{"id":77,"date":"2016-01-19T13:43:45","date_gmt":"2016-01-19T13:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/hrnases\/research-0\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T15:04:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T15:04:44","slug":"research-0","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/hrnases\/en\/","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Human Ribonucleases involved in host defence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Contact Information<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>PI<\/strong><em>:<\/em>\u00a0Prof. Ester Boix <strong>E-mail:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:grup.recerca@uab.cat\">ester.boix@uab.cat<\/a> ; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ORCID ID: <a href=\"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1790-2142\">Ester Boix (0000-0003-1790-2142) &#8211; ORCID<\/a>; <em>ResearchGate:<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/profile\/Ester_Boix2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/profile\/Ester_Boix2<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RESEARCH PROJECTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Analysis of small RNA cleavage pattern by extracellular RNases and identification of signalling eRNAs <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Search for structural recognition patterns for host\/pathogen RNA targeting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Structure-based drug design of novel antibiotics to fight antimicrobial resistance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SUMMARY<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span lang=\"CA\">Our lab is working on the development of novel drug based on the structure-functional knowledge of a vertebrate specific family of antimicrobial proteins: human secretory RNases<\/span>. Host defence RNases show an unusual rapid evolution rate, a trait characteristic of innate immunity, providing adaptation to an ever-changing pathogen exposed environment. Human RNases are key players of the host immunity and contribute to maintain the body fluids&#8217; sterility. They are activated upon cellular stress and mediate signaling processes. Extracellular RNases can shape the non-coding RNA population and participate in intercellular communication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are currently exploring both the immuno-modulation and inti-infective activities of human RNases. Structural- functional analysis is applied in the design and engineering of new scaffolds to develop alternative antibacterial and antiviral agents to current antibiotics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Methodologies<\/strong>: Cell cultures, microbiology assays, small RNA cleavage analysis, Integrative coding- non-coding RNA co-transcriptomics, X-ray crystallography,&#8230; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Networks:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We are organizing the regional <a href=\"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/rna-rnase\/\">Catalonia <em>RNA &amp; RNase<\/em>  Salon<\/a>, sponsored by the <em>RNA Society<\/em> and<em> Lexogen<\/em>.  Main events of <em>Cat RNA &amp; RNase Salon<\/em> : <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/rna-rnase-meeting\/\">1st International Meeting on RNA &amp; RNase<\/a> (July 2025, UAB) <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/rna-rnase\/rna-rnase-day\/\">RNA &amp; RNase Day<\/a> (May 2026, UAB)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Global challenges research fund (GCRF) to promote an <b>International Network on Antimicrobial Resistance<\/b>. Birbeck- University of London (UCL).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Red Tem\u00e1tica para el desarrollo de p\u00e9ptidos antivirales y antimicrobianos para cepas multiresistentes- 219 RT0573. <b>RED BUDE Pav-am<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fis.unam.mx\/~cgaray\/Red\/miembros_asociados.html\"><span style=\"color: windowtext;text-decoration: none\">https:\/\/www.fis.unam.mx\/~<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fis.unam.mx\/~cgaray\/Red\/miembros_asociados.html\"><span style=\"color: windowtext;text-decoration: none\">cgaray\/Red\/miembros_asociados.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Transfer of Technology:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We are developing a novel anti-infective therapy to target antimicrobial resistance. AMRNase works by a novel strategy and combines high catalytic and antimicrobial activities. The construct has been successfully tested to inhibit bacterial resistance to colistin in <em>Acinetobacter baumannii<\/em>. The study has been co-financed by the European FEDER funds and the <em>Secretaria d\u2019Universitats i Recerca del Departament d\u2019Empresa i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya<\/em> (2016 PROD 00060; 2019 LLAV 00002; 2021 PROD 00025).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Human Ribonucleases involved in host defence Contact Information PI:\u00a0Prof. Ester Boix E-mail:\u00a0ester.boix@uab.cat ; ORCID ID: Ester Boix (0000-0003-1790-2142) &#8211; ORCID; ResearchGate:\u00a0https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/profile\/Ester_Boix2 RESEARCH PROJECTS SUMMARY: Our lab is working on the development of novel drug based on the structure-functional knowledge of a vertebrate specific family of antimicrobial proteins: human secretory RNases. Host defence RNases show an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-77","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/hrnases\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/77","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/hrnases\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/hrnases\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/hrnases\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/hrnases\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/hrnases\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/77\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":283,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/hrnases\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/77\/revisions\/283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/hrnases\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}