Raquel Espin Palazon

RESEARCH & MENTORING

Our goal is to improve human health by identifying targets and novel therapies that will advance regenerative medicine to treat blood disorders such as myelodysplasia and leukemia.

For that end, our team is working on deciphering the cellular and molecular mechanisms that lead to blood formation. These are the same mechanisms that are disrupted in blood disorders, therefore a better understanding of the basic biological mechanisms that operate naturally in the vertebrate organism will translate to the improvement of blood disorders.

We utilize the zebrafish (Danio rerio) as animal vertebrate model to study how blood is created during embryo development in vivo. This unique model provides the entire context of an organism, that allows for blood formation deciphering. Once understood, in vitro experiments with human cells in combination with bioinformatics tools and single cell biology are utilized for the translation of the findings to human health.

Collaboration among disciplines and a collegial work environment are our strengths to make an impact for humanity.

Furthermore, we are committed to contribute to Iowa State University focus on providing excellent Biology education, facilitating an outstanding environment of training and support to the next generation of brilliant scientists.

PUBLICATIONS

Abbigail McCune, Inga Baldus, Masuma Khatun Usha, CJ Willet, Noemi Ferrito, Radwa Barakat, Fang Liu, Emilee Clemensen, Elizabeth Snella, Mark Morton, Maura McGrail, Jesus Lacal, Giulia Pavani, Clyde A Campbell and Raquel Espin-Palazon. Synergistic cooperation between Progranulin and Jak2/Stat3 signaling determines definitive myeloid cell fate. Cell Reports. In Press.

Ning-Chieh Twu, Yee Chuen Teoh, Curwen Pei Hong Tan, Xiaoyi Cheng, Raquel Espin-Palazon, Luis Giménez-Lirola, Ratul Chowdhury, Rahul K. Nelli. Mapping Influenza and Coronavirus Receptors in Beef Cattle Epithelium: Insights from Innovative PixF Image Analysis. Scientific Reports. 2025. Sci Rep 15, 44029 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-28429-0

Wellington R, Cheng X, Dutta S, Campbell C, Trapnell C, Espin-Palazon R, Hadland B, Doulatov S. Developmental regulation of endothelial-to-hematopoietic transition from induced pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cell Reports. Sep 2025, 1026412025. DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2025.102641.

Clyde A. Campbell, Rodolfo Calderon, Giulia Pavani, Xiaoyi Cheng, Radwa Barakat, Elizabeth Snella, Fang Liu, Xiyu Peng, Jeffrey J. Essner, Karin S. Dorman, Maura McGrail, Paul Gadue, Deborah L. French and Raquel Espin-Palazon. p65 signaling dynamics drive the developmental progression of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells through cell cycle regulation. Nature Communications. 2024. Sep 6;15(1):7787. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-51922-5. PMID: 39242546 PMCID: PMC11379711

Cheng X, Barakat R, Pavani G, Usha M K, Calderon R, Snella E, Gorden A, Zhang Y, Gadue P, French D, Dorman K, Fidanza A, Campbell C and Espín-Palazón R. Nod1-dependent NF-kB activation initiates hematopoietic stem cell specification in response to small Rho GTPases. Nature Communications. 2023. Nov 23;14(1):7668. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43349-1. PMID: 37996457; PMCID: PMC10667254

Barakat R, Campbell C, Espín-Palazón R. Identification of Transcription Factor Binding Sites by Cleavage Under Target and Release Using Nuclease in Zebrafish. Zebrafish. 2022. 19(3):104-108. DOI: 10.1089/zeb.2021.0082. PMID: 35704898 PMCID: PMC9246268 

Campbell C., Fursova O, Cheng X, Snella E, McCune A, Li L, Solchenberger B, Schmid B, Sahoo D, Morton M, Traver D, and Espín-Palazón R. A zebrafish model of granulin deficiency reveals essential roles in myeloid cell differentiation. Blood Advances. 2021. Feb 9;5(3):796-811. DOI: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2020003096. PMCID: PMC7876888.

Espín-Palazón R, Weijts B., Mulero V., Traver D. Proinflammatory Signals as Fuel for the Fire of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Emergence. Review article. Trends Cell Biol. 2018 Sep 4. pii: S0962-8924(17)30140-X. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2017.08.003. PMID: 28882414.

van der Vaart M, Svoboda O, Weijts BG, Espín-Palazón R, Sapp V, Pietri T, Bagnat M, Muotri AR, Traver D. Mecp2 regulates tnfa during zebrafish embryonic development and acute inflammation. Dis Model Mech. 2017. Oct 9. pii: dmm.026922. doi: 10.1242/dmm.026922. PMID: 28993314.

Espín-Palazón R*, Martínez-López A.*, Roca F. J., López-Muñoz A., Falco A., Meseguer J., Estepa A., Mulero V. TNF impairs rhabdoviral clearance by inhibiting the host autophagic antiviral response. Plos Pathogens. 2016. PMID: 27351838.

Espín-Palazón R, Traver D. The NF-κB family: Key players during embryonic development and HSC emergence. Review article. Experimental hematology. 2016. PMID: 27132652.

Grainger, S.*, Richter, J.*, Espín-Palazón, R, Pouget, C., Lonquich, B., Wirth, S., Grassme, K.S., Herzog, W., Swift, M.R., Weinstein, B.M., Traver, D. and Willert, K., Wnt9a is required for the aortic amplification of nascent hematopoietic stem cells. Cell Rep. 2016. 17(6):1595-1606. PMID:27806298

Butko E., Distel M., Pouget C., Weijts B., Kobayashi I., Ng K., Mosimann C., Poulain F. B., McPherson A., Ni C-W, Stachura D. L., Del Cid N., Espín-Palazón R, Lawson N. D., Dorsky R., Clements W. K., and Traver D. Gata2b is a restricted early regulator of hemogenic endothelium in the zebrafish embryo. Development. 2015. PMID: 25758220.

Candel S., Sepulcre M. P., Espín-Palazón R., Tyrkalska S. D., de Oliveira S., Meseguer J., Mulero V. Md1 and Rp105 regulate innate immunity and viral resistance in zebrafish. Developmental & Comparative Immunology.2015. PMID: 25681741.

Candel S*, De Oliveira S*, López-Muñoz A, García-Moreno D, Espín-Palazón R, Tyrkalska SD, Cayuela ML, Renshaw SA, Corbalán-Vélez R, Vidal-Abarca I, Tsai HJ, Meseguer J, Sepulcre MP, Mulero V. Tnfa signaling through Tnfr2 protects skin against oxidative stress-induced inflammation. PLoS Biology. 2014. PMID: 24802997.

Espín-Palazón R, Stachura DL, Campbell CA, García-Moreno D, Del Cid N, Kim AD, Candel S, Meseguer J, Mulero V, Traver D. Proinflammatory signaling regulates hematopoietic stem cell emergence. Cell.2014. PMID: 25416946.

Stachura DL*, Svoboda O*, Campbell C, Espín-Palazón R, Lau RP, Zon LI, Bartunek P, Traver D. The zebrafish granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (Gcsfs): 2 paralogous cytokines and their roles in hematopoietic development and maintenance. Blood. 2013. PMID: 24128862.

Espín-Palazón R*, Roca F J*, Candel S, Sepulcre M P, González-Rosa J M, Alcaraz-Pérez F, Meseguer J, Cayuela M L, Mercader N, Mulero V. Tumour necrosis factor receptors regulate endothelial cell survival and vascular homeostasis through a caspase-8, caspase-2 and P53 apoptotic program that bypasses caspase-3. Disease Models and Mechanisms. 2013. PMID: 22956347.