News

CSIC publishes a report that summarizes the scientific knowledge on Covid-19 and the research projects

The Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) has prepared a report that summarizes the most relevant scientific results on the Covid-19 pandemic. The document compiles results of international research and projects in execution of the 300 research groups of the CSIC Global Health Platform.

The report, entitled “A global vision of the Covid-19 pandemic: What we know and what we are investigating from CSIC“, is structured in five blocks: prevention, disease, containment and diagnosis, treatment and vaccines, and global impact.

Researchers of NANBIOSIS-ICTS units and CIBER-BBN at CSIC Centres participate in the researches carryed out and in the report.

This report is a continuously updated document whose versions will be published by CSIC

Source and further information: https://www.csic.es/en/node/1257181

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NANBIOSIS U4 expands its capabilities with a upgrades

NANBIOSIS, U4 Biodeposition and Biodetection Unit has expanded its capabilities with two upgrades:

Upgrade of UV / Ozone cleaner for NanoeNabler and

Upgrade of the optics and the microfluidic components of the Biodetection Unit (SPR biosensor)

This upgrade and new equipment have been confinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Plurirregional Operational Program of Spain (POPE)2014-2020

Upgrade of UV / Ozone cleaner for NanoeNabler

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The ATTRACT Online Conference open for registration

The on line Conference ATTRACT – Igniting the Deep Tech Revolution will take pace on 22-23 Sep 2020. The ATTRACT Online Conference website is now live! Please register before 28 August at https://attract-eu-conference.cern.b2match.io/

The ATTRACT Conference offers multiple opportunities to understand the dynamics and contribute to the emergence of a strong European deep tech ecosystem for detection and imaging technologies. The ATTRACT Project is an EC funded initiative led by a consortium of leading European research infrastructures and universities.

CIBERBBN and Nanbiosis are involved in MAGRes : Multiparametric MR approaches for non-invasive glioblastoma therapy response follow-up, one of the 170 projects using sensing and imaging technology
to enable breakthrough innovation funded by ATTRACT and headed by Ana Paula Candiota, Scientific Coordinator of NANBIOSIS U25 NMR: Biomedical Applications I

MAGRes Project:

Glioblastoma (GB) is the major aggressive primary brain tumour in adults showing disproportion between high mortality compared to low overall incidence. Survival after detection is below 18 months even after standard aggressive treatment and no cure has been reported. Novel therapies (e.g. immunotherapy) may be very expensive and it may be relevant to have in vivo, early efficiency, non-invasive imaging biomarkers (IB) to halt unsuccessful use of such therapeutic agents and allowing early evidence-based therapy-related decisions.

Researchers involved in Magret project believes that Magnetic Resonance (MR)-derived data (MRI, MRSI, i.e. imaging, spectroscopic imaging) can be translated into IB of successful GB therapy through in vivo monitoring.

MAGRes proposes a breakthrough innovative hashtag combining MRI and MRSI data acquisition. MRSI data will be used as decoding agent to translate MR-derived information into surrogate IB of successful therapeutic outcome, which definitely represents a step beyond in comparison with present follow-up therapy response strategies based in volume changes of the tumour mass.

The extremely large amount of multi-parametric data acquired for each preclinical subject (mice), longitudinal explorations with several acquisitions will allow us to benefit from powerful state-of-the-art multiparametric data analysis methods based on Deep-Learning (DL). This, together with feature selection and interpretation methods will lead to extraction of MR- based significant IB.

At present, there is no software approach allowing both fast, user-friendly post-processing of conventional MRI and MRSI, and encompassing sophisticated developments in the area of pattern recognition (PR), automated MRSI artifact removal, as well as the weighted combination of multi-parametric images.

Accordingly, MAGRes targets the development and implementation of user-friendly software with capabilities to compute 2D and 3D MR-derived parametric images and to visualise them overlaid on high resolution MR structural images. Moreover, this will be implemented in an open-source software imaging platform as a plugin, paving the way to a scalable system, which could also handle clinical patient data in the immediate future.

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The University of Zaragoza, in the elite of the 500 best universities in the world

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), known as
Shanghai Ranking, which was made public on August 15, once again places the University of Zaragoza among the elite of the 500 best universities in the world.

This indicator organizes up to 20,000 university centers worldwide. Among the keys that have been able to positively influence the results of the research, according to the Vice Chancellor for Prospect, Sustainability and Infrastructure of the University of Zaragoza, Francisco Serón, are the increase in public campus funding for four years as well as the quality of their Scientists.

The University of Zaragoza houses three of NANBIOSIS Units:

U9 Synthesis of Nanoparticles Unit, led by Jesús Santamaría and Gema Martínez

U13 Tissue & Scaffold Characterization Unit, led by Miguel Ángel Martínez Barca and Fany Peña

U27 High Performance Computing , led by Pablo Laguna

Since 2003, every August, the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), known as “Shanghai Ranking,” is published, one of the international reference studies to compare higher education institutions. The ranking selects the 1,000 best educational institutions from a global point of view, among the 20,000 higher education centers that exist.

It is possibly the most famous and most recognized university analysis that values the quality of institutions in the generation of knowledge. The research community respects the results of these rankings because they are based on objective data and their classification is reproducible.

Source:
https://www.aragondigital.es/2019/08/15/la-uz-en-la-elite-de-las-500-mejores-universidades-del-mundo-segun-el-ranking-de-shanghai/

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The Autonomous University of Barcelona, in the elite of the 300 best universities in the world

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), known as Shanghai Ranking, which was made public on August 15, places the Autonomous University of Barcelona among the elite of the 300 best universities in the world and the first of the Spanish universities.

This indicator organizes up to 20,000 university centers worldwide,
based on transparent methodology and objective third-party data. ARWU is regarded as one of the three most influential and widely observed university rankings

The Autonomous University of Barcelona houses two of NANBIOSIS Units:

U1 Protein Production Platform (PPP), led by Toni Villaverde, Neus Ferrer and Paolo Saccardo, offer an “tailored” service for the design, production and purification of recombinant proteins using both prokaryotic and eukaryotic expression systems

U25 NMR: Biomedical Applications I, led by Carles Arús and Ana Paula Candiota, with a recognized research track record in the use of NMR as a tool for biomedical applications, and more especifically to identify biomarkers of different pathologies, the main objective of this unit is the acquisition, processing and/or interpretation of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance data

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NANBIOSIS U2 expands its capabilities with a two new equpipments

The U2 of NANBIOSIS, Custom Antibody Service (CAbS) has expanded its capabilities with two new equipment items an Automated microdispensing system for microarray technology and a Nitrogen Tank Cryomemo.

The Automated microdispensing system for microarray technology is a sciFLEXARRAYER S3 is an automated piezo driven, non-contact dispensing system of ultra-low volumes specifically designed as an economical entry unit for academia and R&D labs. It consists of XYZ-stages with spindle drives, a piezo dispensing unit and precision equipment for liquid handling. The system handles volumes from 50 picoliters up to several microliters. The S3 is suitable for the production DNA, protein, glycan microarrays and biosensor loading, MALDI-MS sample preparation and target loading, accurate dilution series and addition of tiny aliquots, printing chemical libraries, spotting onto disc format (round targets) and customized targets, assay development and screening assays, microarray-based analysis

The Nitrogen Tank Cryomemo(Cryopal): the Cryomemo device is an electronic kit consisting of level and temperature indicators, and acontrol and configuration interface. It is used to control and regulate the nitrogen levels and temperature of cryogenic tanks (GT 40, Asperge, Espace and RCB) using sernsorand solenoid valves that control nitrogen intake andblowdown. It is also used to manage alarms.

This equipment have been confinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Plurirregional Operational Program of Spain (POPE)2014-2020

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The Immunomodulatory Signature of Extracellular Vesicles From Cardiosphere-Derived Cells: A Proteomic and miRNA Profiling

Researcher of CCMIJU published an article in the scientific journal FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY with the participation of NANBIOSIS Unit 14 of Cell Stem Cell
Therapy where culture and in vitro studies were
performed,

The researchers have shown that the regenerative potential and immunomodulatory capacity of cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) is mediated by paracrine mechanisms. In this process, extracellular vesicles derived from CDCs (EV-CDCs) are key mediators of their therapeutic effect. Considering the future applicability of these vesicles in human diseases, an accurate preclinical-to-clinical translation is needed, as well as an exhaustive molecular characterization of animal-derived therapeutic products. Based on that, the main goal of this study was to perform a comprehensive characterization of proteins and miRNAs in extracellular vesicles from porcine CDCs as a clinically relevant animal model.

The analysis was performed by identification and quantification of proteins and miRNA expression profiles. The results revealed the presence of clusters of immune-related and cardiac-related molecular biomarkers in EV-CDCs. Additionally, considering that priming stem cells with inflammatory stimuli may increase the therapeutic potential of released vesicles, here we studied the dynamic changes that occur in the extracellular vesicles from IFN gamma-primed CDCs. These analyses detected statistically significant changes in several miRNAs and proteins. Notably, the increase in interleukin 6 (IL6) protein, as well as the increase in mir-125b (that targets IL6 receptor) was especially relevant. These results suggest a potential involvement of EV-CDCs in the regulation of the IL6/IL6R axis, with implications in inflammatory-mediated diseases.

Article of reference: DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2020.00321

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A Study of Fluid Dynamics and Chemical Parameters

Researchers of NANBIOSIS -ICTS U9, Synthesis of Nanoparticles Unit, from CIBER-BBN andAragon Institute of Nanoscience (INA), have published an interesting study on the Scientific Jounal Materials of Fluid Dynamics and Chemical Parameters.

