Ikerbasque Research Professor
0000-0002-1680-0059Dr. Alberto Fernández-Tejada received his undergraduate BSc degree in Chemistry in 2004 from the University of La Rioja (Spain), where he also completed his PhD studies on the synthesis and conformational analysis of O-glycopeptides incorporating unnatural amino acids under the supervision of Prof. Jesús M. Peregrina and Dr. Francisco Corzana. He received his PhD in Chemistry in 2009, and then moved to New York in 2010 to join the group of the late Prof. David Y. Gin at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC, USA) as a MEC-Fulbright postdoctoral fellow, working independently and leading a project on the synthesis and immunological evaluation of vaccine adjuvants based on the saponin natural product QS-21. After Prof. Gin's death, in 2012 he went on to the laboratory of Prof. Samuel J. Danishefsky (MSKCC) as a Marie Curie International Outgoing fellow (MC-IOF) to work on the synthesis of glycosylated proteins and the development of carbohydrate and glycopeptide-based anticancer and HIV vaccines. These research lines that Dr. Fernández-Tejada independently developed at MSKCC have become one of his main scientific interests and constitute a significant part of his research portfolio. Following the 4-year postdoctoral appointment at Sloan Kettering, in 2014 he joined the group of Prof. Jiménez-Barbero at CIB-CSIC (Madrid) and then CIC bioGUNE (Bilbao) as part of the reintegration phase of his Marie Curie IOF fellowship, which focused on the conformational analysis and dynamics of the saponin variants synthesized at MSKCC. To further expand his scientific repertoire, Dr. Fernández-Tejada moved to the laboratory of Prof. Ben Davis at the University of Oxford in late 2015, where he worked as a senior postdoctoral researcher on the development of novel chemoenzymatic approaches to probe protein O-GlcNAc glycosylation, funded through a Marie Curie Intra-European fellowship. In 2016, he was awarded a Ramón y Cajal and an Ikerbasque research contract as well as an ERC-Starting Grant from the European Research Council to begin his independent career. Dr. Fernández-Tejada took up his Group Leader position as Ikerbasque Research Professor at CIC bioGUNE in early 2017, with a research program at the frontier of chemistry and immunology focused on the development of synthetic, saponin-based self-adjuvanting vaccines and the elucidation of their mechanisms of action.
Dr. Fernández-Tejada has authored more than 20 scientific publications in top, highly prestigious journals (Nature Chem, Acc Chem Res, Sci Transl Med, J Am Chem Soc, PNAS, Chem Sci), more than 15 as first author, and 10 as corresponding author. He has participated as speaker in more than 10 scientific conferences in the last five years and his research has resulted in 4 international patents/patent applications. Dr. Fernández-Tejada has actively participated in top research programs around the world, both in the US (NIH), as well as at the European (7th Framework Program and Horizon 2020) and national level (Plan Nacional I+D+i), and has always obtained funding from the most prestigious agencies both as a postdoctoral fellow (Fulbright, two Marie Curie Individual Fellowships) and more recently as a Principal Investigator (Ramón y Cajal contract, Ikerbasque Research Professorship, and ERC Starting Grant). He is member of the American Chemical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry, and the British Society for Immunology
Latest Publications
2022
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2020
2019
2017
2016
2015
2014
The clinical success of anticancer and antiviral vaccines often requires co-administration of an adjuvant, a substance that enhances the immunogenicity of the antigen and potentiates the immune response. However, few adjuvants exhibit sufficient potency and negligible toxicity to be suitable for clinical use; moreover, their mechanisms of action are generally not fully understood. Current subunit vaccines based on weakly immunogenic carbohydrate and glycopeptide antigens are not being very successful in eliciting a strong immune response against cancer, and no such carbohydrate-based anticancer vaccine has yet been approved for humans despite extensive research efforts and several clinical trials. In this context, building upon the PI's previous background and expertise in the area, the research program in the Fernández-Tejada Group has a double, ultimate goal based on applying chemistry to address the above clear gaps in the adjuvant/vaccine field. With this idea in mind, the Chemical Immunology Lab established by Dr. Fernández-Tejada at CIC bioGUNE will develop new improved adjuvants and novel chemical strategies towards more effective, self-adjuvanting synthetic vaccines. Moreover, leveraging the extraordinary facilities and scientific expertise available at CIC bioGUNE, we will also focus on investigating the molecular mechanisms of the synthetic constructs by combining extensive immunological evaluations with molecular target identification studies and detailed conformational analysis. Thus, the Fernández-Tejada Group builds upon a highly multidisciplinary program integrating ambitious objectives and complementary approaches at the chemistry-biology frontier. Research in the Chemical Immunology Lab connects chemical synthesis and chemical/structural biology with cellular and molecular immunology to explore key unresolved mechanistic questions in the adjuvant/vaccine arena with extraordinary chemical precision.
