Joaquín Castilla
jcastilla
Joaquín Castilla
GROUP LEADER
Ikerbasque Research Professor
Ikerbasque Research Professor
Prion Research Lab
Orcid:
Address: Bizkaia Science and Technology Park, building 502, Derio (Bizkaia)

Dr. Joaquín Castilla is a Ikerbasque Research Professor incorporated at CIC bioGUNE in 2009. He has a long experience working in prions since 1998 at Center for Animal Health (CISA -INIA). In 2003, he moved to Switzerland to work as Research Scientist at Serono Research Institute. He became Assistant Professor this year, first at the University of Texas, Medical Branch and later at Scripps (Florida) from 2006 leading an independent group. His expertise is based on in vitro and in vivo replication of prions. Particularly, his group is studying the strain and species barrier phenomena in a cell-free system, trying to dissect the molecular mechanisms by which prions propagate and focusing on new anti-prion therapeutic approaches.

The most important achievements of his group are: i) development of the most sensitive method for prion detection, ii) generation of prion infectivity in a test tube contributing to validate the “protein-only” hypothesis. Iii) prion detection in blood for the first time in pre-symptomatic and symptomatic animals and iv) confirmation that the in vitro prion propagation faithfully mimicked the three major phenomena governing transmissible spongiform diseases: infectivity, strain concept and transmission barrier.

Dr. Joaquín Castilla has extensive experience in European Community, NIH (USA) and other national projects. His group has over 20 active collaborations both in Europe and outside the European Union with the most prestigious groups in the prion field. He is a member of the Journal Veterinary Research editorial board and review for dozens of international journals as The EMBO J., Neuron, Nature, among others. He has supervised 14 doctoral theses and currently leads/co-leads another 6 thesis in preparation.

Dr Castilla has published more than 110 peer reviewed articles (H index: 39 – Times cited: 5702 – Cumulative Impact Factor: ~755) which many of them have been instrumental for understanding the molecular mechanisms for prion propagation.

Publons: J-8414-2019. Scopus: 8851950500.

Latest Publications

2023

2022

2021

2020

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are fatal neurodegenerative disorders affecting both humans and animals. TSEs can be of genetic, sporadic or infectious origin. The infectious agent associated with TSEs, termed prion, appears to consist of a single protein, an abnormal conformer (PrPSc) of a natural host protein (PrPC), which propagates by converting host PrPC into a replica of itself. One of the characteristics of prions is their ability to infect some species and not others. This phenomenon is known as transmission barrier. Interestingly, prions occur in the form of different strains that show distinct biological and physicochemical properties, even though they are encoded by PrP with the same amino acid sequence, albeit in presumably different conformations. In general, the transmission barrier is expressed by an incomplete attack rate and long incubation times (time from the animal inoculation until the onset of the clinical signs) which become shorter after serial inoculation passages. Compelling evidence indicates that the transmission barriers are closely related to differences in PrP amino acid sequences between the donor and recipients of infection, as well as the prion strain conformation. Unfortunately, the molecular basis of the transmission barrier phenomenon and its relationship to prion strain conformations is currently unknown and we cannot predict the degree of a species barrier simply by comparing the prion proteins from two species.

We have conducted a series of experiments using the Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification (PMCA) technique that mimics in vitro some of the fundamental steps involved in prion replication in vivo, albeit with accelerated kinetics. The in vitro generated prions possess key prion features, i.e., they are infectious in vivo and maintain their strain specificity. We have used PMCA to efficiently replicate a variety of prion strains from, among others, mice, hamsters, bank voles, deer, cattle, sheep, and humans. The correlation between in vivo data and our in vitro results suggest that PMCA is a valuable tool for assessing the strength of the transmission barriers between diverse species and for different prion strains; we are using the method to determine which amino acids in the PrPC sequence contribute to the strength of the transmission barrier. These studies are proving very useful in evaluating the potential risks to humans and animals, of not only established prion strains, but also new (atypical) strains. For example, while classical sheep scrapie is unable to cross the human transmission barrier in vitro, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) propagated in sheep does so efficiently. In addition, we have also generated prions that are infectious to species hitherto considered to be resistant to prion disease.

http://www.asociacioncjd.org/

Latest Publications

A Protein Misfolding Shaking Amplification-based method for the spontaneous generation of hundreds of bona fide prions.

