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A discovery in one of the most aggressive cancers will allow more efficient diagnosis

The extracellular vesicles secreted by triple-negative breast cancer stem cells are markers of lung metastasis, according to a study carried out by researchers at CIBER.

The work has been carried out by researchers from various CIBER-BBN groups (Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicia), and CIBERONC (CIBER area focused on cancer) has participated in it. The research has been led by Joaquín Seras, from the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), a specialist in targeted drug therapies.

Physicochemical EVs characterization and all the in vivo studies were performed by NANBIOSISunits of CIBER, specifically NTA analysis was carried out at Unit 6 of Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring, led by Nora Ventosa at ICMB-CSIC and animal experimentation at Unit 20 “In vivo experimental platform”, led by Ibane Abasolo at VHIR.

The vesicle, in cell biology, is an organelle that forms a small, closed compartment, separated from the cytoplasm by a lipid bilayer just like the cell membrane. The vesicles store, transport or digest cellular products and waste. According to Joaquin Seras, leader of the research: “the identification of this subpopulation of cancerous extracellular vesicles, and their important role in the progression of the disease, will allow in the future to develop systems more effective and less invasive diagnostic methods based on their detection directly from blood samples”.

In different types of tumors, including triple negative breast cancer, it has been observed that the extracellular vesicles generated by tumor cells play an important role in the generation of pre-metastatic niches. Triple negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive, highly plastic and heterogeneous, is characterized by a significant presence of malignant stem cells.

The study carried out by the Spanish researchers from CIBER with promising results, published in the “International Journal of Cancer”, shows, both in in vitro and in vivo models of the disease, that the vesicles actively contribute to the formation of areas with favorable conditions for the formation of metastases, thus favoring way, the spread of the disease.

Research contributions
In the opinion of Joaquin Seras, the great contribution of this work is that it “describes how the extracellular vesicles secreted by certain subpopulations of cancer cells, specifically those derived from cancer stem cells, have the potential to modify the microenvironment of the future metastatic niche to promote tumor growth.

In other words, continues the leader of the study: “the research sheds new information on the pathogenic mechanism of the disease, and suggests these extracellular vesicles as markers with diagnostic potential. It should be noted that these nanoparticles are secreted into the bloodstream by tumor cells, and effective capture and identification would allow them to be exploited as a diagnostic tool”.

On the characterization of extracellular vesicles of cancer cells
The complex composition and functional differentiation of cancer cells in a tumor also increases the heterogeneity of the subsets of vesicles secreted by cancer.

This phenomenon is particularly relevant in triple negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive, highly plastic and heterogeneous cancers, characterized by a significant presence of malignant stem cells. However, until now the diversity of the vesicles secreted by cancer cells had not been studied, a diversity that is closely related, in turn and as the study shows, to cellular heterogeneity in triple-negative tumors.

The importance of the CIBER study lies at this point: the vesicles secreted by different tumor subpopulations and grouped by their degree of differentiation show fundamentally different activities in terms of their impact on cancer progression.

In the investigation, the extracellular vesicles secreted by up to three different types of neoplastic cells have been isolated and characterized, observing different bioburdens for each type, with the consequent differential effect on stromal cells. In addition, and as the study shows, cancer stem cell-derived vesicles contribute to converting healthy lung cells into receptive niches for the metastatic growth of cancerous breast cells.

Article reference:

González-Callejo P, Gener P, Díaz-Riascos ZV, Conti S, Cámara-Sánchez P, Riera R, Mancilla S, García-Gabilondo M, Peg V, Arango D, Rosell A, Labernadie A, Trepat X, Albertazzi L, Schwartz S Jr, Seras-Franzoso J, Abasolo I. Extracellular vesicles secreted by triple-negative breast cancer stem cells trigger premetastatic niche remodeling and metastatic growth in the lungs. Int J Cancer. 2023 Jan 27. doi: 10.1002/ijc.34447. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36705298.

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Nanoparticles to modulate topography and ligand distribution at the nanoscale: impact on cell behavior

Doctor Marc Martínez from the Nanomol-Bio group – NANBIOSIS U6 from CIBER-BBN at ICMAB-CSIC, defended his PhD thesis “Nanoparticles to modulate topography and ligand distribution at the nanoscale: impact on cell behavior” on 9 March 2023 at ICMAB.

he PhD thesis was supervised by Imma Ratera, Judith Guasch and Nora Ventosa from the Nanomol-Bio group at ICMAB-CSIC.

