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Five experts explain the results of the CSIC Global Health Platform after a year of research on the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

– Margarita del Val, Pilar Marco, Mario Mellado, Diego Ramiro and Iñaki Comas will disseminate, in a webinar through YouTube, the works on the disease, diagnosis and social impact
– The platform investigates the new coronavirus in six areas: prevention, disease, containment and diagnosis, treatment and vaccines, social impact and communication

Five experts from the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) will explain in a webinar broadcast on YouTube, on Wednesday, May 5 at 6:00 p.m., the results of a year of research at the CSIC on the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus carried out by the Global Health Platform. In the session, titled El CSIC y la covid-19. A year later, five coordinators of the platform will participate: the virologist and immunologist Margarita del Val, from the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Center (CBMSO-CSIC-UAM), who will moderate the debate; the nanobiotechnologist Pilar Marco, who leads the group Nb4D of CIBER-BBN/IQAC-CSIC and Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS unit 2Custom Antibody Service (CAbS); the demographer Diego Ramiro, from the Institute of Economics, Geography and Demography (IEGD-CSIC), the immunologist Mario Mellado, director of the National Center for Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC), and the biologist Iñaki Comas, from the Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia (IBV -CSIC). Interested parties may ask questions via email webinar@csic.es or live through the chat on the CSIC Comunicación YouTube channel.
The CSIC Global Health Platform, launched in March 2020, coordinates more than 100 projects to unravel the new coronavirus and seek medium and long-term solutions. The platform has mobilized and coordinates more than 300 research groups from more than 90 CSIC centers, out of a total of 120, in six work topics, which try to cover all aspects of the pandemic with an interdisciplinary approach: prevention, prevention, disease, containment and diagnosis, treatment and vaccines, social impact, and communication.
The platform has coordinated 100 research projects and actions, ranging from the development of antivirals and anti-inflammatory treatments, the monitoring of transmission, the study of the virus genome and the impact of mutations, the genetics of patients, their immune response to infection and vaccination, up to the launch of systems for diagnosis and containment of the virus.
The platform has also included studies carried out on the social perception of the measures, especially on the impact on nursing homes.

The Global Health platform has become a stable structure for scientific cooperation, as well as for the generation of patented technologies. Its consolidation, reinforcing its structure and coordination mechanisms, in particular the link with the clinical sector, prepares the body to face new challenges and opportunities, and for the development of initiatives with companies in Spain, necessary to configure a response to this and future pandemics.


The speakers
Margarita del Val (CBM-CSIC-UAM) is a virologist and immunologist. She coordinates the CSIC Global Health Platform, where she directs a project to characterize the immune response to infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and to vaccination.
Pilar Marco (IQAC-CSIC) is a nanobiotechnologist. She runs a project (POC4COV) to develop rapid detection tests for the coronavirus. The objective is to obtain low-cost tests to detect biomarkers of the virus using electrochemical technology and nanostructures.
Mario Mellado (CNB-CSIC) is an immunologist and directs the CSIC’s National Center for Biotechnology, which has become the agency’s center on research into treatments for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. At the CNB-CSIC, two vaccine prototypes for covid-19 and treatments with monoclonal antibodies are being developed, and drugs with possible efficacy to treat the new coronavirus are being screened.
Diego Ramiro (IEGD-CSIC) is a demographer and directs three projects to assess the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on residences for the elderly.
Iñaki Comas (IBV-CSIC) is a biologist and an expert in genomics. He co-leads a genomic epidemiology project on the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in Spain. His team has observed that there were multiple introductions of SARS-CoV-2 in Spain, but that only a few caused a large number of infections.

Source of information: CSIC

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Course on Introduction to Research and Laboratory Techniques in Biosciences

CCMIJU has organised the IV Course on Introduction to research and laboratory techniques in Biosciences, which wil take place at JUMISC from May, 3th to June 6th 2020 under the Direction of Javier García Casado, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS U14 Cell Therapy and Francisco Miguel Sanchez Margallo Deputy Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS. Other researchers of NANBIOSIS Units offer their expertise as Beatriz Moreno Lobato, Scientific Diector NANBIOSIS U19 and Luis Dávila Gómez, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS U22.

