News

New NANBIOSIS’ focus on Cutting-Edge Biomedical Solutions

We are delighted to announce the publication of our new corporate brochure which reflects NANBIOSIS’s main core competences. This fresh looking promotion material has been intentionally designed to emphasize our experience of join expertise and capabilities solving problems in biomedical research, focussing on quality, adaptability and excellence commitment.

The NANBIOSIS’ Cutting-Edge biomedical solutions have been updated to offer a wider range of Integrated solutions to advanced challenges faced by biomedical researchers in the fields of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, diagnostic and medical devices.

The Cutting-Edge biomedical solutions offered by the ICTS NANBIOSIS have been organised drilling down on our key areas:

Customized biomolecules production & Validation
Customized nanomedicines production & Preclinical Validation
Customized biomaterials production & Preclinical Validation
Diagnostic Devices production & Validation

Downloadable PDF of the brochure is here available

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Jaume Veciana awarded by the Catalan Society of Chemistry with the Prize to the Scientific Excellence

Jaume Veciana Miró, Director of NANBIOSIS, has been awarded by the Catalan Society of Chemistry in its 2021 edition of Awards in research, education and dissemination with the Prize to the Scientific Excellence for his scientific career.

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Online Course in Basic Procedures and Introduction to Mesenchymal Stem Cell Culture

From 30 August 2021 to 29 September 2021 Jesus Usón Minimally Invasive Surgery Centre (JUMISC) has organized an on line course on Procedures and Introduction to Mesenchymal Stem Cell Culture. The course is directected by Francisco Miguel Sánchez Margallo and run by researchers of NANBIOSIS U14 Cell Therapy Unit at JUMISC

Stem cells are cells capable of differentiating into a wide variety of cell types and can be isolated from different tissues. They have regenerative and anti-inflammatory properties thanks to the secretion of paracrine factors. Currently, these cells are being widely used in clinical trials for the treatment of different diseases such as Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis or myocardial infarction.

The objectives of this course is to teach the student to work in cell culture rooms, perform stem cell isolations, as well as the maintenance, expansion and conservation of these cell lines. You will also learn to characterize and differentiate these cell lines.

Once the course is finished, the student will be able to know the necessary equipment in a cell culture laboratory, the risks derived from working in these laboratories and the basic rules that must be taken into account to work in cell culture rooms. The student will also learn to prepare culture media, isolate stem cells from different tissues and everything necessary for the maintenance, expansion and conservation of cell lines. In addition, she will be able to acquire knowledge related to the differentiation protocols to different lineages: adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation.

▶ DIRECTORS

Francisco Miguel Sánchez Margallo
Scientific Director of CCMIJU / Deputy Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS

Esther Lopez Nieto
Researcher at the Cell Therapy Unit of NANBIOSIS of the JUMISC

▶ TEACHERS

Dr Javier García Casado.
Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS U14 Cell Therapy Unit Postdoctoral researcher at the Cell Therapy Unit of the JUMISC

Dr Esher López.
Researcher at the Cell Therapy Unit of the JUMISC / NANBIOSIS

Federica Marinaro.
Researcher at the Cell Therapy Unit of the JUMISC / NANBIOSIS

Mª de los Angeles de Pedro
Researcher at the Cell Therapy Unit of the JUMISC / NANBIOSIS

Maria Pulido
Researcher at the Cell Therapy Unit of the JUMISC / NANBIOSIS

Veronica Alvarez.
JUMISC Superior Laboratory Technician

Information and enrollment here

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New project ExofluidTT for the production of nanovesicles using microfluidics applicable on Biomedicine

Víctor Sebastián Cabeza, researcher of NANBIOSIS U9 Synthesis of Nanoparticles of CIBER-BBN and the Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragón, INMA, has obtained a research grant in the XX National Contest of the Ramón Areces Foundation in the category of Life and Matter Sciences with a funding of € 112,000 for the development in 3 years of nanovesicles using microfluidic technology.

