PEBC Report - Programa de Epigenética y Biología del Cáncer

Dr Eva Gonzalez-Suarez
Transformation and Metastasis Group
Eva Gonzalez Suarez (Oviedo, Asturias, Spain, 1975) got
her bachelor degree in Chemistry and her master degree in
Biochemistry in the Universidad de Oviedo. Her college
graduation work (1998) consisted in the study of the effects
of melatonin in the apoptosis induced by glucocorticoids in
thymocytes.
She is a PhD in Molecular Biology and Extraordinary Award
by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2003). Dra. Eva
Gonzalez Suarez scientific career has been focused in the
cancer field. Her doctoral work at the laboratory of Dr.
María Blasco, in the department of Immunology and
Oncology at the CNB, in Madrid aimed to elucidate the role
of telomerase in tumorigenesis and aging. The results of
this work can be summarized in two main discoveries: 1) in
the absence of telomerase, when telomeres are strickingly
short, tumors are abolished or dramatically reduced
(González-Suárez et al., Nat Genetics, 2000 and Can Res,
2003) and 2) telomerase overexpression, even in the presence
of long telomeres, results in a higher incidence of
spontanous and induced tumors (González-Suárez et al.
EMBO J, 2001, Mol Cel Biol, 2002) but extends maximum
longevity due to a lower incidence of senile lesions
(González-Suárez et al., Oncogene, 2005). She received
several awards for this work including Young Investigator
2003 “Severo Ochoa” Award, Best Doctorate Thesis 2003
and Juan Abelló Pascual II Award 2003.
From 2003 until 2007 Dr Eva Gonzalez worked as a postdoctoral
scientist at the Oncology department at Amgen,
WA, USA. The main project developed by Dra Gonzalez
Suarez in Amgen was the characterization of the role of
RANK and RANKL in mammary gland development and
tumorigenesis. Her results demonstrated that RANK signaling
activation in MECs promotes proliferation, impairs terminal
differentiation (Gonzalez-Suarez et al., MCB, 2007) and
increases the susceptibility to mammary tumors in the transgenic
mouse model, MMTV-RANK (González-Suarez et al.,
manuscript in preparation). She has designed the experiments
to test the efficiency of RANK-Fc in blocking the progression
of mammary tumors in both, preventive and therapeutic
settings. The corresponding results have a big impact
within Amgen, as they have developed a monoclonal antibody
that blocks RANK/RANKL interaction (Denosumab),
that is currently effective for the treatment of osteoporosis
and bone metastasis. Further applications of Denosumab
within the primary breast cancer site are expected based on
the work of Dra. Gonzalez Suarez.
Technician: Laura Barberá Ferrando
PhD Students: Sara Hernández Ortega,
Pasquale Pellegrini
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