Mara Martin Alonso
About
About the lab:
Our main scientific goal is to understand how diseases in mucosal surfaces such as the gut are started and develop in time including processes such as intestinal repair and tumorigenesis.
Our laboratory consists of an international team of enthusiastic biologists, with an exciting and extremely good work environment.
https://www.ntnu.edu/cemir/regeneration
About me:
I am currently a Group leader at CEMIR, at the Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine (IKOM) at NTNU. I did a Bachelor's in Science, Biology, (2009) at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and a Master Degree in Molecular Biomedicine (2010) at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid. After finishing my PhD in 2016 at CNIC (National Center for Cardiovascular Research, Spain) under the supervision of Alicia G.Arroyo, I moved to Norway to work as a postdoc at Menno's Oudhoff group. Here I obtained a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Individual Fellowship (MSCA-IF) to study the interplay between the intestinal muscle and stem cells. In 2021, I was awarded the Young Researcher Talent grant, allowing me to start my own group. Our group has recently received funding from the Norwegian Cancer Society.
Lecturing:
MOL3005. Barrier immunity
MOL8009. Barrier tissues immunity, inflammation and regeneration.
Highlighted Journal Articles:
- · LSD1 drives intestinal epithelial maturation and controls small intestinal immune cell composition independent of microbiota in a murine model. Alberto Díez-Sánchez*, Håvard T. Lindholm, Pia M. Vornewald, Jenny Ostrop, Rouan Yao, Andrew B. Single, Anne Marstad, Naveen Parmar, Tovah N. Shaw, Mara Martín-Alonso & Menno J. Oudhoff*. Nat Commun 15, 3412. April 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47815-2 *Corresponding authors.
-
Mmp17-deficient mice exhibit heightened goblet cell effector expression in the colon and increased resistance to chronic Trichuris muris infection. Vornewald, PM., Forman, R., Yao, R., Parmar, N., Lindholm, HT., Martín-Alonso, M*., Else, K*., & Oudhoff, MJ*. Front Immunol. Vol. 14. Oct 6th 2023.
- Smooth muscle-specific MMP17 (MT4-MMP) regulates the intestinal stem cell niche and regeneration after damage. Mara Martín-Alonso*, Sharif Iqbal, Pia M. Vornewald, Håvard T. Lindholm, Mirjam J. Damen, Fernando Martínez, Sigrid Hoel, Alberto Díez-Sánchez, Maarten Altelaar, Pekka Katajisto, Alicia G. Arroyo & Menno J. Oudhoff*. Nat Commun 12, 6741. September 2021.*Corresponding authors.
- Intestinal-epithelial LSD1 controls goblet cell differentiation and effector responses required for gut immunity to bacterial and helminth infection. Naveen Parmar; Kyle Burrows; Pia Vornewald; Håvard T. Lindholm; Rosalie T. Zwiggelaar; Alberto Díez-Sanchez; Mara Martín-Alonso; Madeleine Fosslie; Bruce Vallance; John Arne Dahl; Colby Zaph; Menno Johannes Oudhoff. PlosPathogens. 2021 March31.
- Il4ra -independent vaginal eosinophil accumulation following helminth infection exacerbates epithelial ulcerative pathology following HSV-2 infection. Alisha Chetty; Matthew G Darby; Pia M Vornewald; Mara Martín-Alonso; Anna Filz; Manuel Ritter; Henry J McSorley; Lindi Masson; Katherine Smith; Frank Brombacher; Matthew K O'Shea; Adam F Cunningham; Bernhard Ryffel; Menno J Oudhoff; Benjamin G Dewals; Laura E Layland; William Horsnell. Cell Host and microbe. 2021. April, 21; 29(4)
- LSD1 represses a neonatal/reparative gene program in adult intestinal epithelium. Rosalie Zwiggelaar*, Håvard Lindholm*, Madeleine Fosslie, Marianne Pedersen, Yuki Ohta, Alberto Diez-Sanchez, Mara Martín-Alonso, Jenny Ostrop, Mami Matano, Naveen Parmar, Emilie Kvaløy, Roos Spanjers, Kamran Nazmi, Morten Rye, Finn Drabløs, Cheryl Arrowsmith, John Arne Dahl, Kim Jensen, Toshiro Sato, Menno J. Oudhoff. *Authors with equal contribution. Sci Adv. 2020 Sep 11;6(37).