Ana Paula Candiota Silveira, Scientific Coordinator of NANBIOSIS U25 was part of the Committee that evaluated the Thesis tooghether with Jesús Martínez de la Fuente, Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón (INMA-CSIC) (President),  and Anna Lagunas Targarona, Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC) (Vocal).

As Marc Martínez explained in an inteview to ICMAB “I produce nanoparticles in the lab and I use them to see how cells react to them. I work at the interface between cells and materials. My research can be applied to cell culture, which can be relevant for the development of new therapies for the regeneration of organs or for building implants to replace missing organs and body parts”.

Doctor Marc Martínez’s PhD thesis was part of the PhD Programme in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biomedicine from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).

Further information at ICMAB webpage

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Advancing a novel nano-pharmaceutical towards clinical translation

Prof Nora Ventosa, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS U6 “Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit” from CIBER-BBN and ICMAB-CSIC) is hosting the Lecture on nano-pharmaceuticals: “Advancing a novel nano-pharmaceutical towards clinical translation” by Elisabet González, from Nanomol-Bio Group of ICMAB-CSIC and CIBER-BBN

Monday, 13 February 2023
12 PM – 15 PM
ICMAB – Sala d’Actes Carles Miravitlles and ONLINE

Registration and futher information

Abstract: Nano-pharmaceuticals have the potential to drive the scientific and technological uplift, offering great clinical and socio-economic benefits to the society in general, industry and key stakeholders and patients. However, the translation of nano-pharmaceuticals from lab bench to an advanced stage of pharmaceutical development faces significant challenges: the high quality and quantity of these novel nanoformulations required for the preclinical (and further clinical) testing, the tight standards and regulations that must be complied with in this pharmaceutical field, and the increasing costs as development progresses, entails the major challenges, especially considering that the main players are usually research groups, spin-offs from academia or SMEs.

In this context, publicly funded research investment led by the European Commission within the framework of the Horizon Europe Programme is contributing to foster the transition from basic science to clinical practice. For example, by means of the EUH2020 Smart-4-Fabry Project (2017-2020), a novel nanomedicine for the Fabry disease treatment was developed up to an advance stage of preclinical development. For that, crucial considerations for early-stage product development were taken into account: these included identifying those critical quality attributes of the drug product essential for activity and safety, development and validation of advanced analytical methods (physical, chemical, biological) for characterization and quality control, identification and control of process parameters to ensure consistent batch-to-batch reproducibility, up-scaling manufacturing, and the use of adequate preclinical models.

Additionally, close collaboration with regulatory agencies from the early stages of development was carried to assure an aligned position and obtain a solid proof-of-concept. The outstanding efficacy results in preclinical models permitted to obtain an important milestone with strong implications for the translation of this new therapeutic product from bench to bedside: the Orphan Drug Designation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Currently, with the EU H2020 Phoenix Project (2021-2025), which aims to establish a Pharmaceutical Open Innovation Test Bed, together with the Project Innova4Fabry (2022-2023) from Innovators program (AGAUR), which aims to create a spin-off company, a smooth transfer of this novel therapy to clinical phase is pursued.

Dr. Elisabet González is senior researcher at the Nanomol-Bio group from ICMAB-CSIC and CIBER-BBN. She has extensive training in the field of Pharmaceutical Sciences. After the graduation of BSc in Pharmacy (2003), she held the MSc in Drug Research, Development and Control (2007), and the PhD in Pharmacy from the University of Barcelona (UB) (2011). Her 15+ years of scientific activity have been focused on the design of new type of nanoparticulate systems for technologically advanced applications in biomedicine (ocular and dermal inflammatory diseases, complex wounds, rare congenital metabolic diseases…).

Her pharmaceutical expertise has contributed to manage and coordinate multidisciplinary activities in the frame of national and international projects, which cover all key stages of the pharmaceutical development: from the design, manufacturing, characterization and quality control of nanoformulations to the preclinical and clinical development, and regulatory considerations. To highlight, she has played a key role in advancing the development of two effective nanoformulations from an experimental proof of concept (TRL3) to an advanced stage of preclinical development (TRL5), enabling with her first hand scientific-technical coordination the entrance of these nanoformulations to the regulatory preclinical phase.

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New nanoarchitectonics of RGD peptide developed using quatsomes as robust tool in tissue engineering.

Researchers of three groups of CIBER-BBN at CSIC and IBEC, have created a versatile platform based on hierarchically nanostructured RGD peptide using quatsomes, with proved enhanced cell adhesion. These findings, which arose within the framework of the intramural project of CIBER-BBN “Molecular Biointerfaces for cell guidance” (DynaMo4Vasc), open new possibilities for tissue engineering.

The participation of two NANBIOSIS units were acknowledged in the publication of the research results: the synthesis of RGD derivatives were performed at NANBIOSIS U3 “Synthesis of peptides unit” of CIBER-BBN at IQAC−CSIC.  And the design and characterization of quatsomes were done at U6 of NANBIOSIS “Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit” of CIBER-BBN at ICMAB-CSIC.

Tissue Engineering and cell adhesion

Tissue engineering pursues the development of functional and easy biological substitutes that allow restoring damaged organ or tissue or maintaining their normal function. The newer approach is the combination of appropriate cells and growth factors with a scaffold that supports the tissue or organ.

The scaffold is crucial since it must provide the conditions and the environment for the adequate cell regulation (adhesion, migration, proliferation, and differentiation), as well as the adequate delivery of bioactive factors (growth and adhesion), so that cells form the new tissue with its proper structure and function.

Cell adhesion (the interaction of the cells with its surroundings) is an important phenomenon for the development of appropriate scaffolds for tissue engineering, as it can ultimately determine cell fate. Thus, the study of the factors that govern cell adhesion and its optimization is essential.

The tripeptide Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) is the most common peptide responsible for cell adhesion. Although the studies of its surface density and spacing at nanoscale have already shown a significant influence on cell adhesion, the impact of its hierarchical nanostructure is still unexplored.

Quatsomes

Quatsomes are non-liposomal nanovesicles which have been shown to be very homogeneous and stable in different media and which can be easily tuned with a wide range of chemical functionalities.

The Nanomol Group (from CIBER-BBN and ICMAB-CSIC) has been working during the last years with these nanoparticles showing their suitability for applications in nanomedicine, (as nanocarriers and nanocontainers to encapsulate drugs and protein cargoes, or as fluorescent dyes for therapy and diagnostics). This expertise led the researcher to explore the integration of quatsomes with relevant molecules and their use once anchored to a surface.

RGD Nanoarchitecnonics

Nanoarchitectonics is a novel concept that refers to multicomponent systems organized through the supramolecular union of nanometer structures where the main players are not the individual nanoparticles but their interactions, giving rise to new functionalities.

The team of researchers developed a versatile platform based on quatsomes as an effective nanoscopic building block to achieve hierarchical nanostructures of the RGD peptide which were further anchored to gold substrate. In comparison with substrates featuring a homogeneous distribution of RGD peptides, the resulting hierarchical nanoarchitectonic surfaces dramatically enhanced cell adhesion.

These findings open many possible pathways for the understanding of cell behaviour and improve the performance of clinical applications like implants and tissue engineering.

Article of reference:

Marc Martínez-Miguel, Miquel Castellote-Borrell, Mariana Köber, Adriana R. Kyvik, Judit Tomsen-Melero, Guillem Vargas-Nadal, Jose Muñoz, Daniel Pulido, Edgar Cristóbal-Lecina, Solène Passemard, Miriam Royo, Marta Mas-Torrent, Jaume Veciana, Marina I. Giannotti, Judith Guasch, Nora Ventosa, and Imma Ratera. “Hierarchical Quatsome-RGD Nanoarchitectonic Surfaces for Enhanced Integrin-Mediated Cell Adhesion” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2022, 14, 42, 48179–48193 Publication Date:October 17, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c10497

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New European Project NABIHEAL in biomaterials for complex wound healing

The Horizon Europe project NABIHEAL, coordinated by the Center for Biomedical Research Network (CIBER) at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), was launched on 11-12 January 2023 in Barcelona with the first meeting of the international consortium, formed by 14 partners from 7 countries, including research centers, universities, and private companies. 

This project will apply one the “Cutting Edge Biomedical Solutions” of NANBIOSIS for the preparation of different nanoestructures with antimicrobial properties, required for the development of the final multifunctional wound healing biomaterials. This case will gather the expertise of two NANBIOSIS unit: NANBIOSIS U6 will produce and characterize these nanoestructures with antimicrobial properties, which will be tested in NANBIOSIS U16.

NABIHEAL stands for “Antimicrobial Nanostructured Biomaterials for Complex Wound Healing” and is funded under the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme with a total budget of nearly 5 million euros over four years. NABIHEAL aims at solving two unmet medical needs in complex wound healing: on the one hand, affordable treatments for wound infections and prevention of complications during wound healing, and on the other, a strategy to optimize the composition and efficacy of wound dressings.

The kickoff meeting, held at the CSIC Researcher’s Residence in Barcelona, was opened by the project coordinator, Nora Ventosa, from CIBER and ICMAB-CSIC, and by institutional and political representatives, including Riccardo Rurali, Vice-Director of ICMAB-CSIC; Ramon Martínez Mañez, Scientific Director of CIBER-BBN; Jordi Aguasca, Director of Technological Transformation and Disruption Unit, ACCIÓ; and Xavier Aldeguer, General Director of Society of Knowledge, Transfer & Territory of the Catalan Government. The meeting provided the opportunity to interact in person with all the consortium partners and establish the first collaborative activities to ensure timely delivery of the project milestones.

Complex wound healing as a global health problem

The NABIHEAL project will advance on the synthesis of advanced nanostructured biomaterials as an alternative to the commonly used silver-based materials. “The project will work to produce multifunctional materials for the treatment of complex wound healing, which has become a global health problem. For example, in developed countries, it affects the quality of life of more than 2% of the total population,” affirms Nora Ventosa, coordinator of the project.

Complex wounds, such as chronic wounds, are highly susceptible to microbial infection and biofilm formation, and thus difficult to treat. The most common antimicrobial products to treat these infections are based on silver. However, they have several economic, environmental and safety drawbacks. The biomaterials developed within the NABIHEAL project will offer a safer, more sustainable and more cost-effective alternative.

The project aims to obtain innovative multifunctional wound healing biomaterials using affordable EU-based manufacturing technologies. In the long term, NABIHEAL could become a game-changing alternative to silver in wound healing dressings.

An International Consortium

The goals of the project will be tackled by an interdisciplinary consortium from 7 countries, combining expertise in different areas, such as synthesis and characterization of biomaterials, biocompatibility and safety, regulatory aspects and ethics, or wound healing product development and scale-up. “We are excited to launch this project, in which 8 academic institutions and 6 private companies will join forces to face the challenging problem of complex wound treatment,” adds Prof. Ventosa.  

In addition to the Center for Biomedical Research Network (CIBER) at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB), as coordinator, the international consortium is formed by the following centers and companies: from Spain, the Center for Biomedical Research Network (CIBER) at the University of Extremadura and the University of Cantabria, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Nanomol Technologies S.L. (NT), Bioiberica S.A.U (BIO), Histocell S.L (HCELL), the University of Granada (UGR), and Asphalion (ASPH); from Germany, MyBiotech GmbH (MyB) and Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin (CH); from Croatia, the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health (IMI); from Denmark, the Aarhus University (AU); from Israel, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (IT); from Austria, BioNanoNet Forschungsgesellschaft mbH (BNN); and from Slovenia, the University of Maribor (UM).

More information:

Prof. Nora Ventosa, Project Coordinator, CIBER, ICMAB-CSIC ventosa@icmab.es

Caitlin Ahern, Communication, BioNanoNet caitlin.ahern@bnn.at

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“Preparation and characterization of SOFT Materials” Technical Seminar

Amable Bernabé, Tecnical Coordinator of NANBIOSIS U6: Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit of CIBER-BBN and ICMAB-CSIC is giving a seminar on Preparation and Characterization of SOFT Materials.

The seminar will tame place on Monday, 28 November 2020, at 12 PM at ICMAB in the Carles Miravitlles Seminar Hall,

” I will make a brief explanation about the equipment for the characterisation of particulate materials, type of samples that can be analysed, reports, etc… I will also talk about the equipment for processing materials with C” -explains Amable Bernabé.

 Amable Bernabé joined the ICMAB-CSIC in 2004 as a research assistant working at the Spectroscopic Service. Two years after, in 2006, he was promoted to technical coordinator of the CIBER-BBN and ICMAB-CSIC research group Nanomol , and in 2008, he started as the technical manager of the Soft Materials characterization lab. Since 2009, he was appointed a permanent research technician at CSIC. Since the creation of the NANBIOSIS and its aproval as ICTS (Scientific and Tecnical Unique Infraestructure by the Spanish Government, Amable is the Tecnical Coordinator of the unit 6 of NANBIOSIS. His research interest is focused on the study and characterization of the physico-chemical properties of nanomaterials, particularly on particle size and shape, particle concentration, Z-Potential and stability studies.

Description of the SOFT Service: The SOFT Materials Service is scientific and technical service of the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (CSIC) and the Unit 6 of the ICTS-NANBIOSIS. The mission of this facility is the large-scale production and characterization of molecular biomaterials of therapeutic or biomedical interest, with controlled micro-, nano- and supramolecular structure. This unit is composed of the equipment and the experienced personnel to develop and apply efficient, robust and green technologies based on the use of supercritical fluids, such as compressed CO2

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New edition of the course on characterization and preparation of particulate materials.

ICMAB-CSIC October 19th 2022

Amable Bernabé, from Nanbiosis U6 Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit hosted from Monday, 3 October, to Wednesday, 5 October a course on “Characterization techniques for particulate materials”. The course counted with 10 participants from different CSIC centers.

The course was an introduction to different techniques to characterize nanoparticles and other particulate matter, including the basic fundamentals of these techniques, sample preparation, practical examples and results interpretation.    It is the fifth edition of the course, which started in 2018. Amable Bernabé, technician from the Soft Materials Service, prepares and offers this course to all the CSIC community, so everyone who needs it can learn new methods to characterize nanoparticles, the theory behind the techniques, and how to manage the lab equipment devoted to these techniques.   The course is offered every year through the CSIC training courses offered every year for all its staff. This year, the 10 participants were from CSIC centers of the Barcelona area: IMB-CNM, IDAEA, ICM and ICMAB, mainly.

Soft Materials Service – NANBIOSIS ICTS U6

The Soft Materials Service constitute the unit 6 of NANBIOSIS, the integrated infrastructure for the production and characterization of nanomaterials, biomaterials and systems in biomedicine, which has been recognized by Spanish Government as Unique Scientific-Technological Infrastructure (ICTS).

The Unit of NANBIOSIS provides equipment and technical assistance for the preparation and characterization of micro-and nanostructured soft molecular materials (molecular surfaces, micro- and nanoparticulate molecular materials, plastic films, dispersed systems, SAMs, etc..) with interest in different areas of application (biomedicine, electronics, energy storage and other chemical and material application areas).

The Soft Materials Service, with Amable Bernabé and David Piña as technicians, participate in many European projects and give service to the whole ICMAB community, apart from the Nanomol Research Unit, and also to other CSIC centers and research institutions and companies. In 2021, for example, 30 % of the users were external. Of these users, 14.3 % were from private companies, 58.9 % came from other research centers or universities, and 26.8 % from other ICMAB research units. 

This last April 2022, the Service Materials Service, which is part of Unit6 of the ICTS Nanbiosis and CIBER-BBN, obtained the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Certification, which ensures the quality of the service provided and helps to continue with its improvement and extension to future services.

Contents of the course

Theory:

  • Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) with Zetasizer Nano ZS (Malvern Instruments)
    • Size distribution
    • Z Potential 
  • Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) with Nanosight NS300 (Malvern Instruments)
    • Size distribution
    • Particle concentration
    • Fluorescence
  • Light Scattering (LS) with Mastersizer 2000 (Malvern Instruments)
    • Size distribution

Practice:

  • Sample analysis and practical cases of Dynamic Light Scattering with the Zetasizer Nano ZS (Malvern Instruments) equipment.
  • Samples analysis and practical cases of the Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) technique with the Nanosight NS300 (Malvern Instruments) equipment.
  • Sample analysis and practical cases of the Light Scattering (LS) technique with the Mastersizer 2000 (Malvern Instruments) instrument.
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The first TECNIO Conference and NANBIOSIS’ researchers participation

More than 200 people attended the first edition of the TECNIO Conference that took place on October 19th, 2022 in Girona. Outstanding experts from research groups, companies and the Catalan administration discussed the model of technological sovereignty that Catalonia needs to generate high-impact innovation.

