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Maria Bernabeu

@mariabernabeu.bsky.social

980 followers 720 following 38 posts

Group Leader at EMBL Barcelona. Malaria, bioengineered vascular models, blood-brain barrier

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Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Aug 7

We are happy to show one ourt first exciting papers. We have developed a blood-brain barrier model to study the disruptive effects caused by the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.

First, congratulations to the fearless @liviapiatti.bsky.social and @alinabatzi.bsky.social

rdcu.be/ezBl7

Plasmodium falciparum egress disrupts endothelial junctions and activates JAK-STAT signaling in a microvascular 3D blood-brain barrier model

Nature Communications - Here the authors show that Plasmodium falciparum egress products disrupt endothelial barrier and activate JAK-STAT and interferon type response in a 3D blood-brain barrier...

rdcu.be

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Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · 1d

I think I didn't 🙈 but @rorykmlong.bsky.social left everything ready, so there was a very minimum chance for me to screw up! ☺️

Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · 2d

Then and now... 2022. Helping @rorykmlong.bsky.social and François on midnight experiments. 2025 Helping Rory to finish experiments for François' paper revision. Bonus points: The surprise of new lab members when they found me in the TC room after being > 1 year at my desk.

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Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · 4d

Back from #ParaFrap! What a fantastic meeting. I feel very privileged to be part of this community! Specially in my heart the new generation of kickass PIs/GL ❤️ (mostly women dominated💪🏻)

Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Sep 9

This article highlights the importance of agressive antypiretic treatment in malaria infections and has potential consequences for other infections and brain injuries!!!!

Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Sep 9

We could reverse this highly negative effect by protecting the endothelial glycocalyx with Batimastat, an MMP1 inhibitor.

Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Sep 9

This effect was conserved in lung 3D microvessels, as well as an increase in neutrophil binding.

Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Sep 9

Just a short 30 min exposure to 40C, common in malaria patients, significantly increased parasite binding to 3D microvessels at multiple flow conditions. We found this occurred in several parasite lines with tropism in the brain, without apparent changes in their endothelial receptors EPCR and ICAM

Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Sep 9

Have you ever wondered what happens with your microvessels after exposure to high temperature in fever? In this preprint former postdoc (ans soon to be PI) Viola Introini found that high temperatures cleaves glycocalyx , having severe consequences in malaria www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

Febrile temperature enhances Plasmodium falciparum cytoadhesion by disrupting the endothelial glycocalyx

Fever, a universal host defense in infection and inflammation, paradoxically contributes to neurological complications in malaria. While febrile temperatures enhance the expression of parasite virulen...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Maria Bernabeu

Nicoletta Petridou @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social · Aug 8

We are searching for an enthusiastic scientist to join our team and establish annual killifish as a model system for early developmental biology and biophysics! @embl.org @embldbunit.bsky.social

Apply here:
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/EMBL/job/Hei...

Please re-post 🙏

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Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Aug 7

It has been amazing that you were my (co-)first PhD student. Amazing journey. You should be proud of everything you achieved

Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Aug 7

A big thanks to everyone, who contributed to the project.To the full Bernabeu group, as this was a team project! As well as our @embl.org collaborators @jamesasharpe.bsky.social group, @yschwab.bsky.social's team and Lars Steinmetz group!

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Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Aug 7

More important, we could reverse the increase in vascular barrier permeability induced by malaria products with Ruxolitinib, a JAK-STAT inhibitor! This is super exciting with the drug now being tested in CHMI studies. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Aug 7

We also found that falciparum egress products activate interferon and antigen presenting pathways in all the cells that compose the BBB, endothelial, astrocytes and pericytes. Including JAK-STAT as one of the key signaling inflammatory hubs

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Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Aug 7

The release of malaria products during egress leads to BBB disruption, including downregulation of tight and adherens junctional proteins as well as key vascular development pathways. This effect is localized at sites where parasites egress.

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Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Aug 7

Plasmodium falciparum egress disrupts endothelial junctions and activates JAK-STAT signaling in a microvascular 3D blood-brain barrier model

Nature Communications - Here the authors show that Plasmodium falciparum egress products disrupt endothelial barrier and activate JAK-STAT and interferon type response in a 3D blood-brain barrier...

rdcu.be

3 20 70

Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Jul 25

Congratulations! Great work!

Reposted by Maria Bernabeu

bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Jul 24

Our paper has finally graduated from pre-print to peer-reviewed, pretty much unscathed, and is out now! www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

The essential host genome for Cryptosporidium survival exposes metabolic dependencies that can be leveraged for treatment

An arrayed microscopy-based CRISPR screen revealed host genes affecting multiple infection phenotypes of the intracellular parasite Cryptosporidium. Hits in the host cholesterol biosynthesis pathway a...

www.cell.com

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Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Jul 11

Finally, an unexpected but valuable contribution from ppolinski.bsky.social‬ and @viktri08.bsky.social ‬ showing remarkable alterations on endothelial splicing caused by the malaria products.

https://ppolinski.bsky.social‬

Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Jul 11

This project has been spearheaded by the blueskyless François Korbmacher and a team effort between my lab and @ebisuyamiki.bsky.social‬. I’m very extremely thankful for her to introduce us to the stem-cell world.

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Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Jul 11

Plasmodium falciparum shows increased binding to ETS-endothelial cells. Exposure to parasite products caused a disruption on the endothelial barrier and we reveal a sustained and global downregulation of junctional, cytoskeletal and focal adhesion genes

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Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Jul 11

Pre-print alert 🚨: We have developed 2D and 3D stable iPSC endothelial-differentiation models through dox inducible ETS expression. We demonstrate endothelial identity and used these models for studying malaria pathogenesis research. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Jul 1

Congratulations! 🥰

Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Jun 4

Because not all is work...Yesterday we took the opportunity that almost all lab members were around and had a super fun fanta blind testing activity courtesy of Viola Introini!

Reposted by Maria Bernabeu

Nadia El Mjiyad @nadelmjiyad.bsky.social · May 22

📅Next Tuesday, we will have a lunch session on ERC grants + ERC grantees @mariabernabeu.bsky.social and Julia Mahamid will share their experience.
Infection: pathogens, hosts, and microbiomes www.embl.org/about/info/c...

Infection: pathogens, hosts, and microbiomes

www.embl.org

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Reposted by Maria Bernabeu

Silva Pereira Lab (Parasite Vascular Interactions) @silvapereiralab.bsky.social · May 4

Here’s our latest revision of microphysiological systems in parasitology research, published in @plos.org #plospathogens in collaboration with Jorge de-Carvalho (ITQB-NOVA) and @mariabernabeu.bsky.social. Kudos to @mariazalmeida.bsky.social, PhD student, for the heavy lifting of this work.

Leveraging microphysiological systems to expedite understanding of host–parasite interactions

Microphysiological systems (MPS) replicate the dynamic interactions between cells, tissues, and fluids. They have emerged as transformative tools for biology and have been increasingly applied to host...

journals.plos.org

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