The Fernández-Tejada Lab is funded primarily by the European Research Council through an ERC Starting Grant, which provides €1.5 million funding for a transformative and timely research program aimed at developing novel synthetic self-adjuvanting vaccines with improved properties and efficacy, as well as unraveling the molecular basis and three-dimensional structure underlying the biological activity of these constructs.
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Abhijit Saha
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Vikram Basava
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Priscila Tonon Baschirotto
TECHNICIANS / DOCTORAL CANDIDATES -
Adrián Plata Ruiz
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Alba Mosteiro Couso
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Mirelys Sáenz
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Alex Sierra Marrero
Members
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERLatest Publications
Development of synthetic, self-adjuvanting, and self-assembling anticancer vaccines based on a minimal saponin adjuvant and the tumor-associated MUC1 antigen
Pifferi, C; Aguinagalde, L; Ruiz-de-Angulo, A; Sacristán, N; Baschirotto, PT; Poveda, A; Jiménez-Barbero, J; Anguita, J; Fernández-Tejada, A;
CHEMICAL SCIENCE
2023-03-01
Chemical biology tools to interrogate the roles of O-GlcNAc in immunity
Saha, A; Fernández-Tejada, A;
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
2023-01-26
Novel Oxime-Derivatized Synthetic Triterpene Glycosides as Potent Saponin Vaccine Adjuvants
Fuentes, R; Aguinagalde, L; Pifferi, C; Plata, A; Sacristan, N; Castellana, D; Anguita, J; Fernandez-Tejada, A;
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
2022-05-06
Design, synthesis, and initial immunological evaluation of glycoconjugates based on saponin adjuvants and the Tn antigen
Fuentes, R; Aguinagalde, L; Sacristán, N; Fernández-Tejada, A;
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
2021-10-14
Advances in chemical probing of protein O-GlcNAc glycosylation: structural role and molecular mechanisms
Saha, A; Bello, D; Fernández-Tejada, A;
CHEMICAL SOCIETY REVIEWS
2021-08-02
Rational Vaccine Design in Times of Emerging Diseases: The Critical Choices of Immunological Correlates of Protection, Vaccine Antigen and Immunomodulation
Schijns, V; Majhen, D; van der Ley, P; Thakur, A; Summerfield, A; Berisio, R; Nativi, C; Fernández-Tejada, A; Alvarez-Dominguez, C; Gizurarson, S; Zamyatina, A; Molinaro, A; Rosano, C; Jakopin, ...
PHARMACEUTICS
2021-04-01
Replacing the Rhamnose-Xylose Moiety of QS-21 with Simpler Terminal Disaccharide Units Attenuates Adjuvant Activity in Truncated Saponin Variants
Fuentes, R; Ruiz-de-Angulo, A; Sacristán, N; Navo, CD; Jiménez-Osés, G; Anguita, J; Fernández-Tejada, A;
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
2021-02-04
Natural and synthetic carbohydrate-based vaccine adjuvants and their mechanisms of action.