As far as Nora Ventosa, President of the TECNIO Association and Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS U6 Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit (from CIBER-BBN and IQAC): “Political management is the key to ensure that the path of transference follows a high speed train”

Researchers of NANBIOSIS U2 Custom Antibody Service (CAbS) – Nb4D Group from CIBER-BBN and IQAC-CSIC presented their technological offer in the 1st TECNIO Congress

During the congress there were different presentations, round tables and an exhibition space to interact with the TECNIO agents.

For further informatio: https://www.eventbrite.es/e/tecnio-congress-2022-tickets-415838312587

Related News

Nora Ventosa, president of the TECNIO Association.
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1st Nanomedicine Forum of CIBER-BBN/NANBIOSIS and CSIC Nanomed Conection

During the days 30 of June and 1st of July took place in Barcelona, in the auditorium of the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), the 1st Forum on Nanomedicine gathering scientists from the CSIC net Nanomed Conection and from the CIBER-BBN and its ICTS NANBIOSIS.

This forum brought toguether researchers from the most eminent national research centers in nanomedicine, that during the two days meeting presented their works and findings and discussed the impact of nanomedicine in the fields of drug delivery, diagnosis and therapy.

The workshop was open by the Director of IQAC-CSIC,  Jesús Joglar, the  Scientific Coordinator of Nanomed Conection, Fernando Herranz, and the Scientific Director of CIBER-BBN, Ramón Martínez Máñez.

18 research groups gave their talks distributed in four sessions:

  • Nanobiotechnological solutions for diagnosis and therapy
  • Drug delivery nanosystems
  • Applications for oncology 
  • Nanomedicine & other frontier applications

The presentations aroused great interest and futher debate among the attendees present in the auditorium (around 50) and the on line participants (The event was also broadcast online previous registration with more than 125 registrations received).

The videos of the presentations will be soon available in the NANBIOSIS youtube channel.

Here we highlight the eight talks by researchers from NANBIOSIS units:

The first session of Nanobiotechnological solutions for diagnosis and therapy,  started  with the talk by Montserrat Rodríguez from Nb4D group – NANBIOSIS U2 CAbS, from CIBER-BBN and IQAC-CSIC, entitled “Targeting aromatic amino acid metabolism for the early diagnosis of neurological diseases”, presenting their results on in vitro samples, on thermal power characterization experiments to study the thermal efficiency of non-sinusoidal stimulation and on efficiency characterization experiments in cell cultures with cancer cell liness.

Also in this session chaired by Miriam Royo, Scientific Coordinator of NANBIOSIS U3 Synthesis of Peptides Unit of  CIBER-BBN and IQAC-CSIC,  took place an interesting and passionate talk by Ramón Eritja, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS U29 Oligonucleotide Synthesis Platform (OSP), 

In the last years, interest in therapeutic applications of oligonucleotides has increased enormously, especially after the development of messenger RNA vaccines in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this way, metabolic diseases such as dyslipidemia and hereditary diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy have been successfully addressed. The NANBIOSIS  Oligonucleotide Synthesis Platform (OSP) focuses on the design, synthesis and characterization of modified oligonucleotides, in order to enhance the therapeutic properties of the oligonucleotides and to improve the control of gene expression. Ramon Eritja presented their most recent results in the development of new conjugates with antiproliferative activity and in the design of DNA probes for the detection of viral genomes.

 

In the session of “Nanomedicine and other frontiers applications”, chaired by María del Puerto Morales Herrero (ICMM-CSIC), Elena Martínez Fraiz,  from the Nanobioengineering group of CIBER-BBN and IBEC running NANBIOSIS Unit 7 of Nanotechnology, presented  a nanostructured surface able to produce multivalent effects of surface-bound ephrinB1 ligands on the dynamics of oligomerization of EphB2 receptors  whic can benefit applications such as the design of new bioactive materials and drug-delivery systems.

