Sonsoles Piera-Velazquez, PhD

Study of the molecular events involved in the development of articular cartilage damage in human osteoarthritis with special emphasis on alterations in chondrocyte gene expression induced by cytokines and other inflammatory mediators.

Study of the mechanisms of chondrocyte phenotype stability and of its loss during de-differentiation focusing on the role of telomerase expression, NOX4 and oxygen radicals and activation of the Wnt pathway.

Recent studies on the alterations of expression of extracellular matrix genes in the novel fibrotic disease, Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis, and on the role of exposure to Gadolinium (Gd) containing magnetic resonance contrast agents in its pathogenesis.

• Osteoarthritis
• cartilage
• chondrocyte phenotype and regulation of gene expression
• telomerase
• SOX9 promoter
• Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis