News U6

Validation of a drug for foot ulcers in collaboration with Cuba

Nanomol, (Unit 6 of NANBIOSIS) has announced in Cuba that the process of clinical validation of a new drug developed and patented in collaboration with Center of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology of Cuba, integrated in BioCubaFarma, has been initiated. The new drug is designed to improve the healing of foot ulcer in diabetics and could be on the market in five years.

The collaboration of the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology of Cuba with Nanomol, coordinating group of Unit 6 of NANBIOSIS, began in 2010. Cuban researchers had developed an effective product in wound healing in diabetics but the product had to be Administered with injections in the affected area. Nanomol obtained a nanoformulation with which it is possible to integrate the protein in a nanovesícula, so that the active principle of its degradation is protected once it is applied in the wound and, in addition, is obtained that the protein is released of suitable form. The results of the work have resulted in a patent and currently the process of validation and scaling of pharmaceutical production is being carried out to bring the product to market.

U6 of NANBIOSIS has played an important role in the development of this potential nanomedicine since it enabled a detailed characterization of several physico-chemical properties of the multifunctional nanovesicles used to construct it.

Validation of a drug for foot ulcers in collaboration with Cuba

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Lipid-based Nanovesicles for Nanomedicine

Jaume Veciana and Nora Ventosa, Scientific Directors of Unit 6 of NANBIOSIS together with other researchers from NANOMOL group, coordinator of Unit 6 of NANBIOSIS, has recently published an interesting review article in the journal Chemical Society Reviews.

This review presents the large plethora of lipid-based nanovescicles available nowadays, focusing on a new generation of non-liposomal L-NVs and showing their similarities and differences with respect to their ancestors (liposomes). Since the overspread of a nanomaterial to the market is also strongly dependent on the availability of technological-scale preparation methods, it also extensively review the current approaches exploited for L-NV production. The most cutting-edge approaches for their preparation based on compressed fluid (CF) technologies is highlighted since they show the potential to represent a game-change in the production of L-NVs, favoring their step from the bench to the market. Finally, this review briefly discusses L-NV applications in nanomedicine looking also for their future perspectives.

Article of reference: N.Grimaldi, F. da Silva, N.V. Segovia, L. Ferrer-Tasies, S. Sala, J. Veciana,^*and N. Ventosa^*, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2016, 45, 6520—6545

Lipid-based Nanovesicles for Nanomedicine

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Extraordinary doctoral award

Ingrid Cabrera, member of the NANOMOL group that coordinates Unit 6 of NANBIOSIS, has obtained the extraordinary doctoral award from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona for her thesis “Nanovesicle-bioactive conjugates to be used as nanomedicines, prepared by a one-step scalable method Using CO₂-expanded solvents“.

This thesis was directed by Jaume Veciana, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS and Nora Ventosa, Scientific Director of Unit 6 of NANBIOSIS.

The main objectives of the PhD Thesis of Dr. Ingrid Cabrera were the preparation and study of multifunctional nanovesicle based nanoformulation of alfa-galactosidase for the treatment of Fabry desease as well as of another multifunctional nanovesicle based nanoformulation of epidermal growth factor for the treatment of complex wounds. Both nanoformulations were prepared by a one-step procedure using compressed fluids at U6 of Nanbiosis. This platform also provided many nanoparticles characterization facilities that enabled to obtain important information on the supramolecular organization and characteristics of the produced multifunctional nanovesicles that were key for understanding their biological activities.

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Congress Excellence 2016

The Spanish University with the highest number of scientifically distinguished research institutes is Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona with five Centres of Excellence “Severo Ochoa” and two Units of Excellence “María de Maeztu”.

ICMAB-CSIC, Research Institute housing unit 6 of NANBIOSIS and one of the five Severo Ochoa Centers of UAB organised the Congress Excellence 2016

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Chemical control over the energy-level alignment in a two-terminal junction

In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers of Nanomol group, led by the Scientific Director of Unit 6 of NANBIOSIS, Dr. Jaume Veciana have shown that the alignment of the energy levels in molecular bonds based on sel- assembled monolayers can be regulated through only chemical modifications.

