Phone: 94 601 2603
Email: ana.zubiaga@ehu.es
Office Location: School of Science and Technology, Building F1, Ground floor, office 3
Research Group: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF CANCER

• Researcher ID S-3457-2019
• Scientific Production
• ORCID:0000-0002-2132-9708

I am Full Professor of Genetics and teach both undergraduate and master’s students:

• Undergraduate program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. I am the professor for the core course Human Genetics.
• Master’s program in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine. I teach Workshop in Molecular Biology and contribute to Fundamentals of Genomics, Proteomics, and Bioinformatics.
• I have supervised 25 undergraduate theses and over 20 master’s theses to date.

Beyond teaching, I serve as the Genetics area coordinator within the Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology, and Animal Physiology. Additionally, I am an appointed member of the PhD Committee for the Molecular Biology and Biomedicine program and an elected representative of the UPV/EHU University Faculty.

I earned my PhD degree in 1986 from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/ EHU) and conducted post-doctoral research (1986-1994) at the Universities of Tufts and Harvard in the United States. My work focused on the genetic regulation of cell proliferation, specifically in the mechanisms underlying the immune response and the role of cellular oncogenes. In 1995 I joined the UPV/EHU as a faculty member and established my independent research group. I am currently the head of the consolidated research team Molecular Biology of Cancer.

My research interests stand at the confluence of Cancer Biology and Genetics, with a focus on the transcriptional networks regulated by the Retinoblastoma/E2F pathway and their impact on cancer and immune-related pathologies. Experimental designs in my research integrate a combination of in vitro cell models, genome-wide genomics and proteomics, molecular biology techniques, along with in vivo animal genetic models and analyses of human samples.

To date, I have supervised 19 doctoral dissertations, including 8 in the past decade. I am currently supervising 4 PhD candidates.

I serve as an appointed member of the Coordination and Evaluation team of the Spanish National Agency of Research (AEI), within the area of Biomedicine-Cancer. I am also a member of the Research Evaluation Commission for the Agency for the Quality of the University System of Catalonia, area of Medical and Health Sciences, and an appointed member of the Basque Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters (JAKIUNDE).

Project Title: Revisando el papel de los factores E2F en el desarrollo tumoral: estudio de la conexión E2F-EMT (E2F/ transición epitelio-mesénquima)  Funding Organization: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE, RTI2018-097497-B-I00 (2019-2021)

Project Title: Balance entre proliferación y diferenciación: mecanismos y relevancia en patología humana. Red de 10 grupos de investigación. Funding Organization: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE, RED2018-102723-T (2020-2022)

Project Title: Grupo de Investigación del Sistema Universitario Vasco. Biología celular y molecular del cáncer. Funding Organization: Gobierno Vasco, Departamento de Educación. IT1257-19 (2019-2021)

Project Title: MATRIXBIOCELL-Desarrollo, caracterización y optimización de modelos celulares multicapa en el marco de una terapia avanzada 100% autóloga para su aplicación en ingeniería tisular. Funding Organization: Gobierno Vasco, Departamento de Desarrollo Económico y Competitividad. KK-2020/00014 (2020-2021)

Project Title: Relevancia fisiológica de los factores E2F más allá de la regulación del ciclo celular . Funding Organization: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. MINECO/AEI/FEDER, UE, SAF2015-67562-R (2016-2018)

Project Title: Prevención, diagnóstico, investigación y nuevas líneas terapéuticas para enfermedades raras en el marco de la CAPV. Funding Organization: Gobierno Vasco, Departamento de Desarrollo Económico y Competitividad. KK-2017/00084 (2017-2018)

Project Title: Grupo de Investigación del Sistema Universitario Vasco. Mecanismos moleculares implicados en la alteración de la homeostasis celular: perspectivas para la terapia del cáncer. Funding Organization: Gobierno Vasco, Departamento de Educación. IT634-13 (2013-2018)

1: Anitua E, Troya M, Zalduendo M, Tierno R, Alkhraisat MH, Osinalde N,
Fullaondo A, Zubiaga AM. Improving the mechanical and biological functions of
cell sheet constructs: The interplay of human-derived periodontal ligament stem
cells, endothelial cells and plasma rich in growth factors. Biomed Pharmacother.
2024 May;174:116599. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2024.116599. Epub 2024 Apr 18. PMID:
38640711.

2: Mitxelena J, Zubiaga AM. Foreword Special Issue Genomic Instability in Tumor
Evolution and Therapy Response. Cancers (Basel). 2023 Jun 7;15(12):3080. doi:
10.3390/cancers15123080. PMID: 37370691; PMCID: PMC10296557.

