Ignacio Varela Egocheaga (IP)

  • IBBTEC. C/ Albert Einstein 22 (PCTCAN) 39011 Santander​
  • ignacio.varela@unican.es
  • 942 203931
  • Genomic Analysis of Tumour Development
  • Principal Investigator
  • Cancer
  • Department of Cell & Molecular Signalling

Ignacio Varela graduated in Biochemistry at Universidad de Oviedo where he also performed his PhD under the supervision of Carlos López Otín and José María Pérez Freije. He has also worked at the National Cancer Institute (USA) and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (UK) before being recruited to Universidad de Cantabria in 2011 under the Ramón y Cajal program. Since then, he leads the research group Genomic analysis of tumour development which combines cellular and animal models with the most modern molecular biology, genomic and bioinformatics techniques to study the molecular mechanisms behind tumourigenesis. His studies have been published in the best  journals of the field (Nature, Science, Nature Genetics, Nature Medicine or New England Journal of Medicine) and he has obtained several competitive projects both from private foundations as well as from Spanish and European state founding agencies including the prestigious European Research Council.

Resultado de imagen de ERC grants

Genomic analysis of tumour development group


Research lines

    • Role of chromatin remodeling genes in cancer development.
    • Use of next-generation sequencing technologies for the identification of new molecular mechanisms of cancer initiation, progression and metastasis.
    • Characterization of the role of intratumor heterogeneity in cancer progression

Funding 

    • Plan Nacional I+D+I (2012), Investigación Fundamental No Orientada. "Caracterización molecular del papel de los complejos remodeladores de cromatina en el desarrollo tumoral"  SAF2012-31627 IP: Ignacio Varela
    • Fundación Ramón Areces (2014), Ayudas a la investigación en Ciencias de la Vida y la Materia. "Caracterización molecular del papel de la disfunción mitocondrial en el desarrollo tumoral". IP: Ignacio Varela
    • European Research Council (2014). Starting Grant. "Molecular Characterization of the role of intratumor heterogeneity in cancer progression and metastasis". IP: Ignacio Varela
    • Plan Nacional I+D+I (2016), Proyectos RETOS . "Molecular study of the mechanisms of SWI/SNF complexes in tumour progression and their potential exploitation for cancer therapy." SAF2016-76758-R IP: Ignacio Varela
High Rate of Mutations of Adhesion Molecules and Extracellular Matrix Glycoproteins in Patients with Adult-Onset Focal and Segmental Glomerulosclerosis

High Rate of Mutations of Adhesion Molecules and Extracellular Matrix Glycoproteins in Patients with Adult-Onset Focal and Segmental Glomerulosclerosis

Marcos González S, Rodrigo Calabia E, Varela I, Červienka M, Freire Salinas J, Gómez Román JJ.

​Biomedicines. 2023 Jun 20;11(6):1764.​

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Role of SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling genes in lung cancer development

Role of SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling genes in lung cancer development

Monterde B, Varela I.

​Biochem Soc Trans. 2022 Jun 30;50(3):1143-1150.​

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ARID2 deficiency promotes tumor progression and is associated with higher sensitivity to chemotherapy in lung cancer

Moreno, T., Monterde, B., González-Silva, L. et al.

​Oncogene (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41388-021-01748-y

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The MNT transcription factor autoregulates its expression and supports proliferation in MYC-associated factor X (MAX)-deficient cells

The MNT transcription factor autoregulates its expression and supports proliferation in MYC-associated factor X (MAX)-deficient cells

Lafita-Navarro MC, Liaño-Pons J, Quintanilla A, Varela I, Blanco R, Ourique F, Bretones G, Aresti J, Molina E, Carroll P, Hurlin P, Romero OA, Sanchez-Céspedes M, Eisenman RN, Delgado MD, León J.

J Biol Chem. 2020 Feb 14;295(7):2001-2017. doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA119.010389. Epub 2020 Jan 9.


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Discovery of a CD10-negative B-progenitor in human fetal life identifies unique ontogeny-related developmental programs.

Discovery of a CD10-negative B-progenitor in human fetal life identifies unique ontogeny-related developmental programs.

O'Byrne S, Elliott N, Rice S, Buck G, Fordham N, Garnett C, Godfrey L, Crump NT, Wright G, Inglott S, Hua P, Psaila B, Povinelli B, Knapp DJHF, Agraz-Doblas A, Bueno C, Varela I, Bennett P, Koohy H, Watt SM, Karadimitris A, Mead AJ, Ancliff P, Vyas P, Men

Blood. 2019 Sep 26;134(13):1059-1071. doi: 10.1182/blood.2019001289.

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A spotlight on cancer researchers in Spain: new paradigms and disruptive ideas.

A spotlight on cancer researchers in Spain: new paradigms and disruptive ideas.