The energy-level alignment of molecular transistors can be controlled by external gating to move molecular orbitals with respect to the Fermi levels of the source and drain electrodes. Two-terminal molecular tunnelling junctions, however, lack a gate electrode and suffer from Fermi-level pinning, making it difficult to control the energy-level alignment of the system. Here is where the researchers report an enhancement of 2 orders of magnitude of the tunnelling current in a two terminal junction via chemical molecular orbital control, changing chemically the molecular component between a stable radical and its non-radical form without altering the supramolecular structure of the junction. These are the findings that demonstrate that the energy-level alignment in self-assembled monolayer-based junctions can be regulated by purely chemical modifications, which seems an attractive alternative to control the electrical properties of two terminal junctions.

Article of reference:

Chemical control over the energy-level alignment in a two-terminal junction. Li Yuan, Carlos Franco, Núria Crivillers, Marta Mas-Torrent, Liang Cao, C.S. Suchand Sangeeth, Concepció Rovira, Jaume Veciana*, Christian A. Nijhuis*. Nature Communications.

Nanbiosis-U6-Chemical control over the energy-level alignment in a two-terminal junction

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Synergies produced in NANBIOSIS multiply the value of its services and allow its users to have results with faster and superior reliability due to proven experience of the scientists and technicians involved, says Jaume Veciana, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS, in an interview at July 2016 CIBER-BBN Bulletin.

In this interview, Jaume Veciana assesses the functioning of this Singular Scientific-Technical Infrastructure and its contribution to research and anticipates some of the guidelines of the NANBIOSIS Strategic Plan 2017-2020, which includes a clear commitment to internationalization.

“The scientific-technical capabilities available at NANBIOSIS must be exploited without limitation to our country. Therefore we are clear that we must promote the activity of NANBIOSIS both academic and industrial sector in the European Union and other countries, either directly or in association with other similar organizations actions. Some such initiatives have already started but we believe it should be given further boost to internationalization. As an example we can mention the participation in the European project INFRAIA that aims to integrate regional and national research infrastructures existing in Europe under the Horizon 2020”

Professor Veciana also talks about NANOMOL, the research group coordinator of Unit 6 of NANBIOSIS, and the main applications of their findings in the fields of nanomedicine and biomaterials.

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Synergies produced in NANBIOSIS multiply the value of its services and allow its users to have results with faster and superior reliability due to proven experience of the scientists and technicians involved, says Jaume Veciana, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS, in an interview at July 2016 CIBER-BBN Bulletin.

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“a-Galactosidase A Loaded Nanoliposomes with Enhanced Enzymatic Activity and Intracellular Penetration”

Unit 1 of NANBIOSIS, Protein Production Platform (PPP), Unit 3, Synthesis of Peptides, Unit 20, In Vivo Experimental Platform and Unit 6, Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit, have jointly developed the research conducted in relation with a CO2-based methodology for the one-step production of protein-nanoliposome conjugates as bio-active nanomaterials with therapeutic interest. The results have been published in Advanced Healthcare Materials: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26890358

“a-Galactosidase A Loaded Nanoliposomes with Enhanced Enzymatic Activity and Intracellular Penetration I. Cabrera, I. Abasolo, J. L. Corchero, E. Elizondo, P. Rivera, E. Moreno, J. Faraudo, S. Sala, D. Bueno, E. González-Mira, M. Rivas, M. Melgarejo, D. Pulido, F. Albericio, M. Royo, A. Villaverde, M. F. García-Parajo, S. Schwartz Jr., N. Ventosa,*, and J. Veciana,*

Lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) are caused by lysosomal dysfunction usually as a consequence of deficiency of a single enzyme required for the metabolism of macromolecules such as lipids, glycoproteins and mucopolysaccharides. For instance, the lack of alpha-Galactosidase A (GLA) activity in Fabry disease patients causes the accumulation of glycosphingolipids in the vasculature leading to multiple organ pathology.

Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT), which is the most common treatment of LSD, exhibits several drawbacks mainly related to the instability and low efficacy of the exogenously administered therapeutic enzyme. In this work, the unprecedented increased enzymatic activity and intracellular penetration achieved by the association of a human recombinant GLA to nanoliposomes functionalized with RGD peptides is reported. Moreover, these new GLA loaded nanoliposomes lead to a higher efficacy in the reduction of the GLA substrate named globotriasylceramide (Gb3) in a cellular model of Fabry disease, than that achieved by the same concentration of the free enzyme. The preparation of these new liposomal formulations by DELOS-SUSP, based on the Depressurization of a CO2-Expanded Liquid Organic Solution, shows the great potential of this CO2-based methodology for the one-step production of protein-nanoliposome conjugates as bioactive nanomaterials with therapeutic interest.

“a-Galactosidase A Loaded Nanoliposomes with Enhanced Enzymatic Activity and Intracellular Penetration”

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NANOMOL-CSIC of CIBER-BBN is one of the 54 accredited institutions in Catalonia with the new TECNIO seal

At an event held on April 7^th 2016 chaired by Hon. Mr. Jordi Baiget, Minister for Business and Enterprise of the Generalitat of Catalonia, were presented the first 54 organizations accredited with the TECNIO seal; one of which was NANOMOL-CSIC, the research group of CIBER-BBN coordinating Unit 6 of NANBIOSIS.

The accreditation is the hallmark TECNIO granted by the Government of Catalonia, through ACCIÓ to identify the developers and facilitators of differential technologies in Catalonia.

Nanbiosis-U6 -NANOMOL-CSIC of CIBER-BBN accredited with TECNIO seal

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The Scientific Director and the Coordinator of NANBIOSIS, Jaume Veciana and Jesús Izco, were invited by Professor Stefano Geuna (Professor of Human Anatomy at the Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences of the University of Torino) last 9th of March 2016 to present the CIBER-BBN, its scientific program and its technologies to researchers of l’Università di Torino, in order to explore the possibilities of collaboration between the two institutions and promoting joint projects.

The meeting took place at the Molecular Biotechnology Center of the Molecular Biotechnology and Health Science department (www.mbc.unito.it/en ). The audience was made up of members representing six departments such as Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, Department of Neurosciences or the Department of Medical Sciences among others. After the presentations, up to ten face to face meetings were organized with research groups and staff of the Internalization Office from different departments to look for synergies and find out ways of collaboration. Topics such as nanoencapsulation for drug delivery, functionalization of biomaterials for regenerative medicine, especially for nerve regeneration or cell therapy for cancer were discussed and many common interests were detected. Following up the meeting, several actions were agreed and some of them have been already initiated to start new collaborations between both institutions.

L’Università di Torino is actively developing biotechnologies in the field of biomedical sciences, with specific focus on the study of the molecular mechanisms at the basis of physiopathological processes that have a great impact on human health, such as cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, stem cell biology and cancer. These researches are based on experimental work carried out by the biomedical departments of l’ Università di Torino.

Nanbiosis U6_Partnering opportunities with l’Università degli studi di Torino 9March2016

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Recently, the COST Action CA15126 "Between Atom and Cell: Integrating Molecular Biophysics Approaches for Biology and Healthcare (MOBIEU)" has been approved. In this action, the Nanomol Group, coordinator of Unit6 of NANBIOSIS, represented by Imma Ratera has been directly involved being part of the Management Committee.

Molecular-scale biophysics is a dynamic and ever-expanding interdisciplinary field that aims to study biological macromolecules and assemblies as a whole, at an intermediate level between atomic-resolution structural descriptions and cellular-level observations (“Between Atom and Cell”), with significant applications in biomedicine and drug discovery. The MOBIEU Action aims to seed a large-scale pan-European interdisciplinary synergistic clustering, allowing to ally and synergize the power of spectroscopic, hydrodynamic, real-time microfluidic, thermodynamic and single-molecule approaches.

This novel open network will create an optimal environment for the development of innovative integrative biophysical approaches, at the level of data acquisition, analysis and modelling, as well as for the design of unprecedented and ambitious combinations of methodologies, to decipher more efficiently crucial biological phenomena and to overcome significant biomedical challenges.

Nanbiosis U6_Nanomol Group_ARBRE Zaragoza meeting - feb 2016

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