Laura M. Lechuga, group leader of the CIBER-BBN at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) and Sccientific Director of NANBIOSIS Unit 4 Biodeposotion Unit explains her research in an interview to CIBER Bulletin
Researchers of NANBIOSIS Unit 8 Micro and nano techonlogy unit, (Institut de Microelectrònica de Barcelona-CNM-CSIC/ CIBER-BBN ), led by Anton Guimera are coauthors of recently published article in the scientific magazine Nature Materials about the hidden brain activity, entitled “High-resolution mapping of infraslow cortical brain activity enabled by graphene microtransistors “
Recording infraslow brain signals (<0.1 Hz) with microelectrodes is severely hampered by current microelectrode materials, primarily due to limitations resulting from voltage drift and high electrode impedance. Hence, most recording systems include high-pass filters that solve saturation issues but come hand in hand with loss of physiological and pathological information. In this work, we use flexible epicortical and intracortical arrays of graphene solution-gated field-effect transistors (gSGFETs) to map cortical spreading depression in rats and demonstrate that gSGFETs are able to record, with high fidelity, infraslow signals together with signals in the typical local field potential bandwidth. The wide recording bandwidth results from the direct field-effect coupling of the active transistor, in contrast to standard passive electrodes, as well as from the electrochemical inertness of graphene. Taking advantage of such functionality, we envision broad applications of gSGFET technology for monitoring infraslow brain activity both in research and in the clinic.
Article of reference:
Masvidal-Codina, E., Illa, X., Dasilva, M. et al. High-resolution mapping of infraslow cortical brain activity enabled by graphene microtransistors. Nature Mater18, 280–288 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-018-0249-4
Unit 14 of Nanbiosis of Cell Therapy, led by Javier García Casado, has published a review on advances in the development of surgical meshes combined with stem cells. The work of the Nanbiosis team has been published in the prestigious journal “Acta Biomaterialia”
On March 11, the first meeting of the European project ABISens “Monitoring of Acquired Brain Injury and recovery biomarkers by the combined label-free nanoSensing of multiple circulating molecules” was held at the facilities of the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology ICN2.
This new initiative aims to offer a new platform for photonic nanobiosensors that allows the identification and quantification of multiple brain biomarkers in blood with high sensitivity and in a short time. The new platform will use nanophotonic circuits in combination with the chemistry of oligonucleotides.
Two units of NANBIOSIS participate in the project Unit 4 Biodeposition and Biodetection Unit, led by Laura Lechuga, as coordinator of the EURONANOMED-III project and recenttly incorporated unit 29 of Oligonucleotide Synthesis Platform lead by Ramón Eritja. The project, which will also work with researchers from the Maugeri Spa Società Benefit Clinical Institute (ICSM) of Italy and researchers from the University of Bordeaux (UNIBO) in France, responds to the clinical need to evaluate patients after brain injuries that cause disabilities serious. The final tool developed after the project will be validated in samples of 40 patients with brain injury.
The project, which will last for 3 years and has a budget of more than € 700,000, is financed by the call for transnational research projects in nanomedicine, within the framework of the European research network ERA-NET Cofund EURONANOMED III (2016- 2021) “European Innovative Research & Technological Development Projects in Nanomedicine (ENM III)”. At a national level, the Carlos III Health Institute will be the entity that will finance the coordinating group of CIBER-BBN
Researchers of NANBIOSIS U9 Synthesis of Nanoparticles Unit Manuel Arruebo and Víctor Sebastián have participated in a research published in the journal Nanomedicine
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that poses a serious public health problem and, according to WHO data, 10.4 million people became ill with tuberculosis and 1.7 million died in 2016. Therefore, advance in the development of new tools for diagnosis and treatment is essential and the use of nanoparticles could open a new horizon to deal with the infections caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
In this line, researchers from the CIBER at the University of Zaragoza, and at the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute, have demonstrated the superior effectiveness in-vitro after the use of polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles loaded with rifampin. (one of the drugs used in combination for the treatment of tuberculosis), compared to the effect of the free antibiotic.
Researchers have encapsulated rifampicin in nanoparticles, which in turn have been encapsulated in ‘Matrioskas’ type macroparticles, resistant to the acid pH of the stomach. In this way, the microparticles could be administered orally, a non-invasive way and well accepted by the patient, resist gastric degradation and reach the intestine. There the PLGA nanoparticles loaded with the anti-tuberculosis drug would be released and cross the intestinal wall to reach the systemic circulation and potentially the alveolar macrophages infected by the intracellular pathogen, co-locating the antibiotic-laden nanoparticles with the pathogenic agent. Nowadays rifampicin is administered orally, however it is well known that up to 26% of the dose delivered is degraded in the stomach.
These nanoparticles were able to migrate through an in-vitro epithelial membrane that mimics the intestinal wall and thus be able to fulfill its function of transport and controlled release of the encapsulated drug, which in this way avoids contact with digestive enzymes and with low pH. “This study will lay the foundations for future research based on nanoparticles, aimed at the in vivo evaluation of these nanoparticles with antibiotics in mice infected with tuberculosis,” explains CIBERES researcher José Domínguez.
The researchers of this study initiated their collaboration thanks to the TARMAC project, funded thanks to an initiative of the CIBER-BBN, the CIBERES and the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR). This project focused on the development of new tools for the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases of the respiratory tract, particularly tuberculosis.
Article of reference: Vanesa Andreu, Ane Larrea, Pablo Rodriguez-Fernandez, Salvador Alfaro, Begoña Gracia, Ainhoa Lucía, Laura Usón, Andromeda-Celeste Gomez, Gracia Mendoza, Alicia Lacoma, Jose Dominguez, Cristina Prat, Victor Sebastian, José Antonio Ainsa & Manuel Arruebo. Matryoshka-type gastro-resistant microparticles for the oral treatment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/full/10.2217/nnm-2018-0258
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