As explained by Victor Sebastian “the characterization of the nanovesicles will be carried with the equiment and expertise of NANBIOSIS Unit 9

The project entitled “Engineering of extracellular vesicles-exosomes using microfluidic technology for its application in biomedicine: ExoFluidTT” aims to develop new procedures to improve the selectivity and efficiency of therapeutic treatments, such as, for example, cancer. The nanocarriers considered in ExoFluidTT are called exosomes and are nano-sized extracellular vesicles, produced by the patient’s own cells and whose structure and composition is so complex that their production by synthetic procedures is not possible. The application of these vesicles is creating a revolution in cellular treatments, since they allow to face the problems in which artificial nanocarriers fail. However, its clinical use is complex, due to the difficulty of its production, isolation and reconfiguration for the treatment of diseases.

The ExoFLuidTT project aims to design an innovative platform based on the use of exosomes for its application in targeted therapies. The basis of this innovative platform is based on the use of microfluidic technology to obtain the exosomes of the patient’s cells. These exosomes would be isolated for their reconfiguration aimed at obtaining nanocarriers that allow the administration of drugs in a targeted manner. This microfluidic technology consists of a complex system of pipes and micrometric-scale reactors (similar to the dimensions of a human hair) that mimic the highly efficient network of blood capillaries that the human body has, so that, in an efficient way, they can be manipulate volumes of fluid on the scale of picoliters (one millionth of a drop).

This project is based on the previous experience of Víctor Sebastián Cabeza in the development of microfluidic technology for multiple uses in Catalysis, Materials Engineering and Nanobiomedicine, as well as the experience of his work team, ExoFLuidTT, in the use of exosomes as therapeutic nanocarriers. This team has recently published a study where they were able to successfully develop exosomes modified with palladium nanosheets for the selective activation of prodrugs in-vitro and to treat tumor cells selectively. The results of this work were published in the prestigious journals Nature Catalysis and Nature Protocols and open a therapeutic pathway that can have a great social impact.

The project work team, led by Víctor Sebastián, is made up of CIBER-BBN researchers Manuel Arruebo and Jesús Santamaría, all of them professors from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Technologies at UNIZAR, and researchers from INMA and IISAragón . Researchers Silvia Irusta (INMA / CiberBBN / IIS Aragón) and Pilar Martín Duque (ARAID / IACS / IISAragón) collaborate with this team.

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Ibane Abasolo new Scientific Director of unit 20 of NANBIOSIS

Ibane Abasolo, the Scientific Coordinator of NANBIOSIS U20 of the CIBER-BBN at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), has been appointed new Scientific Director, replacing Simó Schwartz, who has recently assumed the Directorate of the Blood and Tissue Bank of Catalonia. With her, there are 11 women who are Scientific Directors of NANBIOSIS units (46%), with the incorporation of Nora Ventosa and Rosa Villa during the past year 2020. Ibane Abasolo has also been appointed IP of the CIBER group that coordinates unit 20 of NANBIOSIS. The female replacement in the leadership of the CIBER groups is one of the priorities of the consortium and all the recent IP substitutions of the CIBER-BBN have been appointed researchers as group leaders.

Ibane Abasolo obtained degrees in Biochemistry and Biology from the University of Navarra in 1997 and 1998, respectively. During her doctorate in the laboratories of Dr. Alfonso Calvo (CIMA, Pamplona) and Prof. Zhou Wang (Northwestern University, Chicago, USA), she studied the role of a peptide hormone, adrenomedullin, in the prostate cancer. Dr. Abasolo continued her postdoctoral training in the group of Prof. F.X. Real (IMIM, Barcelona), where she focused on the study of key factors on the progression of pancreatic cancer and the development of the cerebellum. During this time, she gained extensive experience in experimental mouse models, including all steps from the generation of new transgenic models, to the molecular and cellular characterization of existing ones. Later, Dr. Abasolo moved to the High Technology Institute (PRBB, Barcelona), where she was trained in molecular imaging techniques such as microPET, SPECT and CT.