Erana, Hasier; Sampedro-Torres-Quevedo, Cristina; Charco, Jorge M; Diaz-Dominguez, Carlos M; Peccati, Francesca; San-Juan-Ansoleaga, Maitena; Vidal, Enric; Goncalves-Anjo, Nuno; Perez-Castro, ...

Nature communications

2024-03-08

A tetracationic porphyrin with dual anti-prion activity

Masone, A; Zucchelli, C; Caruso, E; Lavigna, G; Eraña, H; Giachin, G; Tapella, L; Comerio, L; Restelli, E; Raimondi, I; Elezgarai, SR; De Leo, F; Quilici, G; Taiarol, L; Oldrati, M; Lorenzo, ...

ISCIENCE

2023-09-15

Understanding the key features of the spontaneous formation of bona fide prions through a novel methodology that enables their swift and consistent generation

Eraña, H; Díaz-Domínguez, CM; Charco, JM; Vidal, E; González-Miranda, E; Pérez-Castro, MA; Piñeiro, P; López-Moreno, R; Sampedro-Torres-Quevedo, C; Fernández-Veiga, L; Tasis-Galarza, J; Lorenzo, ...

ACTA NEUROPATHOLOGICA COMMUNICATIONS

2023-09-07

An optimized Western blot assay provides a comprehensive assessment of the physiological endoproteolytic processing of the prion protein

Vanni, I; Iacobone, F; DAgostino, C; Giovannelli, M; Pirisinu, L; Altmeppen, HC; Castilla, J; Torres, JM; Agrimi, U; Nonno, R;

JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY

2023-01-18

Analysis of a large case series of fatal familial insomnia to determine tests with the highest diagnostic value

Kortazar-Zubizarreta, I; Eraña, H; Pereda, A; Charco, JM; Manero-Azua, A; Ruiz-Onandi, R; Aguirre, U; Gonzalez-Chinchon, G; de Nanclares, GP; Castilla, J; Basque Prionopathies Study Grp;

JOURNAL OF NEUROPATHOLOGY AND EXPERIMENTAL NEUROLOGY

2022-12-02

Bona fide atypical scrapie faithfully reproduced for the first time in a rodent model

Vidal, E; Sánchez-Martín, MA; Eraña, H; Lázaro, SP; Pérez-Castro, MA; Otero, A; Charco, JM; Marín, B; López-Moreno, R; Díaz-Domínguez, CM; Geijo, M; Ordóñez, M; Cantero, G; di Bari, M; Lorenzo, ...

ACTA NEUROPATHOLOGICA COMMUNICATIONS

2022-12-13

Glycans are not necessary to maintain the pathobiological features of bovine spongiform encephalopathy

Otero, A; Barrio, T; Eraña, H; Charco, JM; Betancor, M; Díaz-Domínguez, CM; Marín, B; Andréoletti, O; Torres, JM; Kong, QZ; Badiola, JJ; Bolea, R; Castilla, J;

PLOS PATHOGENS

2022-10-01

Description of the first Spanish case of Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease with A117V variant: clinical, histopathological and biochemical characterization

Eraña, H; San Millán, B; Díaz-Domínguez, CM; Charco, JM; Rodríguez, R; Viéitez, I; Pereda, A; Yañez, R; Geijo, M; Navarro, C; de Nanclares, GP; Teijeira, S; Castilla, J;

JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY

2022-03-16

Homozygous R136S mutation in PRNP gene causes inherited early onset prion disease

Ximelis, T; Marín-Moreno, A; Espinosa, JC; Eraña, H; Charco, JM; Hernández, I; Riveira, C; Alcolea, D; González-Roca, E; Aldecoa, I; Molina-Porcel, L; Parchi, P; Rossi, M; Castilla, J; Ruiz-García, ...