Pifferi, Carlo; Fuentes, Roberto; Fernandez-Tejada, Alberto;
Nature reviews. Chemistry
2021-01-25
Natural and synthetic carbohydrate-based vaccine adjuvants and their mechanisms of action
Pifferi, C; Fuentes, R; Fernández-Tejada, A;
NATURE REVIEWS CHEMISTRY
2021-01-25
Therapeutic Pretargeting with Gold Nanoparticles as Drug Candidates for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy
Feiner, IVJ; Pulagam, KR; Gómez-Vallejo, V; Zamacola, K; Baz, Z; Caffarel, MM; Lawrie, CH; Ruiz-de-Angulo, A; Carril, M; Llop, J;
PARTICLE & PARTICLE SYSTEMS CHARACTERIZATION
2020-09-23
Modulation of immune responses using adjuvants to facilitate therapeutic vaccination
Schijns, V; Fernández-Tejada, A; Barjaktarovic, Z; Bouzalas, I; Brimnes, J; Chernysh, S; Gizurarson, S; Gursel, I; Jakopin, Z; Lawrenz, M; Nativi, C; Paul, S; Pedersen, GK; Rosano, C; Ruiz-de-Angulo, ...
IMMUNOLOGICAL REVIEWS
2020-06-28
Chemical synthesis and immunological evaluation of new generation multivalent anticancer vaccines based on a Tn antigen analogue
Pifferi, C; Ruiz-de-Angulo, A; Goyard, D; Tiertant, C; Sacristán, N; Barriales, D; Berthet, N; Anguita, J; Renaudet, O; Fernández-Tejada, A;
CHEMICAL SCIENCE
2020-05-07
Exploiting structure-activity relationships of QS-21 in the design and synthesis of streamlined saponin vaccine adjuvants
Ghirardello, M; Ruiz-de-Angulo, A; Sacristan, N; Barriales, D; Jiménez-Barbero, J; Poveda, A; Corzana, F; Anguita, J; Fernández-Tejada, A;
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
2020-01-16
β-Glucan as an immune activator and a carrier in the construction of a synthetic MUC1 vaccine
Wang, HX; Yang, B; Wang, YL; Liu, F; Fernández-Tejada, A; Dong, SW;
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
2019-01-07
Design, synthesis and evaluation of optimized saponin variants derived from the vaccine adjuvant QS-21
Fernández-Tejada, A;
PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY
2017-09-01
Antibodies Against Specific MUC16 Glycosylation Sites Inhibit Ovarian Cancer Growth
Rao, TD; Fernández-Tejada, A; Axelrod, A; Rosales, N; Yan, XJ; Thapi, S; Wang, A; Park, KJ; Nemieboka, B; Xiang, JY; Lewis, JS; Olvera, N; Levine, DA; Danishefsky, SJ; Spriggs, DR;
ACS CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
2017-08-01
Quillaja saponin variants with central glycosidic linkage modifications exhibit distinct conformations and adjuvant activities
Walkowicz, WE; Fernández-Tejada, A; George, C; Corzana, F; Jiménez-Barbero, J; Ragupathi, G; Tan, DS; Gin, DY;
CHEMICAL SCIENCE
2016-01-01
Glycans in Medicinal Chemistry: An Underexploited Resource
Fernández-Tejada, A; Cañada, FJ; Jiménez-Barbero, J;
CHEMMEDCHEM
2015-08-01
Recent Developments in Synthetic Carbohydrate-Based Diagnostics, Vaccines, and Therapeutics
Fernández-Tejada, A; Cañada, FJ; Jiménez-Barbero, J;
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
2015-07-20
Conformational Analysis of Peptides and Glycopeptides Derived from the Consensus Sequence for β-O-Glucosylation
Somovilla, VJ; Martínez-Sáez, N; Fernández-Tejada, A; de la Torre, BG; Andreu, D; Jiménez-Barbero, J; Asensio, JL; Avenoza, A; Busto, JH; Corzana, F; Peregrina, JM;
CURRENT TOPICS IN MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
2014-01-01