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SINO-SPAIN Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Conference with NANBIOSIS participation

Last 7 June 2018 took place in Zaragoza, the Sino-Spain Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Conference, as a result of years of cooperation with Chinese institutions, organizad by Zaragoza University  and Aragonese Foundation for Research & Development of Aragon Government (ARAID), to promote initiatives and foster bilateral collaboration in biomedical and pharmaceutical sectors between Spain and China.

The themes of the forum were:

  • Molecular engineering for biomedical products
  • Diagnoses &Design for new devices for medical uses
  • Tissue Engineering and regenerative medicine
  • Pharmacology and nanometerials for medical application
  • Advanced therapies for cancer research

 

Researcher of three units of NANBIOSIS partcipated in the Conference: from U13. Tissue & Scaffold Characterization Unit, Manuel Doblaré and Iñaki Ochoa who gave a talk on  “Organ On Chip: Applications for cancer research”, from  U9. Synthesis of Nanoparticles Unit, Jesús Santamaría, who spoke on “Research on nanomedicine at the Nanostructured films and particles” and from U27. High Performance Computing, Esther Pueyo, who spoke about “Patterns of cardiac aging: Mechanisms and relation to disease” and Laura Ordovas, as moderator.

 

 

 

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Photonic Label-Free Biosensors for Real-Time Analysis of Untreated Clinical and Environmental Samples

The biannual Conference on Bioanalytical Sensors will take place in June 24 – 29 in Newport,  US, with the theme “State-of-the-Art Bioanalytical Sensing Approaches for Healthcare and Therapeutics, Forensics, and Visualization of Living Systems”.

Prof. Laura M. Lechuga, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS  U4. Biodeposition and Biodetection Unit: is giving a Conference on “Photonic label-free biosensors for real-time analysis of untreated clinical and environmental samples”

The focus of this meeting is on the development of new bioanalytical tools that provide highly specific and quantitative molecular data of biological systems leading to real applications to the clinic. Specific topics will include micro- and nanofluidics systems, nanomaterials, in vitro and in vivo sensing and imaging, while also covering instrumental techniques, and real world detection/diagnosis.

Further information and PROGRAM

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NANOLIGENT, the first drug designed to eliminate metastases stem cells

NANBIOSIS researchers have developed a nanomedicine for the treatment of metastases by the selective elimination of tumor stem cells. It is a system based on nanoparticles that transport a chemotherapeutic drug and release it into cancer cells.

The research team, led by Esther Vázquez and Antonio Villaverde, Strategy Director of NANBIOSIS U1. Protein Production Platform (PPP), in the IBB-UAB, and Ramon Mangues, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS U18. Nanotoxicology Unit, in the Sant Pau Hospital, have already created a prototype of the drug and have conducted in vivo trials in animal models of colorectal cancer. They have demonstrated their effectiveness, selective biodistribution and low toxicity.

To promote the development of the drug towards the clinic, the reserachers have created Nanoligent a start-up company, based in Barcelona, led by Manuel Rodríguez, a professional with experience in the field of investment and the creation and growth of biotech companies. The technology is patented in Europe and USA and has been licenced to Nanoligent

The therapy created by the researchers is aimed at blocking the development of metastasis, mainly of colorectal cancer, through new strategies aimed at certain cell types. It consists of a new drug administration system based on protein nanoparticles that selectively conduct the therapeutic agent in tumor cells. The drug acts only on cancer cells, because it is based on the specific interaction between a protein present in the nanoparticle and a cellular receptor (CXCR4), which is overexpressed in tumor cells. “This interaction is crucial, because it allows attacking only tumor cells and not healthy cells, thus avoiding secondary effects derived from classical chemotherapy,” emphasizes Antonio Villaverde.

The CXCR4 receptor is overexpressed in many types of tumors, so that “this technology can be directed to the treatment of different types of neoplasms in addition to colorectal cancer and derived metastases, such as lymphoma, leukemia or endometrial cancer, in animal models already available to the group of Sant Pau “, comments Ramon Mangues. In addition, nanoparticles are compatible with a huge variety of possible drugs and therefore they become highly versatile vehicles that can carry a wide range of therapeutic molecules.

“There is an urgent need for more effective and personalized treatments for cancer. The toxicity and the lack of efficacy of conventional drugs are pushing alternative experimental strategies directed and designed to achieve only defined cell types. Nanoparticles, thanks to their capacity for penetration, dissemination and functionality, offer a promising nanomedical landscape to create new drugs,” explains Esther Vázquez.

“In this direction, the technology of Nanoligent opens a new door in anti-pelagic therapy, as it allows to design a treatment with greater cellular specificity than that of existing treatments, while offering greater biosecurity and biodegradability and lower toxicity,” he said. Antonio Villaverde points out.

