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The Graupera lab takes advantage of the PI3K pathway as a paradigm to understand how intracellular signalling pathways regulate vessel morphogenesis, and how this knowledge can be translated into therapeutic opportunities for diseases characterized by aberrant vessel growth. Our research has identified key and selective roles of several members of the PI3K pathway, including PI3Ka, PI3Kb, PTEN, and PI3K-C2b (J Exp Med, Nat Commun, Clin Cancer Res, Sci Transl Med, Circulation, Nature Metabolism, EMBO Mol Med, Sci Sig). Over the last decade, PI3Kα/PIK3CA has been recognised as a master regulator of EC biology. M Graupera has dedicated more than 20 years to studying this isoform in ECs. These discoveries span from: (1) the selective and cell-autonomous requirement of PI3Ka in developmental angiogenesis (Graupera et al. Nature 2008); (2) the contribution of PI3Ka in tumour angiogenesis (Soler et al. JEM 2013); (3) the understanding of the primary cell biological function of PI3Ka in angiogenic ECs (Angulo-Urarte et al. Nat Commun 2018); (4) the discovery that PIK3CA is mutated in the embryonic ECs, leading to venous malformations (Castillo et al. Sci Trasl Med 2016); (5) the PIK3CA-dependency to growth factor for pathogenesis (Kobialka et al. Embo Mol Med 2022). We have published a very comprehensive review on PIK3CA mutations in congenital disorders (Angulo-Urarte et al. NCVR 2022). Together, these observations have represented a breakthrough in the field, capitalizing on the repurposing of PI3K for these diseases. The Graupera lab works in close collaboration with paediatric clinicians at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, to apply her discoveries in clinical practice to treat these patients.
About Mariona Graupera: I am a vascular biologist with expertise in signalling. I have been trained in several institutions, including the University of Barcelona, the Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, and the Bart’s Cancer Institute in London. In 2009 I established my lab as an independent investigator at d’Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL) funded by the Ramon y Cajal program. In February 2021, I joined the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute as Group leader. In June 2022, I was elected President of the European Vascular Biology Organization (EVBO), and I served as a resident until June 2025. In January 2023, I was appointed ICREA Research Professor.