The objective of the the work was to produce gastroresistant Eudragit (R) RS100 nanoparticles by a reproducible synthesis approach that ensured mono-disperse nanoparticles under the size of 100 nm. Batch and micromixing nanoprecipitation approaches were selected to produce the demanded nanoparticles, identifying the critical parameters affecting the synthesis process. To shed some light on the formulation of the targeted nanoparticles, the effects of particle size and homogeneity of fluid dynamics, and physicochemical parameters such as polymer concentration, type of solvent, ratio of solvent to antisolvent, and total flow rate were studied. The physicochemical characteristics of resulting nanoparticles were studied applying dynamic light scattering (DLS) particle size analysis and electron microscopy imaging. Nanoparticles produced using a micromixer demonstrated a narrower and more homogenous distribution than the ones obtained under similar conditions in conventional batch reactors. Besides, fluid dynamics ensured that the best mixing conditions were achieved at the highest flow rate. It was concluded that nucleation and growth events must also be considered to avoid uncontrolled nanoparticle growth and evolution at the collection vial. Further, rifampicin-encapsulated nanoparticles were prepared using both approaches, demonstrating that the micromixing-assisted approach provided an excellent control of the particle size and polydispersity index. Not only the micromixing-assisted nanoprecipitation promoted a remarkable control in the nanoparticle formulation, but also it enhanced drug encapsulation efficiency and loading, as well as productivity. To the best of our knowledge, this was the very first time that drug-loaded Eudragit (R) RS100 nanoparticles (NPs) were produced in a continuous fashion under 100 nm (16.5 +/- 4.3 nm) using microreactor technology. Furthermore, we performed a detailed analysis of the influence of various fluid dynamics and physicochemical parameters on the size and uniformity of the resulting nanoparticles.

According to these findings, the proposed methodology can be a useful approach to synthesize a myriad of nanoparticles of alternative polymers.

Article of reference: DOI 10.3390/ma13132925

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Innovation Radar “Great EU-funded Innovations”

The Innovation Radar Platform is a European Commission initiative to identify high potential innovations and innovators in EU-funded research and innovation framework programmes based on their market readiness.

Researchers of NANBIOSIS U8 Micro– Nano Technology Unit, led by Rosa Villa, contribute to the @InnoRadarEU with two innovations related to their research on graphene-based neuroprobes:

Flexible neural probes for monitoring infraslow brain activity

This innovation was developed under the Horizon 2020 project GrapheneCore2 by CONSORCIO CENTRO DE INVESTIGACION BIOMEDICA EN RED (CIBER), FUNDACIO INSTITUT CATALA DE NANOCIENCIA I NANOTECNOLOGIA (ICN2) and AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DEINVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS (CSIC)

Multiplexed Neurosensor Arrays based on GrapheneFETs and MOS2

This innovation was developed under the Horizon 2020 project BrainCom to generate a High-density cortical implants for cognitive neuroscience and rehabilitation of speech using brain-computer interfaces.

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II Conference on Nanotoxicity, organised by Nanomed Spain, NANBIOSIS and Materplat, Sept. 22

NANBIOSIS is organizing an on-line Conference on Nanotoxicity in collaboration with Nanomed Spain and Materplat, next September 22, to debate about the efect of nanotoxicity of nanoparticles and nanotechnologies in health.

Nanotechnology, a science involved in the design, production, and use of structures and objects that have at least one of their dimensions on the scale of 100 nanometers or less, is enabling progress to be made in various areas with far-reaching repercussions. scope for society. Currently, there are several areas in which nanotechnology is under development or even in the practical application phase.

However, manufactured nanoparticles can have very different properties and effects than those of the same materials in conventional sizes, which can pose new risks to human and other species’ health. Some nanoparticles, which are used as a vehicle for the drugs to reach the desired cells in greater quantity, to reduce the side effects of the drug in other organs or for both, have the same dimensions as certain biological molecules and can interact with them.

The increase in potential health risks has created a new discipline, nanotoxicity, that is, the study of toxicity produced by the effect of nanoparticles and nanomaterials. The objective of this conference, co-organized by the advanced materials and nanomaterials platform (MATERPLAT), NANBIOSIS ICTS and the nanomedicine platform (Nanomed Spain), is to learn more about the lines that are being followed in research in the area of nanotoxicity, the progress of different projects in this field, as well as existing tools to understand and reduce the toxicity of nanoparticles and nanomaterials.

The event will count with the expertise of Marisa Gonzalez, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS U16 Surface Characterization and Calorimetry Unit, speaking about Surface characterization of micro and nanoplastics among other experts.

The assistance is free but it is necessary to register. For further information, agenda and registration click here

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