ALZHEIMERS RESEARCH & THERAPY

2021-10-18

Biosemiotics comprehension of PrP code and prion disease

Coca, JR; Eraña, H; Castilla, J;

BIOSYSTEMS

2021-09-10

Cerebrospinal Fluid and Plasma Small Extracellular Vesicles and miRNAs as Biomarkers for Prion Diseases

López-Pérez, O; Sanz-Rubio, D; Hernaiz, A; Betancor, M; Otero, A; Castilla, J; Andréoletti, O; Badiola, JJ; Zaragoza, P; Bolea, R; Toivonen, JM; Martín-Burriel, I;

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES

2021-07-01

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease with extremely long 14-year survival period

Kortazar-Zubizarreta, I; Ruiz-Onandi, R; Pereda, A; Vado, Y; González-Chinchon, G; Eraña, H; de Nanclares, GP; Castilla, J;

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY

2021-06-26

Improving the Pharmacological Properties of Ciclopirox for Its Use in Congenital Erythropoietic Porphyria

Bernardo-Seisdedos, G; Charco, JM; SanJuan, I; García-Martínez, S; Urquiza, P; Eraña, H; Castilla, J; Millet, O;

JOURNAL OF PERSONALIZED MEDICINE

2021-06-01

Detection of chronic wasting disease in mule and white-tailed deer by RT-QuIC analysis of outer ear

Ferreira, NC; Charco, JM; Plagenz, J; Orru, CD; Denkers, ND; Metrick, MA; Hughson, AG; Griffin, KA; Race, B; Hoover, EA; Castilla, J; Nichols, TA; Miller, MW; Caughey, B;

SCIENTIFIC REPORTS

2021-04-08

Prion-Associated Neurodegeneration Causes Both Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Proteasome Impairment in a Murine Model of Spontaneous Disease

Otero, A; Betancor, M; Eraña, H; Borges, NF; Lucas, JJ; Badiola, JJ; Castilla, J; Bolea, R;

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES

2021-01-01

A Novel, Reliable and Highly Versatile Method to Evaluate Different Prion Decontamination Procedures

Eraña, H; Pérez-Castro, MA; García-Martínez, S; Charco, JM; López-Moreno, R; Díaz-Dominguez, CM; Barrio, T; González-Miranda, E; Castilla, J;

FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

2020-10-29

Autoantibodies against the prion protein in individuals with PRNP mutations

Frontzek, K; Carta, M; Losa, M; Epskamp, M; Meisl, G; Anane, A; Brandel, JP; Camenisch, U; Castilla, J; Haïk, S; Knowles, T; Lindner, E; Lutterotti, A; Minikel, EV; Roiter, I; Safar, JG; Sanchez-Valle, ...

NEUROLOGY

2020-10-06

Evaluation of the Influence of Astrocytes on In Vitro Blood-Brain Barrier Models

García-Salvador, A; Domínguez-Monedero, A; Gómez-Fernández, P; García-Bilbao, A; Carregal-Romero, S; Castilla, J; Goñi-de-Cerio, F;

ATLA-ALTERNATIVES TO LABORATORY ANIMALS

2020-07-01

Detection of Pathognomonic Biomarker PrPSc and the Contribution of Cell Free-Amplification Techniques to the Diagnosis of Prion Diseases

Eraña, H; Charco, JM; González-Miranda, E; García-Martínez, S; López-Moreno, R; Pérez-Castro, MA; Díaz-Domínguez, CM; García-Salvador, A; Castilla, J;

BIOMOLECULES

2020-03-01

Dogs are resistant to prion infection, due to the presence of asparagine at position 163 of their prion protein

Vidal, E; Fernández-Borges, N; Eraña, H; Parra, B; Pintado, B; Sánchez-Martín, MA; Charco, JM; Ordóñez, M; Pérez-Castro, MA; Pumarola, M; Mathiason, CK; Mayoral, T; Castilla, J;

FASEB JOURNAL

2020-01-15