Dr. Abasolo has been part of the CIBER-BBN since 2007, when she joined the group led by Dr. Schwartz at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital, where she launched the Functional Validation and Preclinical Research Area (FVPR) of the CIBBIM -Nanomedicine as a technological platform from which industry or academic groups can advance in the preclinical development of its compounds. In fact, FVPR is part of Unit 20 and the Singular Scientific Technical Infrastructure (ICTS) Nanbiosis and is certified with ISO9001: 2015.

As a researcher, Dr. Abasolo currently collaborates in 4 European projects (NoCanTher, EvoNano, Safe-Med-Tech and Mimic-Key) and leads many other national projects, focused on improving the treatment of lysosomal storage disorders (PI18 / 00871 from ISCIII and ExoProd funded by FIPSE) or in the study of the role of tumor stem cells in cancer progression (NanoDireCT, RETOS-Collaboration project). At CIBER-BBN, Dr. Abasolo directly coordinates 3 intramural projects and a recently awarded valorization project (ADVERT).

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New Nanomedicines for the topical treatment of complex wounds

Acute and chronic wounds are a growing global health problem. The incidence of non-healing chronic wounds has exponentially increased with the aging of the population and chronic diseases. It has been estimated that there is a 2% prevalence of chronic wounds in the general population, which is associated with an annual estimated cost of more than US$50 billion. Biomaterial-based treatments are helpful in improving small-sized and uncomplicated ulcers. Biologic molecules, named epidermal growth factors (EGFs) have demonstrated potent therapeutic efficacy along with limited side effects, however, exogenous EGF is rapidly cleared from the topical application site.

Jaume Veciana, Nora Ventosa and co-workers have reported a soft, reliable, and scalable method based on compressed CO₂ for obtaining nanoconjugates of recombinant human epidermal growth factors and nanovesicles. These nanoconjugates exhibit appropriate physicochemical properties together with an antimicrobial activity preventing infections that promote complete closure of complex wounds. Therefore, such nanoconjugates are a potential nanomedicine for the topical treatment of complex wounds, particularly diabetic foot ulcers. The article published by the medical journal Advances in Therapy was chosen to be the cover of number 6 in June.

“The use of NANBIOSIS Unit 6 of Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit (from CIBER-BBN and ICMAB-CSIC) has allowed the obtaining of various versions of the nanoconjugates as well as their physical-chemical characteristics” – explained prof. Jaume Veciana

Article of reference: Nanoconjugates: Lidia Ferrer-Tasies, Hector Santana, Ingrid Cabrera-Puig, Elisabet González-Mira, Lídia Ballell-Hosa, Carla Castellar-Álvarez, Alba Córdoba, Josep Merlo-Mas, Haydee Gerónimo, Glay Chinea, Viviana Falcón, Evelyn Moreno-Calvo, Jan Skov Pedersen, Jessica Romero, Claudia Navarro-Requena, Calixto Valdés, Miladys Limonta, Jorge Berlanga, Santiago Sala, Eduardo Martínez, Jaume Veciana and Nora Ventosa, Recombinant Human Epidermal Growth Factor/Quatsome Nanoconjugates: A Robust Topical Delivery System for Complex Wound Healing. Adv. Therap. 2021 14 June, 2000260 [DOI]

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Purchase, installation and implementation of a treatment, distribution and management system for the environmental control and registration of animal housing rooms

There is a growing demand, coming from the scientific community, to carry out studies with animal models in the best conditions for them. For this reason, the need of implementing a new control and recording system of environmental conditions within the stabling rooms of the CCMIJU Animal Housing arises.

The whole process and the awarded company, General de Instalaciones y Conservación S.L., have been published in the following link of the Public Sector Contracting Platform, within the framework of the project “Updating of the Infrastructures and implementation of a document control and LIMS management system to enhance the capacities of the NANBIOSIS Distributed ICTS Units managed by the CCMIJU (AILIMS-NANBIOSIS)”

Link

AILIMS has been co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) within the framework of the Pluriregional Operational Program of Spain (POPE) of Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructures (ICTS) 2014-2020.

