The 2025 Health Research Call by the La Caixa Foundation has selected 34 cutting-edge biomedical research projects from a total of 714 submitted proposals. These projects will be led by 25 Spanish research centers, universities, and hospitals, and 9 Portuguese institutions. The total funding of the program is 26 million euros.
The Quintanalab will carry out the project “Lipid droplets as immunometabolic mediators in mitochondrial disease encephalopathy”, which aims to uncover why certain brain cells are more vulnerable than others in mitochondrial diseases.
The team will investigate whether damaged mitochondria in brain cells can trigger a false alarm that makes the cells believe they are under viral attack. This erroneous response would cause lipid accumulation inside the cell, which in turn could lead to further damage and ultimately cell death. Using a mouse model that accurately simulates the human disease, the project researchers have already found evidence of this abnormal immune response and the resulting lipid accumulation in the brain.
The results obtained could lead to new treatments, not only for mitochondrial diseases but also for other conditions related to neurodegenerative disorders involving mitochondria.
The project funding is 499,970 euros! 🥂