- MT4-MMP deficiency increases patrolling monocyte recruitment to early lesions and accelerates atherosclerosis. Cristina Clemente, Cristina Rius, Laura Alonso-Herranz, Mara Martín-Alonso, Ángela Pollán, Emilio Camafeita, Fernando Martínez, Rubén A. Mota, Vanessa Núñez, Cristina Rodríguez, Motoharu Seiki, José Martínez-González, Vicente Andrés, Mercedes Ricote & Arroyo AG. Nat Commun 2018 March 9, 910.
- E-cadherin cleavage by MT2-MMP regulates apical junctional signaling and epithelial homeostasis in the intestine. Gómez-Escudero J,* Moreno V,*, Martín-Alonso M, Feinberg T, Hernández de Riquer MV, Colmenar A, Calvo E, Camafeita E, Martínez F, Oudhoff MJ, Weiss SJ, and Arroyo AG. J Cell Sci. 2017 Dec 1;130(23):4013-4027. *Authors with equal contribution.
This work resulted in a Cover picture of the issue, taken by me, of an organoid knockdown for MT2-MMP (MMP15). https://jcs.biologists.org/content/130/23.cover-expansion
- Deficiency of MMP17/MT4-MMP proteolytic activity predisposes to aortic aneurysm in mice. Martín- Alonso M, García-Redondo AB, Guo D, Camafeita E, Martínez F, Alfranca A, Méndez-Barbero N, Pollán Á, Sánchez-Camacho C, Denhardt DT, Seiki M, Vázquez J, Salaices M, Redondo JM, Milewicz D, Arroyo AG. Circ Res. 2015 Jul 3;117(2):e13-26.
Articles on BioRxiv (2023):
- Early-life Intestinal Epithelial Maturation by LSD1 Dictates Local Gut Immune Cell Composition Independently from the Microbiota. Díez-Sánchez, A., Lindholm, HT., Vornewald, PM., Ostrop, J., Parmar, N., Tovah N. Shaw, Martín-Alonso*, M., & Oudhoff, MJ*. 2023. Preprint paper on BioRxiv. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.09.08.556818
Publications
Highlighted Journal Articles:
- LSD1 drives intestinal epithelial maturation and controls small intestinal immune cell composition independent of microbiota in a murine model. Alberto Díez-Sánchez*, Håvard T. Lindholm, Pia M. Vornewald, Jenny Ostrop, Rouan Yao, Andrew B. Single, Anne Marstad, Naveen Parmar, Tovah N. Shaw, Mara Martín-Alonso & Menno J. Oudhoff*. Nat Commun 15, 3412. April 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47815-2 *Corresponding authors.
-
Mmp17-deficient mice exhibit heightened goblet cell effector expression in the colon and increased resistance to chronic Trichuris muris infection. Vornewald, PM., Forman, R., Yao, R., Parmar, N., Lindholm, HT., Martín-Alonso, M*., Else, K*., & Oudhoff, MJ*. Front Immunol. Vol. 14. Oct 6th 2023.
- Smooth muscle-specific MMP17 (MT4-MMP) regulates the intestinal stem cell niche and regeneration after damage. Mara Martín-Alonso*, Sharif Iqbal, Pia M. Vornewald, Håvard T. Lindholm, Mirjam J. Damen, Fernando Martínez, Sigrid Hoel, Alberto Díez-Sánchez, Maarten Altelaar, Pekka Katajisto, Alicia G. Arroyo & Menno J. Oudhoff*. Nat Commun 12, 6741. September 2021.*Corresponding authors.
- Intestinal-epithelial LSD1 controls goblet cell differentiation and effector responses required for gut immunity to bacterial and helminth infection. Naveen Parmar; Kyle Burrows; Pia Vornewald; Håvard T. Lindholm; Rosalie T. Zwiggelaar; Alberto Díez-Sanchez; Mara Martín-Alonso; Madeleine Fosslie; Bruce Vallance; John Arne Dahl; Colby Zaph; Menno Johannes Oudhoff. PlosPathogens. 2021 March31.
- Il4ra -independent vaginal eosinophil accumulation following helminth infection exacerbates epithelial ulcerative pathology following HSV-2 infection. Alisha Chetty; Matthew G Darby; Pia M Vornewald; Mara Martín-Alonso; Anna Filz; Manuel Ritter; Henry J McSorley; Lindi Masson; Katherine Smith; Frank Brombacher; Matthew K O'Shea; Adam F Cunningham; Bernhard Ryffel; Menno J Oudhoff; Benjamin G Dewals; Laura E Layland; William Horsnell. Cell Host and microbe. 2021. April, 21; 29(4)
- LSD1 represses a neonatal/reparative gene program in adult intestinal epithelium. Rosalie Zwiggelaar*, Håvard Lindholm*, Madeleine Fosslie, Marianne Pedersen, Yuki Ohta, Alberto Diez-Sanchez, Mara Martín-Alonso, Jenny Ostrop, Mami Matano, Naveen Parmar, Emilie Kvaløy, Roos Spanjers, Kamran Nazmi, Morten Rye, Finn Drabløs, Cheryl Arrowsmith, John Arne Dahl, Kim Jensen, Toshiro Sato, Menno J. Oudhoff. *Authors with equal contribution. Sci Adv. 2020 Sep 11;6(37).