The following actions are considered in the framework of the project:

-Within Unit 22 or Animal Facility, the Installation and development of an environmental treatment-control system of the housing rooms, an Improvement and adaptation of the spaces for experimental models, the Acquisition, installation and development of a two-door ultra- filtered air shower and the Acquisition, installation and development of a post-procedural recovery chamber.

– For the rest of the NANBIOSIS Units managed by the CCMIJU: Acquisition, installation and development of a LIMS Software.

The actions and their budget are detailed below, together with the FEDER co-funded rate and the national contribution.

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Awarded works for improvement and adaptation of the spaces for the maintenance of the experimental models in the CCMIJU’s Animal Housing

The Public Sector Contracting Platform has published the awarding to the company “Depur GM Deseño e Obra S.L” to carry out the improvement works in the CCMIJU’s Animal Housing within the framework of the project “Updating the Infrastructures and implementation of a LIMS document control and management system to enhance the capacities of the Distributed ICTS NANBIOSIS Units managed by the CCMIJU (AILIMS-NANBIOSIS).

For further details, please click here

The mentioned project has been co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) through the Ministry of Science and Innovation within the framework of the Programa Operativo Plurirregional de España (POPE) for Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructures (ICTS) 2014-2020 and by the Consejería de Economía, Ciencia y Agenda Digital of Junta de Extremadura.

The following actions are considered in the framework of the project:

– For the rest of the NANBIOSIS Units managed by the CCMIJU: Acquisition, installation and development of a LIMS Software.

The actions and their budget are detailed below, together with the FEDER co-funded rate and the national contribution.

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A project by NANBIOSIS researchers, focused on COVID-19 detection and therapy, selected in ‘La Marató’ research program

The Scientific Commission of ‘La Marató TV3’ has seleced the project entitled “Diagnosis and treatment of Sars-Cov-2 by triplex formation”, led by Ramon Eritja, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS Unit 29 Oligonucleotide Synthesis Platform (OSP) from CIBER-BBN and IQAC_CSIC to be financed with € 398,750.00. Verónica Noé from the Fundació Bosch i Gimpera Universitat de Barcelona, the CIBERESP researcher Enrique Calderón Sandubete, from the Virgen del Rocío University Hospital and María Valeria Grazú Bonavía, from the Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragón, INMA (CSIC- UNIZE) also participate in this project.

The edition of this solidarity initiative promoted by the Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals, raised more than twelve million euros to finance research against COVID-19. The project was selected, among the 229 submitted, to receive funding for its development.
“Our project wants to solve two important problems in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic: the first is how to quickly and specifically detect people infected by this virus; and the second is that right now we do not have a effective therapy specifically designed to be used against the virus that causes COVID-19 “explains Dr. Eritja.

The project will try to solve both problems using synthetic oligonucleotides with high and specific affinity for viral RNA. “In recent years, a dozen oligonucleotides have been approved by Health agencies (EMA and FDA) for the treatment of genetic diseases such as Duchene muscular dystrophy as well as metabolic diseases such as familial hypercholesterolemia. In the project we will use specific oligonucleotides, procuced at NANBIOSIS U29, to bind viral RNA that could be used in vitro for the selective capture and diagnosis of the SARS-.COV-2 virus, but also in vivo to inhibit the replication of viral RNA “adds Ramón Eritja.

The call for grants from ‘La Marató’ was carried out, exceptionally, between the months of December and January. Until May, the 229 candidate projects have been reviewed electronically, following a process of proven rigor and transparency, coordinated by the Catalan Agency for Quality and Health Evaluation, in which 95 international evaluators have participated. The assessment, among other aspects, of the quality, the methodology, the scientific, health and social relevance, the innovative value and the viability of the candidate works has determined which projects have been financed with the resources of La Marató 2020.