The session of Drug delivery nanosystems, chaired by Ramón Martínez Máñez, began with the talk by Vanessa Díaz Riascos, presesnting the in vivo efficacy, biodistribution and toxicity testing of nanomedicines at NANBIOSIS U20 FVPR, of CIBER-BBN and VHIR, explaining how their texting expertise and their in vivo and ex vivo fluorescence imaging techniques facilitate a rapid and efficient preclinical development of candidates, reducing considerably the time and costs of conventional developments.


Santiago Grijalvo Torrijo, from NANBIOSIS U12 Nanostructured liquid characterization unit expoke about Nano-emulsion-derived polymeric carriers for biomedical applications also discussing the impact of the protein corona on colloidal stability, antioxidant activities, cytotoxicity and cellular uptake of drug-loaded nanoparticles.

Antoni Llopis Lorente, (NANBIOSIS U26 NMR: Biomedical Applications II), expoke about Gated silica nanoparticles for controlled release. Chemical communication, based on the exchange of molecules as messengers, allows different entities to share information, cooperate and orchestrate collective behaviors. Communication using chemical messengers (such as neurotransmitters, hormones and pheromones) is the main way of communication across the natural world; yet engineering chemical communication between micro/nanosystems is a key emergent topic in micro/nanotechnology, biomimicry and related areas. Santiago explainined recent progress by their group in the development of engineered particles for chemical communication and nanomedicine applications.

And closing the session, Mariana Köber (Nanomol Group –NANBIOSIS U6 of Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit  from CIBER-BBN and ICMAB-CSIC) gave a talk on Quatsomes as versatile nanovesicles for biomedical applications.

In the session of Applications for Oncology, Pilar Martín Duque from NFP group – NANBIOSIS U9 Synthesis of Nanoparticles Unit of CIBER-BBN and INMA-CSIC, gave a very interesting talk explained their approach and recent progress on the search of trojan horses for an improved theragnosis of cancer.

Here we want to thank the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC) for hosting this event and for the help in its preparation and development.

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Metal-free contrast agents: novel approaches

The joint expertise of CIBER-BBN Nanomol Group – NANBIOSIS U6 from at ICMAB-CSIC (José Vidal and Vega Lloveras) and NANBIOSIS U25 at UAB (Ana Paula Candiota), led to a recently published article in the prestigious journal Biomacromolecules

Brain tumours such as Glioblastomas are a challenge in the clinics and proper diagnosis and follow-up are crucial for patient outcome. Contrast agents are usually administered to patients for assessing blood brain barrier integrity and quantitation of enhancing areas are part of the clinical criteria for estimating response/relapse. However, most contrast agents currently used in clinics are based in metal elements such as Gadolinium and are not exempt of risks. In addition, due to the renal excretion route, administering such agents to some patients is contraindicated. Our work explored the potential of organic radicals anchored to dendrimers to act as contrast agents for glioblastoma studies, proposing a metal-free alternative for contrast enhanced glioblastoma studies. The article describes details of synthesis and characterization of these agents, as well as in vivo, ex vivo and in vivo magnetic resonance studies. The orthotopic immunocompetent GL261 glioblastoma murine model was used for in vivo and ex vivo studies. The novel contrast agent proved to be non-harmful for wild type mice and produced sustained and long lasting contrast in tumour-bearing mice, even in much lower doses in comparison with gadolinium administration.

The diagnosis and follow-up of high-grade brain tumours such as glioblastomas relies mostly in MRI, and contrast agents currently used are based on Gadolinium, which is not exempt of risks. The resarchers’ approach explores organic radicals anchored to dendrimers as a metal-free alternative to produce contrast enhancement in MRI, safer than Gadolinium-based compounds, and with translational potential.

Article of reference:
Zhang S, Lloveras V, Lope-Piedrafita S, Calero-Pérez P, Wu S, Candiota AP, Vidal-Gancedo J. Metal-Free Radical Dendrimers as MRI Contrast Agents fof Glioblastoma Diagnosis: Ex Vivo and In Vivo Approaches. Biomacromolecules. 2022 Jun 24. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.2c00088.

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