Currently, there are no drugs in the market that selectively eliminate metastatic stem cells. Although Nanoligent technology is still under development, researchers say they have a lot of potential and consider that it could have a high clinical impact as regulatory trials are overcome.

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Rey Jaime I Award of New Technologies to Ramón Martínez Mañez

Ramon Martínez Mañez, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS U 26 Biomedical Applications II and Scientific Director of CIBER-BBN, has received the Rey Jaime I Award of New Technologies 2018.

Rey Jaime I Awards are granted (in xis cathegories) to people who stand out in their field of work and who have developed most of their professional activity in Spain. Candidates must be nominated by third parties and must prove their qualities. They are recognized as the most prestigious awards for the activity carried out in Spain. It is one of the best paid prizes in the country. Each of them is endowed with 100 thousand euros and a gold medal. The winners of each category are committed to allocate a part of the prize amount to research and entrepreneurship in Spain.

The jury  of the Jaime I Award for New Technologies (integrated by 18 Nobel prizes) has valued Martínez Mañez “exceptional contributions” in the development of nanosensors with applications in food technology and medicine. Among them, he has indicated the colorimetric labels for the assessment of the freshness of food, the devices for the simple detection of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and the nanostructures of controlled release of active principles against the fruit fly.

In addition, the jury remarked that the “high scientific quality” of his work has been applied in different technological fields with social impact.

Ramón Martínez-Máñez is a university professor, director of the Interuniversity Research Institute for Molecular Recognition and Technological Development (IDM).  He has published a total of 393 articles in different scientific journals and has a very prominent presence in the most significant journals in the field of mustidisciplinary chemistry, such as the Journal of the American Chemical Society or Angewandte Chemie International Edition Nature Communicationsand, having been cited more than 17,000 times (web of Science, 19,874 times in Google Scholar), with an average of more than 42 citations per article, and has an h index of 60 (web of Science, h index of 63 in Google Scholar). Moreover, he has coordinated 99 national and European projects and has achieved “very reliable” sensors for clinical diagnosis, detect changes in the environment and control food quality, with applications in agriculture and nanomedicine.

Currently, his research group is working on the development of nanometric devices with “molecular doors” for the controlled release of drugs. The mesoporous nanoparticles studied are able to retain a charge within their pore system and deliver it when applied a chemical, physical or biochemical stimulus. These particles have been used, for example, for the selective release of cytotoxins for the elimination of cancer cells and bacteria, and also for the release of certain drugs in senescent cells. In addition, the group of Martínez Máñez works in the development of molecular probes for the detection, through changes in color and fluorescence, of elements of environmental and biomedical interest such as drugs, nerve gases, certain types of cells, etc.

Also María Vallet Regí, head of the CIBER-BBN group at the Complutense University of Madrid, has been awarded the Rey Jaime I of Basic Research. Thus, two of the six Awards granted by this institution this year recognize the work of researchers of the CIBER-BBN, partner of NANBIOSIS.

Video by UPVTV
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A dressing with active ingredients to regenerate skin wounds

Elisabeth Engel, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS U5, Rapid Prototyping Unit, is interviewed in “Deuwatts”, a programe of  Btv, devoted to biomedical engineering. Dr. Engel explains how  they have designed a dressing with active substances to regenerate skin wounds and talks about bio-printing for therapeutic models.

Watch it here.

 

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Agreements signed with MINECO for the allocation of FEDER funds for NANBIOSIS ICTS

In the framework of the FEDER Program in ICTS 2014-2020, several projects related to the ICTS NANBIOSIS have been selected by the MINECO for co-financing with FEDER funds of the European Regional Development Funds program.

An agreement has been signed between MINECO and CIBER (partner of NANBIOSIS for the co-financing of the Project: “Purchase, installation and set-up of production and characterization equipment to complement the Units: U3-Synthesis of Peptides Unit, U18-Nanotoxicology and U20- In Vivo Experimental Platform”. The total budget of the project amounts to € 307,566.16, with 50% financing with FEDER Funds.

Also CSIC (The State Agency Superior Council of Scientific Investigations), institution that houses some of the NANBIOSIS units,  as distributed ICTS,  has signed an agreement with MINECO for the co-financing of the Project: “Purchase and installation and set-up of equipment and production and characterization laboratories to complement the units U2-Production of antibodies, U4-Biodeposition and biosensing, U6-Processing of biomaterials and U8-Micro, nanotechnology. The total budget of the project amounts to € 312.800,00 €, with 50% financing with FEDER Funds.

These two projects aim to increase the quantity and quality of the services offered by th implied units, with the objetive of positioning them as national and international benchmark in their respective fields of application. As a consequence, an increase in the performance (number of services and number of users) of each unit is expected, especially from companies (pharmaceutical and small biotechnology).

CSIC and CIBER are processing the necessary contracting procedures for the execution of these projects.

