Francisco Javier Rojo Marcos

Group: Glycosystem Laboratory

Position: CSIC Research Professor

Contact

Tel. ext: 446209

Laboratory: L S006

Office: D S010

Email:

ORCID: 0000 0003 3173 3437

Biography

Francisco Javier Rojo received a BSc in Organic Chemistry in 1989 at the Autónoma University (UAM), Madrid (Spain). Then, he was embarked in the doctoral program to obtain a PhD degree under the supervision of Prof. Juan Carlos Carretero at UAM in 1995. He was a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn at the University Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg (France) (1995-1998) and with Prof. Larry W. McLaughlin at Boston College in USA (1998-1999). In January 2000, he joined the Carbohydrate Group at the Institute of Chemical Research of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Seville as an associate researcher. In 2001 he was awarded a “Ramón y Cajal” contract and in 2004 he got a permanent position at the CSIC in Seville as Tenured Scientist. In 2011 he was promoted to Senior Research Scientist and in 2023 to Research Professor.

Also, he is professor of the Doctoral Program in Chemistry (Line 5: Chemistry of biomolecules and macromolecules) at the University of Seville (https://institucional.us.es/pdquimica/en/research-lines-and-faculty-members/). Since April 2012 to Nov 2017, Javier Rojo was the National Coordinator of Science and Chemical Technology Area of the National Research Council (CSIC). Since February 2018 to July 2022, he was the Director of the cicCartuja Centre.

Research interests

Throughout his career, Dr. Rojo has focused his research on developing synthetic tools to better understand the molecular recognition processes in which carbohydrates are involved, with the aim of designing molecules capable of interfering with these processes. In particular, his group has developed highly efficient convergent synthetic strategies for the preparation of complex oligosaccharides, fluorinated glycomimetics, and systems conjugated with lanthanide-shifting agents.

In addition, he has undertaken the design of multivalent carbohydrate systems using a wide variety of platforms, including dendrimers, nanoparticles, carbon nanostructures, nanogels, and proteins, among others. These systems have enabled in-depth molecular-level studies—using various experimental techniques such as NMR, SPR, ITC, etc., to elucidate the role of carbohydrates in molecular recognition processes involved in key biological events, both physiological and pathological, including infection processes and immune response modulation.

Furthermore, this line of research has led to the development of hybrid systems combining carbohydrates with immunogenic peptides for presentation to specialized immune cells, with the goal of modulating the immune response. These systems have been applied to the design and development of synthetic vaccines targeting allergic processes.

Selected publications

• A. Muñoz, D. Sigwalt, B.M. Illescas, J. Luczkowiak, L. Rodríguez, I. Nierengarten, M. Holler, J.-S. Remy, K. Buffet, S.P. Vincent, J. Rojo, R. Delgado, J.-F. Nierengarten, N. Martín. Synthesis of giant globular multivalent glycofullerenes as potent inhibitors in a model of Ebola virus infection. Nature Chem. 2016, 8, 50-57. DOI: 10.1038/nchem.2387 
• J. Ramos-Soriano, J.J. Reina, B.M. Illescas, N. de la Cruz, L. Rodríguez-Pérez, F. Lasala, J. Rojo, R. Delgado, N. Martín. Synthesis of highly efficient multivalent disaccharide/[60]fullerene nanoballs for emergent viruses. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2019, 141, 15403-15412. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b08003
• J. Losada Méndez, F. Palomares, F. Gómez, P. Ramírez-López, J. Ramos-Soriano, M.J. Torres, Cristobalina Mayorga, J. Rojo. The immunomodulatory response of Toll-like receptor ligand-peptide conjugates in food allergy. ACS Chem. Biol. 2021, 16, 2651-2664. DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.1c00765 
• A. Silva-Díaz, J. Ramírez-Cárdenas, J.C. Muñoz-García, M.C. de la Fuente, M. Thépaut, F. Fieschi, J. Ramos-Soriano, J. Angulo, and J. Rojo, Fluorinated Man9 as a high mannose mimetic to unravel its recognition by DC-SIGN using NMR. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2023, 145, 26009−26015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.3c06204
• C. Pérez-Alonso, F. Lasala, L. Rodríguez-Pérez, R. Delgado, J. Rojo, J. Ramos-Soriano. Glycan-silica nanoparticles as effective inhibitors for blocking virus infection. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2025 17, 10292-10304. DOI: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.4c15918