, Kay TW, Tiganis T, de Haan JB, Thomas HE, Gurzov EN. Inactivation of protein tyrosine phosphatases enhances interferon signaling in pancreatic islets. Diabetes 64:2489-2496, 2015

  39. Cunha DA, Gurzov EN, Naamane N, Ortis F, Cardozo AK, Bugliani M, Marchetti P, Eizirik DL, Cnop M. JunB protects β-cells from lipotoxicity via the XBP1-AKT pathway. Cell Death Diff 21:1313-1324, 2014

  40. Wali JA, Gurzov EN, Fynch S, Elkerbout L, Kay TW, Masters SL, Thomas HE. Activation of the inflammasome complex is not required for stress-induced death of pancreatic islets. PLoS One 9: e113128, 2014

  41. Gurzov EN, Tran M, Fernandez-Rojo M, Merry T, Zhang X, Xu Y, Fukushima A, Waters MJ, Watt M, Andrikopoulos S, Neel BG, Tiganis T. Hepatic oxidative stress promotes insulin-STAT5 signaling and obesity by inactivating PTPN2. Cell Metab 20:85-102, 2014

See all publications.

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As a highly successful and internationally recognized laboratory, our groups comprise an exceptional body of established and young research professionals.

You are welcome to visit the Signal Transduction & Metabolism Laboratory to hear about our ongoing research and see how our scientists are working to improve the health of people with metabolic disorders, or to explore job opportunities.

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You have the opportunity to become a supporter of the work being undertaken at the Signal Transduction & Metabolism Laboratory - your support will help the new generation of junior researchers become experienced scientists and may make a difference in the search of better treatments for diabetes and hepatocellular carcinoma.

 
Signal Transduction and Metabolism Laboratory