- MT4-MMP deficiency increases patrolling monocyte recruitment to early lesions and accelerates atherosclerosis. Cristina Clemente, Cristina Rius, Laura Alonso-Herranz, Mara Martín-Alonso, Ángela Pollán, Emilio Camafeita, Fernando Martínez, Rubén A. Mota, Vanessa Núñez, Cristina Rodríguez, Motoharu Seiki, José Martínez-González, Vicente Andrés, Mercedes Ricote & Arroyo AG. Nat Commun 2018 March 9, 910.
- E-cadherin cleavage by MT2-MMP regulates apical junctional signaling and epithelial homeostasis in the intestine. Gómez-Escudero J,* Moreno V,*, Martín-Alonso M, Feinberg T, Hernández de Riquer MV, Colmenar A, Calvo E, Camafeita E, Martínez F, Oudhoff MJ, Weiss SJ, and Arroyo AG. J Cell Sci. 2017 Dec 1;130(23):4013-4027. *Authors with equal contribution.
This work resulted in a Cover picture of the issue, taken by me, of an organoid knockdown for MT2-MMP (MMP15). https://jcs.biologists.org/content/130/23.cover-expansion
- Deficiency of MMP17/MT4-MMP proteolytic activity predisposes to aortic aneurysm in mice. Martín- Alonso M, García-Redondo AB, Guo D, Camafeita E, Martínez F, Alfranca A, Méndez-Barbero N, Pollán Á, Sánchez-Camacho C, Denhardt DT, Seiki M, Vázquez J, Salaices M, Redondo JM, Milewicz D, Arroyo AG. Circ Res. 2015 Jul 3;117(2):e13-26.
Articles on BioRxiv (2023):
- Early-life Intestinal Epithelial Maturation by LSD1 Dictates Local Gut Immune Cell Composition Independently from the Microbiota. Díez-Sánchez, A., Lindholm, HT., Vornewald, PM., Ostrop, J., Parmar, N., Tovah N. Shaw, Martín-Alonso*, M., & Oudhoff, MJ*. 2023. Preprint paper on BioRxiv. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.09.08.556818
2021
-
Chetty, Alisha;
Darby, Matthew;
Vornewald, Pia;
Alonso, Mara Martin;
Filz, Anna;
Ritter, Manuel.
(2021)
Il4ra-independent vaginal eosinophil accumulation following helminth infection exacerbates epithelial ulcerative pathology of HSV-2 infection.
Cell Host and Microbe
Academic article
-
Parmar, Naveen;
Burrows, Kyle;
Vornewald, Pia;
Lindholm, Håvard Takle;
Zwiggelaar, Rosalie Theda Margien;
Sanchez, Alberto Diez.
(2021)
Intestinal-epithelial LSD1 controls goblet cell maturation and effector responses required for gut immunity to bacterial and helminth infection.
PLoS Pathogens
Academic article
-
Alonso, Mara Martin;
Iqbal, Sharif;
Vornewald, Pia;
Lindholm, Håvard Takle;
Damen, Mirjam J.;
Martínez, Fernando.
(2021)
Smooth muscle-specific MMP17 (MT4-MMP) regulates the intestinal stem cell niche and regeneration after damage.
Nature Communications
Academic article
2020
-
Zwiggelaar, Rosalie;
Lindholm, Håvard Takle;
Fosslie, Madeleine Lystad;
Pedersen, Marianne Terndrup;
Ohta, Yuki;
Sanchez, Alberto Diez.
(2020)
LSD1 represses a neonatal/reparative gene program in adult intestinal epithelium.
Science Advances
Academic article
2017
-
Gómez-Escudero, Jesús;
Moreno, Vanessa;
Martin Alonso, Mara;
Hernández-Riquer, M. Victoria;
Feinberg, Tamar;
Colmenar, Ángel.
(2017)
E-cadherin cleavage by MT2-MMP regulates apical junctional
signaling and epithelial homeostasis in the intestine.