Ramón Y Cajal S, Sancho P, Soucek L, Peinado H, Abad M, Valiente M, Efeyan A, Pardo J, Quesada V, Jimeno J, Duque PM, Antón A, Varela I, Schuhmacher AJ.

Clin Transl Oncol. 2019 Aug 9. doi: 10.1007/s12094-019-02199-4.

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CD133-directed CAR T-cells for MLL leukemia: on-target, off-tumor myeloablative toxicity.

CD133-directed CAR T-cells for MLL leukemia: on-target, off-tumor myeloablative toxicity.

​Bueno C, Velasco-Hernandez T, Gutiérrez-Agüera F, Zanetti SR, Baroni ML, Sánchez-Martínez D, Molina O, Closa A, Agraz-Doblás A, Marín P, Eyras E, Varela I, Menéndez P.

Leukemia. 2019 Aug;33(8):2090-2125. doi: 10.1038/s41375-019-0418-8. Epub 2019 Feb 18.

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Natural history and cell of origin of TC F3-ZN F384 and PTPN11 mutations in monozygotic twins with concordant BCP-ALL.

Natural history and cell of origin of TC F3-ZN F384 and PTPN11 mutations in monozygotic twins with concordant BCP-ALL.

Bueno C, Tejedor JR, Bashford-Rogers R, González-Silva L, Valdés-Mas R, Agraz-Doblás A, Díaz de la Guardia R, Ribera J, Zamora L, Bilhou-Nabera C, Abermil N, Guermouche H, Gouache E, Leverger G, Fraga MF, Fernández AF, Ballerini P, Varela I, Menendez P.

Blood. 2019 Sep 12;134(11):900-905. doi: 10.1182/blood.2019000893. Epub 2019 Jun 20. 


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Enhanced hemato-endothelial specification during human embryonic differentiation through developmental cooperation between AF4-MLL and MLL-AF4 fusions.

​Bueno C, Calero-Nieto FJ, Wang X, Valdés-Mas R, Gutiérrez-Agüera F, Roca-Ho H, Ayllon V, Real PJ, Arambilet D, Espinosa L, Torres-Ruiz R, Agraz-Doblas A, Varela I, de Boer J, Bigas A, Gottgens B, Marschalek R, Menendez P.

Haematologica. 2019 Jun;104(6):1189-1201. doi: 10.3324/haematol.2018.202044. Epub 2019 Jan 24.


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Unravelling the cellular origin and clinical prognostic markers of infant B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia using genome-wide analysis

Agraz-Doblas A, Bueno C, Bashford-Rogers R, Roy A, Schneider P, Bardini M, Ballerini P, Cazzaniga G, Moreno T, Revilla C, Gut M, Valsecchi MG, Roberts I, Pieters R, De Lorenzo P, Varela I, Menendez P, Stam RW.

​Haematologica (2019) Jan 24. pii: haematol.2018.206375

Doi:10.3324/haematol.2018.206375

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UTX-mediated enhancer and chromatin remodeling suppresses myeloid leukemogenesis through noncatalytic inverse regulation of ETS and GATA programs.

Gozdecka M, Meduri E, Mazan M, Tzelepis K, Dudek M, Knights AJ, Pardo M, Yu L, Choudhary JS, Metzakopian E, Iyer V, Yun H, Park N, Varela I, Bautista R, Collord G, Dovey O, Garyfallos DA, De Braekeleer E, Kondo S, Cooper J, Göttgens B, Bullinger L, Nor

​Nat Genet (2018) 50:883-894.

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Evolutionary routes and KRAS dosage define pancreatic cancer phenotypes.

Mueller S, Engleitner T, Maresch R, Zukowska M, Lange S, Kaltenbacher T, Konukiewitz B, Öllinger R, Zwiebel M, Strong A, Yen HY, Banerjee R, Louzada S, Fu B, Seidler B, Götzfried J, Schuck K, Hassan Z, Arbeiter A, Schönhuber N, Klein S, Veltkamp C, Fri

​Nature (2018) 554:62-68.

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Fludarabine resistance mediated by aminoglycoside-3'-phosphotransferase-IIa and the structurally related eukaryotic cAMP-dependent protein kinase

Fludarabine resistance mediated by aminoglycoside-3'-phosphotransferase-IIa and the structurally related eukaryotic cAMP-dependent protein kinase

Sánchez-Carrera D, Bravo-Navas S, Cabezón E, Arechaga I, Cabezas M, Yáñez L, Pipaón C

​FASEB J. 2017 Jul;31(7):3007-3017. doi: 10.1096/fj.201601245R. Epub 2017 Apr 3.