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Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Ameliorates Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in a Rat Skin Free Flap Model

Francisco Miguel Sánchez Margallo, Scientific Director of  CCMIJU and Javier García Casado, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS U14, Cell Therapy Unit, are co-authors of the publication “Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Ameliorates Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in a Rat Skin Free Flap Model”

The study was performed with the participation of the following NANBIOSIS Units: U21-Experimental operating rooms, U22-Animal housing, and U14-Cell Therapy

 

Article of reference: DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1648246

Ballestín A, Casado JG, Abellán E, Vela FJ, Álvarez V, Usón A, Blázquez R, Sánchez-Margallo FM, J Reconstr Microsurg. 2018 May 3.  [Epub ahead of print]

 

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DRIVE Project: Artificial Biopancreas for Type I Diabetics

On Saturday, June 2, in the auditorium of the Artium museum in Vitoria, a meeting was held for patients with diabetes, organized by the group of European researchers of the DRIVE project with the aim of conecting patiens with researchers.

The event was organized by the NanoBioCel research group of the CIBER-BBN and the University of the Basque Country, led by José Luis Pedraz, Scientific Director of   NANBIOSIS Unit 10, Drug Formulation, which participates, through the CIBER BBN and the ICTS Nanbiosis, in the Drive Project  focused on pancreatic  cell transplantation  and the development of biomaterials and new surgical devices that improve the transplantation and survival of insulin-producing pancreatic islets for the treatment of diabetes.

Dr. Pedraz explained for EIBT.eus Radio euskadi the aim of the DRIVE project: the transplantation of the cells of the pancreas, which consists of isolating the insulin-producing cells from a donor’s pancreas and implanting them in the patient with daibetes type I, not directly, but introduced into an artificial bio-pancreas by minimal invasive surgery . “Nowadays– explains Dr. Pedraz- obtaining pancreatic cells from stem cells or IPS cells is a not yet controlled process but it is an alternative source of insulin-producing cells. In the DRIVE project the most priority objective is to take the donor cells and introduce them into a device that will allow the patient to produce and release insulin in a more physiological way. In a second phase, it is intended to use differentiated insulin producing cells from the patient’s own cells, thus alleviating the shortage of  donors”.

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Effect of Surface Chemistry and Associated Protein Corona on the Long-Term Biodegradation of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles In Vivo

The results of the research carried out by Scientists of U12. Nanostructured liquid characterization unit, and CIBER-BNN, have been published in an article by ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces:

DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b18648

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Relevant research results for assisted reproduction.

Javier García Casado, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS Unit 14: Cell therapy toguether with other Scientists of NANBIOSIS and CCMIJU have issued the first report describing the beneficial effect of human EV-endMSCs on embryo development, which has been recently published by PloS One: “Murine embryos exposed to human endometrial MSCs-derived extracellular vesicles exhibit higher VEGF/PDGF AA release, increased blastomere count and hatching rates“.  The results could be relevant for assisted reproduction:

“Endometrial Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (endMSCs) are multipotent cells with immunomodulatory and pro-regenerative activity which is mainly mediated by a paracrine effect. The exosomes released by MSCs have become a promising therapeutic tool for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases. More specifically, extracellular vesicles derived from endMSCs (EV-endMSCs) have demonstrated a cardioprotective effect through the release of anti-apoptotic and pro-angiogenic factors. Here we hypothesize that EV-endMSCs may be used as a co-adjuvant to improve in vitro fertilization outcomes and embryo quality. Firstly, endMSCs and EV-endMSCs were isolated and phenotypically characterized for in vitro assays. Then, in vitro studies were performed on murine embryos co-cultured with EV-endMSCs at different concentrations. Our results firstly demonstrated a significant increase on the total blastomere count of expanded murine blastocysts. Moreover, EV-endMSCs triggered the release of pro-angiogenic molecules from embryos demonstrating an EV-endMSCs concentration-dependent increase of VEGF and PDGF-AA. The release of VEGF and PDGF-AA by the embryos may indicate that the beneficial effect of EV-endMSCs could be mediating not only an increase in the blastocyst’s total cell number, but also may promote endometrial angiogenesis, vascularization, differentiation and tissue remodeling”.

Soluble factors were analyzed by the ICTS Nanbiosis (Unit 14. Cell therapy at CCMIJU). Maintenance of animals was performed by the ICTS Nanbiosis (Unit 22. Animal housing at CCMIJU). In vivo embryo recovery and culture was performed by the ICTS Nanbiosis (Unit 23. Assisted Reproduction at CCMIJU)

Article of reference:

Blázquez R, Sánchez-Margallo FM, Álvarez V, Matilla E, Hernández N, Marinaro F, Gómez-Serrano M, Jorge I, Casado JG, Macías-García B. “Murine embryos exposed to human endometrial MSCs-derived extracellular vesicles exhibit higher VEGF/PDGF AA release, increased blastomere count and hatching rates”. PLoS One (2018-04; vol. 13(4))

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196080

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