Innate Lymphoid Cells

Molecular mechanisms regulating ILC3 immune responses

 

Research interests

The discovery of antibiotics has transformed modern medicine and saved millions of lives. However, the indiscriminate use of antibiotics has given rise to bacterial resistance worldwide and the spread of immune disorders due to the alteration of the microbiota composition. Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) represent the most recently identified branch of tissue-resident immune cells. These cells play essential roles in maintaining microbiota, protecting the tissue barrier against invading pathogens and regulating inflammatory disease. Consequently, an understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating ILC function during an infection or inflammatory diseases is vital with regard to designing new treatments or tools for diagnosis. At Dr. Aranzazu Cruz-Adalia’s lab we are attempting to decipher the cellular, molecular and metabolic mechanisms by which ILC3s are regulated in physiological conditions and during enteric pathogen infections or intestine-associated inflammatory disorders.

 

Group members

Principal investigator: 

Aranzazu Cruz Adalia

Assistant Professor:

Dr. Lara del Campo Milán

Postdoctoral Researcher " Juan de la Cierva"

Dr. Raquel Ana Castillo González

PhD students:

Ana Valle Noguera

Lucía Sancho Temiño (FPU)

Alba Seguí Pérez

Master's students:

Lúa Blanco Axpe

Irene Torres Pulido

Technician:

Cristina Mena-Herrero Gascón

Team of collaborators: 

Dr. Mª Jesús Fernández Aceñero (Depart. de Patología Digestiva, Hospital Clínico)

Dr. David González Calatayud (Depart. of Inorganic Chemistry at "Universidad Autónoma de Madrid")

Part of the European group: Innate Lymphoid Cells (ILCollnet) in the EFIS (European Federation of Immunological Societies): https://www.efis.org

Training Opportunities

-       Postdoctoral Fellows

We welcome postdocs to apply the "Juan de la Cierva" fellow or other competitive contracts. Interested candidates should inquire by email to arancruz@ucm.es. Please attach your curriculum vitae, a PDF of any recent publication(s) and the names and email addresses of two professional references. 

-       PhD or MD/PhD Students

Students interested should inquire by email to arancruz@ucm.es

Graphical Summary for the Latest Published Work:

Last publications

- Seguí-Pérez A, Castillo-González R, Sancho-Temiño L, Cruz-Adalia A. Newly identified cell types crucial for gut commensal tolerance. Trends Cell Biol. 2025. Jan 14:S0962-8924(24)00273-3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tcb.2024.12.008.

- Valle-Noguera A*, Sancho-Temiño L*, Castillo-González R*, Villa-Gómez C, Gomez-Sánchez MJ, Ochoa-Ramos A, Yagüe-Fernández P, Soler-Palacios B, Zorita V, Raposo-Ponce B, González-Granado JM, Aragonés J, Cruz-Adalia A.  IL-18-induced HIF-1α in ILC3s ameliorates the inflammation of C. rodentium-induced colitis. Cell Reports. 2023.Nov 28;42(12):113508. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113508.

-Martín-Adrados B, Wculek SK, Fernández-Bravo S, Torres-Ruiz R, Valle-Noguera A, Gomez-Sánchez MJ, Hernández-Walias JC, Ferreira FM, Corraliza AM, Sancho D, Esteban V, Rodriguez-Perales S, Cruz-Adalia A, Nakaya HI, Salas A, Bernardo D, Campos-Martín Y, Martínez-Zamorano E, Muñoz-López D, Gómez Del Moral M, Cubero FJ, Blumberg RS, Martínez-Naves E. Expression of HMGCS2 in intestinal epithelial cells in downregulated in inflammatory bowel disease associated with endoplasmic reticulum stresss. Front Immunol. 2023 Jun 30;14:1185517. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1185517. 

- Castillo-González R, Valle-Noguera A, Gomez-Sánchez MJ, Xia P, Cruz-Adalia A. Innate lymphoid cells type 3 in cancer. Front Immunol. 2022 Oct 13;13:1033252. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1033252. eCollection 2022.

- Calatayud DG, Jardiel T, Cordero-Oyonarte E, Caballero AC, Villegas M, Valle-Noguera A, Cruz-Adalia A, Peiteado M. Biocompatible Probes Based on Rare-Earth Doped Strontium Aluminates with Long-Lasting Phosphorescent Properties for In Vitro Optical IMAGING. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Mar 21;23(6):3410. doi: 10.3390/ijms23063410.

-Valle-Noguera A, Ochoa-Ramos A, Gómez-Sánchez MJ, Girard-Madoux MJH, Cruz-Adalia A. Type 3 innate lymphoid cells as regulators of the host-pathogen interaction.  Front Immunol. 2021; 12:748851

- Piperoglou C, Larid G, Vallentin B, Balligand L, Crinier A, Banzet N, Farnarier C, Gomez-Massa E, Cruz-Adalia A; CRYOSTEM Consortium, Michel G, Galambrun C, Barlogis V, Vivier E, Vély F. Innate lymphoid cell recovery and occurence of GvHD after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. J Leukoc Biol. 2021. doi: 10.1002/JLB.5A1019-522RR.

- Valle-Noguera A, Gómez-Sánchez MJ, Girard-Madoux MJH, Cruz-Adalia A. Optimized protocol for characterization of mouse gut innate lymphoid cells. Front Immunol. 2020; 11: 563414.

- Cruz-Adalia A*, Ramirez-Santiago G; Osuna Perez J; Torres-Torresano M; Zorita V; Martinez-Riaño A; Boccasavia V; Borroto A; Martinez del Hoyo G; Gonzalez-Granado JM; Alarcón B; Sánchez-Madrid F; Veiga E. Conventional CD4⁺ T cells present bacterial antigens to induce cytotoxic and memory CD8⁺ T cell responses. Nat Commun. 2017. 8(1) – 1591. *Co-corresponding author

- Cruz-Adalia A*; Veiga E*. Close encounters of lymphoid cells and bacteria. Front Immunol. 2016. 7 – 405. *Co-corresponding author

Current fundings