Journal of Cell Science
Academic article
Journal publications
-
Chetty, Alisha;
Darby, Matthew;
Vornewald, Pia;
Alonso, Mara Martin;
Filz, Anna;
Ritter, Manuel.
(2021)
Il4ra-independent vaginal eosinophil accumulation following helminth infection exacerbates epithelial ulcerative pathology of HSV-2 infection.
Cell Host and Microbe
Academic article
-
Parmar, Naveen;
Burrows, Kyle;
Vornewald, Pia;
Lindholm, Håvard Takle;
Zwiggelaar, Rosalie Theda Margien;
Sanchez, Alberto Diez.
(2021)
Intestinal-epithelial LSD1 controls goblet cell maturation and effector responses required for gut immunity to bacterial and helminth infection.
PLoS Pathogens
Academic article
-
Alonso, Mara Martin;
Iqbal, Sharif;
Vornewald, Pia;
Lindholm, Håvard Takle;
Damen, Mirjam J.;
Martínez, Fernando.
(2021)
Smooth muscle-specific MMP17 (MT4-MMP) regulates the intestinal stem cell niche and regeneration after damage.
Nature Communications
Academic article
-
Zwiggelaar, Rosalie;
Lindholm, Håvard Takle;
Fosslie, Madeleine Lystad;
Pedersen, Marianne Terndrup;
Ohta, Yuki;
Sanchez, Alberto Diez.
(2020)
LSD1 represses a neonatal/reparative gene program in adult intestinal epithelium.
Science Advances
Academic article
-
Gómez-Escudero, Jesús;
Moreno, Vanessa;
Martin Alonso, Mara;
Hernández-Riquer, M. Victoria;
Feinberg, Tamar;
Colmenar, Ángel.
(2017)
E-cadherin cleavage by MT2-MMP regulates apical junctional
signaling and epithelial homeostasis in the intestine.
Journal of Cell Science
Academic article
Teaching
Courses
MOL3005. Barrier immunity
MOL8009. Barrier tissues immunity, inflammation and regeneration.
Outreach
2019
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PosterOstrop, Jenny; Zwiggelaar, Rosalie; Lindholm, Håvard Takle; Martin Alonso, Mara; Sanchez, Alberto Diez; Nonstad, Unni. (2019) Development of a semi-automated intestinal organoid screening method. Conference on Molecular Mechanisms of Inflammation 2019 2019-06-03 - 2019-06-05
2018
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PosterSporsheim, Bjørnar; Egeberg, Kjartan Wøllo; Martin Alonso, Mara; Ostrop, Jenny; Zwiggelaar, Rosalie; Oudhoff, Menno. (2018) Intestinal diseases studied by imaging. European Light Microscopy Initiative (ELMI) , Dublin 2018-06-05 - 2018-06-08
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PosterMartin Alonso, Mara; Oudhoff, Menno. (2018) Smooth muscle-specific Mmp17 (Mt4-mmp) regulates intestinal inflammatory and regenerative responses. EMBO meeting on Tissue Regeneration 2018-09-15 - 2018-09-19
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Academic lectureMartin Alonso, Mara; Oudhoff, Menno; Garcia Arroyo, Alicia. (2018) Smooth muscle-specific Mmp17 (Mt4-mmp) regulates intestinal inflammatory and regenerative responses. Gordon's Research Conference Stem Cells 2018-08-16 - 2018-08-21
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PosterSporsheim, Bjørnar; Egeberg, Kjartan Wøllo; Martin Alonso, Mara; Ostrop, Jenny; Zwiggelaar, Rosalie; Oudhoff, Menno. (2018) Intestinal diseases studied by imaging. Focus on Microscopy 2018-03-25 - 2018-03-28
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PosterOstrop, Jenny; Martin Alonso, Mara; Zwiggelaar, Rosalie; Nonstad, Unni; Spanjers, Roos; Arrowsmith, Cheryl H. (2018) Development of a semi-automated intestinal organoid screening method. NEUBIAS Network of European Bioimage Analysts Conference , Szeged 2018-01-30 - 2018-02-02
2017
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PosterOstrop, Jenny; Martin Alonso, Mara; Zwiggelaar, Rosalie; Spanjers, Roos; Arrowsmith, Cheryl H; Oudhoff, Menno. (2017) Semi-automated screening of organoid cultures to test effects of potential therapeutics on antimicrobial functions and tissue regeneration in the intestine. German Society for Immunology Annual Meeting of German Society for Immunology , Erlangen 2017-09-12 - 2017-09-15