Mechanistic Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy

Noradrenaline and adrenaline, released from sympathetic system, may contribute to cancer initiation and progression caused by stress. Results from our group have shown that tumor cells can acquire the capacity to synthesize these catecholamines and become autonomous on the production of these stress-related tumorigenic messengers. It was further shown that adrenergic stimulation induces a metabolic reprograming, including alterations in lipid droplet dynamics, which may give competitive advantages to cancer cells to survive and to resist to treatments. These sets of information may give a mechanistic support to explain the real-world effectiveness of anti-adrenergic drugs in reducing cancer incidence and mortality.  

Under the COVID-19 pandemic, and through evidence-gathering approaches, our group presented evidence to support the use of repurposed drugs to prevent the acute respiratory distress syndrome, a treatment applicable to any infection caused by virus dependent on ACE2.