The course include:

KNOWLEDGE PILLS FOR RESEARCH
EXERCISES AND CASE STUDIES I
RNA and DNA: GENE EXPRESSION AND GENETIC STUDIES IN REPRODUCTION.
EXERCISES / CASE STUDIES II
PROTEINS AND PROTEOMA: PROTEIN EXPRESSION STUDIES AND PROTEOMIC MASS IDENTIFICATION / IDENTIFICATION.
CELL CULTURES: STEM CELL CULTURES, PRODUCTION FOR CLINICAL USES.
MISCELLANEOUS: HISTOLOGY, CLINICAL ANALYSIS, 3D BIOPRINTING AND ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION.
FINAL EXAMINATION

Further information and registration at Campus CCMIJU

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First Dresselhaus Prize of the SCN2 to María Jesús Ortiz

María Jesús Ortiz i Aguayo, graduate in Chemistry from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), has been the winner of the First Dresselhaus Prize, organized by the Catalan Society of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (SCN2), of the 2020 edition.

The award recognizes the work “Development of a pH microsensor for the determination of hydrogen sulfide based on Inkjet Printing“, supervised by Maria del Mar Baeza Labat (UAB) and Gemma Gabriel Buguña, from the Biomedical Applications Group GAB and NANBIOSIS U8 Micro– Nano Technology Unit from CIBER-BBN and IMB-CNM-CSIC
The student also did her TFG with Dra. Gemma Gabriel at the IMB-CNM.

The second edition of the SCN² Dresselhaus Awards, convened in September 2020 and held during the third wave of COVID-19 in Catalonia, closed on April 19, 2021 with the publication of the three winners this year. Only up to three paid awards and up to three mentions are awarded for high quality work according to the Jury evaluation, this year there have been no special mentions. The awards recognize the excellence of nanoscience work.

Further information here

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Supply, installation and implementation of a document control system, LIMS management and equipment, to enhance the capacities of the distributed ICTS Units (NANBIOSIS -AILIMS).

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) ‘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.

Within this last action, tender with reference number 02S/2021 on Supply, installation and implementation of a LIMS document control and management system, as well as the necessary equipment for its correct operation, has been published and has already been awarded.

The actions and their budget are here detailed: (VI) PROJECT REFERENCE: ICTS-2019-14-50), together with the FEDER co-funded rate.

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Uraemic toxins impair skeletal muscle regeneration by inhibiting myoblast proliferation, reducing myogenic differentiation, and promoting muscular fibrosis

Elena Alcalde‑Estévez, Patricia Sosa, Ana Asenjo‑Bueno, Patricia Plaza, Gemma Olmos, Manuel Naves‑Díaz, Diego Rodríguez‑Puyol, Susana López‑Ongil & María P. Ruiz‑Torres, are the authors of an article recently published in the Journal Scientific Reports, of Nature Research, ·mentioning the collaboration in the investigation of the ICTS “NANBIOSIS” U17 Confocal Microscopy Service of CIBER-BNN and the University of Alcalá.

Uremic toxins (UT) increase in the serum in parallel with a decrease in the glomerular filtration rate and the development of sarcopenia in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

This study analyses the role of UTs in sarcopenia associated with CKD in different stages of the disease.

Immunofluorescence and senescence assays were visualised using a Leica SP5 confocal microscope (Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar, Germany), through the Unit 17 Confocal Microscopy Service of the ICTS ‘NANBIOSIS’)

Through confocal microscopy studies in C2C12 cells (myoblasts), the role of high concentrations of UT in different mechanisms involved in the biology of skeletal muscle cells was observed. It was observed that they did not induce senescence (associated with beta-galactatosidase activity), but they did decrease the proliferative capacity of myoblasts, preventing the cells from entering the mitosis phase in a step prior to the condensation of chromosomes. Also, through confocal microscopy studies, it was determined that low concentrations of UT hindered myogenic differentiation of myoblasts in culture and promoted the expression of fibrosis markers” – explains Isabel Trabado, Technical Coordinator of NANBIOSIS U17

Article of reference: Alcalde-Estévez, E., Sosa, P., Asenjo-Bueno, A. et al. Uraemic toxins impair skeletal muscle regeneration by inhibiting myoblast proliferation, reducing myogenic differentiation, and promoting muscular fibrosis. Sci Rep 11, 512 (2021). [DOI] 

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Elena Aznar Gimeno (NANBIOSIS U26) leads a CIBER-BBN transfer project.