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A conditional piggyBac transposition system for genetic screening in mice identifies oncogenic networks in pancreatic cancer

Rad R, Rad L, Wang W, Strong A, Ponstingl H, Bronner IF, Mayho M, Steiger K, Weber J, Hieber M, Veltkamp C, Eser S, Geumann U, Öllinger R, Zukowska M, Barenboim M, Maresch R, Cadiñanos J, Friedrich M, Varela I, Constantino-Casas F, Sarver A, Ten Hoeve

​Nature Genet (2015) 47:47-56.

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A next-generation dual-recombinase system for time- and host-specific targeting of pancreatic cancer

Schönhuber N, Seidler B, Schuck K, Veltkamp C, Schachtler C, Zukowska M, Eser S, Feyerabend TB, Paul MC, Eser P, Klein S, Lowy AM, Banerjee R, Yang F, Lee CL, Moding EJ, Kirsch DG, Scheideler A, Alessi DR, Varela I, Bradley A, Kind A, Schnieke AE, Rod

Nature Med (2014) 20:1340-1347.

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Spatial and temporal diversity in genomic instability processes defines lung cancer evolution.

de Bruin EC, McGranahan N, Mitter R, Salm M, Wedge DC, Yates L, Jamal-Hanjani M, Shafi S, Murugaesu N, Rowan AJ, Grönroos E, Muhammad MA, Horswell S, Gerlinger M, Varela I, Jones D, Marshall J, Voet T, Van Loo P, Rassl DM, Rintoul RC, Janes SM, Lee SM

Science (2014) 346:251-256

DOI: 10.1126/science.1253462

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Sin3b interacts with myc and decreases myc levels.

Garcia-Sanz P, Quintanilla A, Lafita MC, Moreno-Bueno G, García-Gutierrez L, Tabor V, Varela I, Shiio Y, Larsson LG, Portillo F, Leon J. J Biol Chem. 2014 Aug 8;289(32):22221-36. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M113.538744.

[pubmed]

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Sin3b interacts with Myc and decreases Myc levels

Garcia-Sanz P, Quintanilla A, Lafita MC, Moreno-Bueno G, Garcia-Gutierrez L, Tabor V, Varela I, Shiio Y, Larsson LG, Portillo F, Leon J.*

​J Biol Chem. 289:22221-22236 (2014) PMID: 24951594.   

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Detailed molecular characterisation of acute myeloid leukaemia with a normal karyotype using targeted DNA capture

Varela I*, Conte N*, Grove C, Manes N, Yusa K, Moreno T, Segonds-Pichon A, Bench A, Gudgin E, Herman B, Bolli N, Ellis P, Haddad D, Costeas P, Rad R, Scott M, Huntly B, Bradley A, Vassiliou GS. *co-first authors

​Leukemia (2013) 27:1820-1825 

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Intratumor heterogeneity and branched evolution revealed by multiregion sequencing

Gerlinger M, Rowan AJ, Horswell S, Larkin J, Endesfelder D, Gronroos E, Martinez P, Matthews N, Stewart A, Tarpey P, Varela I, Phillimore B, Begum S, McDonald NQ, Butler A, Jones D, Raine K, Latimer C, Santos CR, Nohadani M, Eklund AC, Spencer-Dene B,

N Engl J Med (2012) 366:883-892.

DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1113205

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Exome sequencing identifies frequent mutation of the SWI/SNF complex gene PBRM1 in renal carcinoma

Varela I, Tarpey P, Raine K, Huang D, Ong CK, Stephens P, Davies H, Jones D, Lin ML, Teague J, Bignell G, Butler A, Cho J, Dalgliesh GL, Galappaththige D, Greenman C, Hardy C, Jia M, Latimer C, Lau KW, Marshall J, McLaren S, Menzies A, Mudie L, Stebbin

Nature (2011) 469:539-542.

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Somatic structural rearrangements in genetically engineered mouse mammary tumors

Varela I, Klijn C, Stephens PJ, Mudie LJ, Stebbings L, Galappaththige D, van der Gulden H, Schut E, Klarenbeek S, Campbell PJ, Wessels LF, Stratton MR, Jonkers J, Futreal PA, Adams DJ.

​Genome Biol (2010) 11:R100. 

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A comprehensive catalogue of somatic mutations from a human cancer genome

Pleasance ED, Cheetham RK, Stephens PJ, McBride DJ, Humphray SJ, Greenman CD, Varela I, Lin ML, Ordóñez GR, Bignell GR, Ye K, Alipaz J, Bauer MJ, Beare D, Butler A, Carter RJ, Chen L, Cox AJ, Edkins S, Kokko-Gonzales PI, Gormley NA, Grocock RJ, Hauden

Nature (2010) 463:191-196.

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Rosa Blanco Fernández

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Raquel Marqueño Navarro

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David Martín Gutiérrez

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Natalia Sánchez Collantes

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