Description of Hosting Institution (UJA – Spain)

Jaén University (UJA) was created in 1993 and is in the Top 50 of the world’s best young universities according to THE (Times Higher Education). This ranking analyzes aspects such as teaching, research work, the university’s international outreach, or integration into industry. Besides, the UJA has received the distinction of Campus of International Excellence in the fields of Agrifood (CEIA3) and Climate Change (CamBio), plus it also leads the Andalusian CEI project on historical heritage PatrimoniUN10.

Jaén University has five faculties (Social and Legal Sciences; Humanities and Education Sciences; Health Sciences; Experimental Sciences and Social Work) and two higher polytechnic schools for engineering (Linares and Jaén). In turn, these centers are organized into 35 departments. It also has three Postgraduate educational centers (Doctorate School, Advanced Study Center in Modern Languages and Postgraduate Study Center).

In regards to its research, there are several specialized centers at Jaén University (https://www.ujaen.es/servicios/ofipi/uja-ri-expertise). Besides, the full picture of the over 100 UJA groups covers the following research fields of expertise: Agrifood (AGR); Biology (BIO); Health (CTS); Social Sciences, Business, Law (SEJ); Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics (FQM); Humanities (HUM); Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (RNM); Information and Communications Technology (TIC); and Engineering Production Technology (TEP).

As far this hosting offer is concerned, Prof. JUAN PERAGÓN SÁNCHEZ would be willing to host post-doctoral researchers that are eventually funded through the MSCA-IF 2021 call for applications to be part of the following UJA research team: https://www.ujaen.es/servicios/ofipi/uja-ri-expertise/bio-341-enzymes-and-metabolism

Project description

The biochemistry of olive tree and their bioactive compounds. Traditional olive tree grow is the main economical, agriculture and environmental activity of Jaén and other provinces of the south of Spain. Recently, this activity is under important risks that compromise their sustainability, between them the low price of their products (olive oil and olive table), the changing climatic conditions (water or cold stress) and the high production costs. Nevertheless, moreover to other important considerations, olive oils and table olive are excellent quality and safe foods. In our research group at the University of Jaén we focus on researching the presence of bioactive compounds, such as phenols and pentacyclic triterpenoids in fruits, leaves, stem and roots along the olive ripening process, the adaptation to cold and water stress, herbicides or other phytosanitary applications. The knowledge obtained from our work has the essential purpose of adapting the traditional growh to the new circunstances raising the value of their products and sub-products.

Moreover, pentacyclic triterpenes and phenols are two types of bioactive molecules that have important activities related to health and disease prevention. Triterpenes, including oleanolic acid, maslinic acid, erythrodiol and uvaol, show antitumoral activities, and phenols such as oleuropein, tyrosol, and hydroxytyrosol are natural antioxidants. The anti-tumoural capacity is one of the most important biological activity of pentacyclic triterpenes. In our last works we found that erythrodiol and uvaol showed the highest selective antiproliferative capacity in hepatocarcinome cell lines. The second aim of the present project is to determine the effects at cellular levels of the erythrodiol and uvaol on hepatocarcinome cell lines. In concret, to elucidate the cell protein targets and their influence on the RNAm and microRNA expression pattern. Olive oil and olive fruits are two foods highly considered by its healthy properties. The high content of triterpenic and phenolics compounds is one element that contributes to their high quality. The results of this plan should stimulate the consumption of these healthy foods and to go deep in the knowledge of its good utilities. To obtain the articles published by the group, click on: http://www4.ujaen.es/~jperagon/publicaciones.htm. 

Pre-application procedure

Interested applicants (PhD holders) should send their CV, Motivation letter and Summary of project proposal (250 words) to the UJA potential proposal supervisor (jperagon@ujaen.es) by the hosting offer deadline. Please, take into account that only candidates that meet the MSCA-IF 2021 application requirements according to the Funding & Tenders Portal (such as the so-called ‘mobility rule’) will be considered for proposal supervision.