The CIBER-BBN transfer program, with its call for transfer projects, has selected two projects for next year with the aim of promoting the transfer of scientific or technological results, derived from the research carried out by the CIBER-BBN groups, to the industrial sector.

One of these projects selected is directed by Elena Aznar Gimeno, researcher from the group led by Ramon Martínez Máñez at the IDM-Polytechnic University of Valencia, together with an external group led by Javier Pemán García, from the La Fe Health Research Institute From Valencia.

The project has been jointly financed by CIBER-BBN and a company interested in the technology and will count with the participation of NANBIOSIS Unit 26 Biomedical Applications II

The CIBER-BBN call for transfer projects, which is now in its eighth edition, has financed fourteen projects with as many companies since its creation.

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Collaboration of two NANBIOSIS units in the Valorisation Project “ADVERT”

The Project ADVERT (Advanced Extracellular Vesicles for Enzyme Replacement Therapy) is a research valorisation project recently granted by CIBER.

The project pursues to advance the development of extracellular vesicles as treatments for lysosomal diseases, specially to bring new therapies to treat FABRY disease.

The ADVERT Project will count on the active particpation of two NANBIOSIS units of CIBER-BBN:

The project will be financed with € 20,000.

The CIBER-BBN transfer program

The CIBER-BBN transfer program through its call for transfer and valorization projects has been designed to promote the transfer to the industrial sector of scientific or technological results derived from the research carried out by the CIBER-BBN groups. These transfer projects will make it possible to support the commercialization of said results, since there is a company that has shown interest in them and that provides at least, the same financing than CIBER-BBN for their achievement.

The call for valorisation projects is in its fourth edition, having already financed a total of fourteen projects.

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Participation of NANBIOSIS U25 in the Valorisation Project MR-INITIATE

The Unit 25 of the ICTS NANBIOSIS will be enrolled, through its scientific coordinator Ana Paula Candiota, in a research valorisation project recently granted by CIBER: “Noninvasive MR-based ImagiNg of Immune sysTem action during glIoblastomA TreatmEnt (MR-INITIATE)”

Such project has the aim to increase the TRL of therapy response follow-up methods in glioblastomas, using technological approaches performed at  U25 of NANBIOSIS NMR: Biomedical Applications I

The project will be financed with € 20,000.

The CIBER-BBN transfer program

The CIBER-BBN transfer program through its call for transfer and valorization projects has been designed to promote the transfer to the industrial sector of scientific or technological results derived from the research carried out by the CIBER-BBN groups. These transfer projects will make it possible to support the commercialization of said results, since there is a company that has shown interest in them and that provides at least, the same financing than CIBER-BBN for their achievement.

The call for valorization projects is in its fourth edition, having already financed a total of fourteen projects.

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Launching the Preliminary Market Consultation Webinar of the TREMIRS Project: Minimally Invasive Robotic Surgical Systems

Cáceres, April 15th, 2021

The CCMIJU, as a beneficiary of the Innovative Public Procurement Program of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, through the project “Minimally Invasive Robotic Surgery Systems” (TREMIRS), will invest € 7,345,300 in the development of innovative solutions in surgical robotics to improve services provided to the patient, the surgeon’s ergonomics and offer greater benefits to the surgical team, thus achieving an increase in the quality of healthcare.

This ambitious challenge, 80% co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Programa Operativo Plurirregional de España (POPE) 2014-2020 and by the Consejería de Economía, Ciencia y Agenda Digital de la Junta de Extremadura, will last three years and will develop two innovative solutions in the field of surgical robotics, one focused on laparoscopic robotic surgery and the other on microsurgical robotics.