With this new edition from La Marató, the solidarity project of the Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation and the Foundation since 1992 an amount of € 216 million have been awarded and a total of 949 research projects hve been promoted, with participation of 9,350 researchers have participated.

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New drug delivery system for prolonged pain relief

The management of musculoskeletal pain is a key challenge due to the short duration of anesthetic effect produced by existing clinical treatments, in addition to their potential side effects. Researchers from the CIBER-BBN, the Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragón (INMA), CSIC-University of Zaragoza and the Institute of Health Research of Aragón (IIS Aragón), in collaboration with researchers from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zaragoza and with participation of NANBIOSIS Unit 9 Synthesis of Nanoparticles Unit, have developed nanogels loaded with nanocrystals of bupivacaine (an anesthetic commonly used in epidural anesthesia and in the control of postoperative pain) obtaining a high drug content for a prolonged duration of local anesthesia.

These nanogels are an alternative to the most prescribed analgesics (antipyretics, steroids and opioids), which frequently present adverse effects such as nausea, vomiting, dizziness and physical dependence, among others. They consist of a biocompatible polymer derived from polyethylene glycol (PEG) that has heat-sensitive properties, so that they would be injected at room temperature and upon reaching body temperature after administration they undergo a change in their structure, resulting in a reduction in their volume. and transforming into a hydrophobic structure, thus controlling the release of the drug encapsulated within.

According to Manuel Arruebo, INMA-CIBER-BBN researcher, “we have validated this new way of dispensing the local anesthetic both in cell cultures and in animal experiments, showing that it increases the duration of sciatic nerve block twice compared to the same dose of free anesthetic. The synthesis of the drug nanocrystals has been carried out in NANBIOSIS U9 (from CIBER-BBN and University of Zaragoza) thanks to the wet chemical synthesis systems of the platform“.

The prolonged duration of anesthetic action can be explained by the regional immobilization of the nanogels at the injection site around the sciatic nerve due to their hydrophobic nature, preventing the diffusion of drug particles and their rapid elimination while interacting efficiently with the tissues thanks to to its temperature-induced conformational change. Studies have shown that this delivery system has low toxicity and does not give rise to an inflammatory response due to the slow release of the drug and the high biocompatibility of the polymer used.

The encapsulation of drug nanocrystals is a promising strategy, which allows reducing the total amount of drug necessary to produce pain relief with the consequent benefits obtained from the reduction of toxicity.

For their part, the researchers Teresa Alejo (INMA) and Víctor Sebastián (CIBER-BBN-INMA) affirm that “through these systems we seek to obtain an effective vehicle capable of prolonging the anesthetic effect in its place of action, avoiding as far as possible the side effects. In this way, they could be used to avoid systemic administration, reduce high concentrations in the blood and reduce the unwanted side effects of some conventional treatments, since they allow to control the release of the drug within the desired therapeutic range, avoiding the consequences of an excess of drug and the negative effects that this implies ”.

Likewise, with this technique the satisfaction and comfort of the patient is considered, since with a single dosage a prolonged therapeutic effect would be achieved. In Europe, with more than 500 million days of sick leave per year, musculoskeletal pain causes almost 50% of all absences from work lasting at least three days and 60% of permanent absences from work. Consequently, pain has a huge impact on work productivity. Some data indicate that the annual cost of pain is greater than the cost of heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Therefore, the development of an effective injectable local anesthetic with a prolonged duration of action can improve the quality of life of patients affected by these diseases.

Article of refernce:

Teresa Alejo, Laura Usón, Guillermo Landa, Martin Prieto, Cristina Yus Argón, Sara García-Salinas, Ricardo de Miguel, Ana Rodríguez-Largo, Silvia Irusta, Victor Sebastián, Gracia Mendoza and Manuel Arruebo. Nanogels with High Loading of Anesthetic Nanocrystals for Extended Duration of Sciatic Nerve Block, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 13, 15, 17220–17235. 2021 April 6. [DOI]

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