Modeling Human Diseases in C. elegans group

Research lines

CRISPR GENOME EDITING

Its short life cycle, its hermaphroditism, and its syncytial germline are advantages to use C. elegans as model to develop CRISPR technologies. We investigate most efficient and versatile methodologies to edit genetic locus in animals.

MIMICKING HUMAN MUTATIONS IN WORMS

We take advantage of our knowledge in genome editing and the biology of C. elegans to model human mutations in worms to obtain functional information for diagnosis and prognosis, or to find therapeutic opportunities.

Recent Publications

Caenorhabditis elegans for research on cancer hallmarks
Julián Cerón
Disease Models and Mechanisms. 2023 Jun 1;16(6):dmm050079. doi: 10.1242/dmm.050079

Genome editing in animals with minimal PAM CRISPR-Cas9 enzymes
Vicencio J, Sánchez-Bolaños C, Moreno-Sánchez I, Brena D, Vejnar CE, Kukhtar D, Ruiz-López M, Cots-Ponjoan M, Rubio A, Melero NR, Crespo-Cuadrado J, Carolis C, Pérez-Pulido AJ, Giráldez AJ, Kleinstiver BP, Cerón J*, Moreno-Mateos MA*
Nature Communications. 2022 May 12;13(1):2601. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30228-4.

A Living Organism in your CRISPR Toolbox: Caenorhabditis elegans Is a Rapid and Efficient Model for Developing CRISPR-Cas Technologies
Vicencio J, Cerón J*
CRISPR Journal, 2021. PMID: 33538637 DOI: 10.1089/crispr.2020.0103

Ancestral function of Inhibitors-of-kappaB regulates Caenorhabditis elegans development
David Brena, Joan Bertran, Montserrat Porta-de-la-Riva, Yolanda Guillén, Eric Cornes, Dmytro Kukhtar, Lluís Campos-Vicens, Lierni Fernández, Irene Pecharroman, Albert García-López, Abul B. M. M. K. Islam, Laura Marruecos, Anna Bigas*, Julián Cerón* & Lluís Espinosa*
Scientific Reports, 2020, volume 10, Article number: 16153

Mimicking of splicing-related retinitis pigmentosa mutations in C. elegans allow drug screens and identification of disease modifiers.
Kukhtar D*, Rubio-Peña K*, Serrat X, Cerón J.*
Human Molecular Genetics, 2020 Jan 10. pii: ddz315.

CRISPR editing of sftb-1/SF3B1 in C. elegans allows the identification of synthetic interactions with cancer-related mutations and the chemical inhibition of splicing.
Xènia Serrat, Dmytro Kukhtar, Eric Cornes, Anna Esteve-Codina, Helena Benlloch, Germano Cecere, Julián Cerón*
PLoS Genetics, October 2019 ; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008464

Efficient Generation of Endogenous Fluorescent Reporters by Nested CRISPR in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Vicencio J, Martínez-Fernández C, Serrat X, Cerón J.*
Genetics, 2019 Apr;211(4):1143-1154.

Genetic and cellular sensitivity of Caenorhabditis elegans to the chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin.
García-Rodríguez FJ, Martínez-Fernández C, Brena D, Kukhtar D, Serrat X, Nadal E, Boxem M, Honnen S, Miranda-Vizuete A, Villanueva A, Cerón J.*
Disease Models and Mechanisms, 2018 Jun 21;11(6).

People

**From left to right:** Julián, Mariona, Nuria, Jeremy, Miguel, Dmytro, Carmen, David

Find us

Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research (IDIBELL).
Hospital Duran i Reynals.
Laboratorio de Genética Molecular, planta 3.
Gran via s/n, Km 2.7, l’Hospitalet 08907, Barcelona, Spain.

Contact

phone:  +34 93 260 7287
 email: jceron@idibell.cat, jceronmadrigal@gmail.com
 www.idibell.cat 
www.gusaneros.com
www.ceronlab.com