The first solution will facilitate new surgical approaches, provide improvements in surgeon ergonomics, advances in surgical assistance systems, and new portable training tools. The second will implement robotic micro-instruments for soft tissue manipulation and for performing microsurgical techniques such as anastomosis, suturing and ligation on small anatomical structures such as blood vessels, nerves and lymphatic ducts.

The development of both platforms will provide the National Health System and the Extremadura Health Service new equipment that is not currently available on the market and that will improve the quality of patient services and surgical results.

The project is currently in the preliminary market consultation phase as a prior action to the Innovative Public Procurement procedure for the aforementioned solutions. The purpose of this consultation is to obtain information about innovative solutions that respond to the challenges of the project through technologies that exceed the benefits of the existing ones. The results of this consultation will allow us to define the technical and functional specifications of the solutions to be achieved with a subsequent public procurement process.

You can find more information about the project and the preliminary market consultation at the free webinar on April 21, 2021 at 10:00 am.

Registration: https://www.ayming.es/insights-y-noticias/eventos/jornada-presentacion-consulta-preliminar-mercado-proyecto-tremirs-sistemas-cirugia-robotica-minima-invasion/

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New organ-on-chip models provide new information for targeted treatments in personalised medicine

Xavi Illa, Gemma Gabriel, Mar Alvarez and Rosa Villa, researchers of NANBIOSIS ICTS U8 Micro– Nano Technology Unit (from CIBER-BBN and the IMB-CNM-CSIC). are co-authors of two reviews that summarise the latest efforts in organ-on-chip technologies to emulate in vitro microfluidic systems. These devices are an opportunity to evolve the fields of biofabrication and sensing technology.

Organ-on-chip (OOC) technology has been an efficient tool in modern research to substitute laboratory mice and simulate tissue and organ-level physiology and function. In particular, these in vitro devices have been extensively applied to model the intestine, enhancing the research community’s knowledge about intestinal physiology and pathophysiology in order to develop targeted therapies for a more precise and personalised treatment of intestinal diseases.

Now, a review published in Biosensors & Bioelectronics signed by researchers of NANBIOSIS ICTS U8 Micro– Nano Technology Unit, collects information about the intestine models and highlights the necessity to integrate sensors into these in vitro models to shine light on the pathological mechanisms of intestinal disorders at their early stage. The detection of a disease at its early state would allow more efficient treatments and a better prognosis, reducing costs and enhancing the quality of life of the patients.

Last years’ research has had a significant impact in these complex microfluidic systems, though there is still a long way to go to increase biosensors capacity in their operations.

“The potential of the OOC technology is enormous. OOC technology may provide a true precision medicine, allowing the use of the patients’ own cells for performing drugs screening before treating the patient“, -explains Mar Álvarez– “To that end, we believe that the integration of sensors into this platforms is mandatory to understand and evaluate the functioning of the organ in real time, providing information that may be used for in-situ decision making”.

Hydrogel microfluidic platforms to improve the predictive capacities of the in vitro models

Another review article published by theese researchers in Applied Materials & Interfaces tackles the progress made in tissue barrier models, as they have a crucial role in regulating organ homeostasis. Current microfluidic systems do not properly mimic cells’ interaction, so recent developments have included biomaterials, such as hydrogels, to emulate these boundaries between tissues and external environment. A hydrogel acts as a microenvironment of the cell and it permits cell culture.

“The hydrogel mimics the real cell microenvironment, providing the mechanical cues needed to reproduce the proper organ physiology and function“, Mar Álvarez adds.

Recent developments in the fields of biofabrication show that hydrogels are able to mimic and change the tissue properties and dynamics, thus enabling an in vivo recreation for its reparation.

Articles of reference

Marrero D, Pujol-Vila F, Vera D, Gabriel G, Illa X,  Elizalde-Torrent A, Alvarez M, Villa R, Gut-on-a-chip: Mimicking and monitoring the human intestine. Biosensors and Bioelectronics. Volume 181, 1 June 2021, 113156. DOI https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c21573

Vera D, García-Díaz M, Torras N, Alvarez M, Villa R, Martínez E. Engineering Tissue Barrier Models on Hydrogel Microfluidic Platforms, CS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2021, 13, 12, 13920–13933 DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2021.113156

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