3: Hamidi M, Eriz A, Mitxelena J, Fernandez-Ares L, Aurrekoetxea I, Aspichueta
P, Iglesias-Ara A, Zubiaga AM. Targeting E2F Sensitizes Prostate Cancer Cells to
Drug-Induced Replication Stress by Promoting Unscheduled CDK1 Activity. Cancers
(Basel). 2022 Oct 10;14(19):4952. doi: 10.3390/cancers14194952. PMID: 36230876;
PMCID: PMC9564059.

4: Mustafa N, Mitxelena J, Infante A, Zenarruzabeitia O, Eriz A, Iglesias-Ara A,
Zubiaga AM. E2f2 Attenuates Apoptosis of Activated T Lymphocytes and Protects
from Immune-Mediated Injury through Repression of Fas and FasL. Int J Mol Sci.
2021 Dec 28;23(1):311. doi: 10.3390/ijms23010311. PMID: 35008734; PMCID:
PMC8745065.

5: González-Romero F, Mestre D, Aurrekoetxea I, O'Rourke CJ, Andersen JB,
Woodhoo A, Tamayo-Caro M, Varela-Rey M, Palomo-Irigoyen M, Gómez-Santos B, de
Urturi DS, Núñez-García M, García-Rodríguez JL, Fernández-Ares L, Buqué X,
Iglesias-Ara A, Bernales I, De Juan VG, Delgado TC, Goikoetxea-Usandizaga N, Lee
R, Bhanot S, Delgado I, Perugorria MJ, Errazti G, Mosteiro L, Gaztambide S,
Martinez de la Piscina I, Iruzubieta P, Crespo J, Banales JM, Martínez-Chantar
ML, Castaño L, Zubiaga AM, Aspichueta P. E2F1 and E2F2-Mediated Repression of
CPT2 Establishes a Lipid-Rich Tumor-Promoting Environment. Cancer Res. 2021 Jun
1;81(11):2874-2887. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-2052. Epub 2021 Mar 26. PMID:
33771899.

6: García-Santisteban I, Llopis A, Krenning L, Vallejo-Rodríguez J, van den
Broek B, Zubiaga AM, Medema RH. Sustained CHK2 activity, but not ATM activity,
is critical to maintain a G1 arrest after DNA damage in untransformed cells. BMC
Biol. 2021 Feb 19;19(1):35. doi: 10.1186/s12915-021-00965-x. PMID: 33607997;
PMCID: PMC7896382.

7: Mitxelena J, Apraiz A, Vallejo-Rodríguez J, García-Santisteban I, Fullaondo
A, Alvarez-Fernández M, Malumbres M, Zubiaga AM. An E2F7-dependent
transcriptional program modulates DNA damage repair and genomic stability.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2019 Aug 22;47(14):7716-7717. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkz587.
Erratum for: Nucleic Acids Res. 2018 May 18;46(9):4546-4559. doi:
10.1093/nar/gky218. PMID: 31269207; PMCID: PMC6698732.

8: Peñalver-González B, Vallejo-Rodríguez J, Mentxaka G, Fullaondo A, Iglesias-
Ara A, Field SJ, Zubiaga AM. Golgi Oncoprotein <i>GOLPH3</i> Gene Expression Is
Regulated by Functional E2F and CREB/ATF Promoter Elements. Genes (Basel). 2019
Mar 25;10(3):247. doi: 10.3390/genes10030247. PMID: 30934642; PMCID: PMC6471639.

9: Valcárcel-Ocete L, Fullaondo A, Alkorta-Aranburu G, García-Barcina M, Roos
RAC, Hjermind LE, Saft C, Frontali M, Reilmann R, Rickards H; REGISTRY
investigators of the European Huntington’s Disease Network (EHDN); Zubiaga AM,
Aguirre A. Does arterial hypertension influence the onset of Huntington's
disease? PLoS One. 2018 May 23;13(5):e0197975. doi:
10.1371/journal.pone.0197975. PMID: 29791508; PMCID: PMC5965871.

10: Mitxelena J, Apraiz A, Vallejo-Rodríguez J, García-Santisteban I, Fullaondo
A, Alvarez-Fernández M, Malumbres M, Zubiaga AM. An E2F7-dependent
transcriptional program modulates DNA damage repair and genomic stability.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2018 May 18;46(9):4546-4559. doi: 10.1093/nar/gky218. Erratum
in: Nucleic Acids Res. 2019 Aug 22;47(14):7716-7717. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkz587.
PMID: 29590434; PMCID: PMC5961008.

11: Iglesias-Ara A, Osinalde N, Zubiaga AM. Detection of E2F-Induced
Transcriptional Activity Using a Dual Luciferase Reporter Assay. Methods Mol
Biol. 2018;1726:153-166. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7565-5_14. PMID: 29468551.