The existence of in vivo neuroimaging methods has been indispensable for early diagnosis, in monitoring disease progression and therapy of a wide range of brain cerebrovascular diseases. The inflammatory response is a major factor in neurovascular pathophysiology and contributes to secondary ischemic damage in both acute and chronic stages of the ischemic injury. Recent work in experimental cerebral ischemia has demonstrated the involvement of neurotransmitter signaling in the modulation of neuroinflammation, providing evidence of the role of neurotransmission receptors as promising inflammatory biomarkers in neurovascular research that can contribute to accelerate the development of novel therapies for stroke (Theranostics. 2016 Jul 9;6(11):1753-67; Glia. 2018 Aug;66(8):1611-1624; Theranostics. 2021 Jan 1;11(1):410-425).

Therefore, our main goal is to evaluate the therapeutic potential and diagnostic perspectives of cholinergic and purinergic receptors in experimental stroke using non-invasive molecular imaging technologies. Besides, we are also interested in to visualize and quantify biological processes under conditions of normo and hyperglycemia (i) during acute phase of ischemic stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage and arteriovenous malformations as metalloproteinase activity, oxidative stress, brain perfusion and cell death at the cellular/molecular level and (ii) affecting sub-acute phases as blood brain barrier permeability, inflammation, lipid biogenesis, angiogenesis and brain function recovery.

Finally, we use nanotechnology approaches to improve both diagnosis and therapy of ischemic stroke. This research line deals with the application of novel (i) ¹⁹F nanoparticles for a better diagnosis and treatment of blood brain barrier disruption, (ii) photon-activable functionalized metal nanoparticles to activate ischemic neurons from the ischemic penumbra and (iii) non-viral gene therapy to improve angiogenesis following ischemic stroke.