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CRISPR technologies for Cystic Fibrosis treatment

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited genetic disease that mainly affects the lungs and the digestive system

On April 6, the first meeting was held, on the one hand, with people with Cystic Fibrosis and the Euskadi Cystic Fibrosis Association (Arnasa) and, on the other, with the NanoBioCel research group of the CIBER-BBN and the University of Basque Country, which is also part of the ICTS Nanbiosis through the Drug Formulation Unit U10.

The cooperative relationship between the NanoBioCel research group and Arnasa began approximately 5 years ago with the contributions made by the association to the NanBioCel group for research in cystic fibrosis.

The goup has focused on the development of non-viral vectors to address the treatment of cystic fibrosis through gene therapy. Progress is currently being made in the development of CRISPR technologies for its treatment.

This meeting was organized with the main objective of making those affected aware of the research carried out by NanoBioCel in cystic fibrosis and promoting associationism and collaboration between affected people and researchers to better understand the disease and find promising solutions.

The event was attended by almost 28 associates and many of the rest requested that the presentation of the researchers be recorded

Arnasa is the Cystic Fibrosis Association of the Basque Country and contributes with its work and activities to the promotion of general interest and the visibility of the disease, as well as to the improvement of the quality of life of people affected by the disease and their families.

In the picture: Increased activity of the chloride channel in CUFI cells transfected with non-viral vectors.

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New Summer School “The medicine of the future: Nanomedicine”

From 11 to 15 of July 2022 will take place the Nanomed-CSIC Summer School, organized by the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP), with the sponsorship and collaboration of the CSIC.

The Nanomed-CSIC Summer School brings together scientific experts from all over Spain in different fields of nanomedicine and is aimed at all research staff and students, at any stage of basic or advanced scientific training.

There are scholarships from the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) which application period ends on May 3, 2022. For further informations and appalications follow this link

The course reviews the latest international advances in areas such as personalized nanomedicine, nanopharmaceuticals for the heart, nanomaterials for clinical diagnosis, the use of nanoparticles in molecular imaging and discovers how metallic nanoparticles are obtained, as well as the identity biology of nanomaterials or antimicrobial nanomedicine.

The program includes 2 plenary talks, 2 daily thematic talks and round tables. The aim this summer school is to promote public participation and provide a global vision of the opportunities and challenges that nanomedicine represents in the four areas of study that will be developed at the school: nanoTherapy, nanoDelivery, nanoSensors and nanoDiagnosis, summarizing the main advances in the application of nanomedicine.

This summer school will be held face-to-face in Santander and remote connection will be available to follow the event

For futher information, program and registration for the Summer School visit UIMP

Nanomed CSIC Connection

Nanomed Connection is a scientific collaboration network created by CSIC in October 2021 to promote research in nanomedicine. The new network promotes a multidisciplinary approach to nanomedicine research to share knowledge and encompasses chemists, physicists and biologists.

NanomedCSIC is a platform open to all CSIC groups with active research in nanomedicine, which will promote this discipline through the application of technology at the atomic and molecular level to improve the detection and treatment of cancer, cardiovascular diseases and infectious pathologies, among others.

NANBIOSIS ICTS and Nanomed CSIC Connection

Sharing focus, lines and objectives, both networks collorate in the promotion and dissemination of nanomedicine research. The researchers leading the NANBIOSIS units created by CIBER-BBN at CSIC centers are active members of Nanomed CSIC Connection.

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OPEN SUBMISSION FOR FRONTIERS IN CHEMISTRY SPECIAL ISSUE ON NUCLEIC ACID-BASED APTAMERS IN THERAPEUTICS AND DIAGNOSTICS

Dr. Anna Aviñó, Scientific Coordianator of NANBIOSIS unit 29 of Oligonucleotide Synthesis Platform (OSP) and Dr. Carme Fàbrega from the Nucleic Acid Chemistry group from CIBER-BBN and IQAC_CSIC, together with Dr. Claudia Riccardi from the University of Naples Federico II, Dr. Stefania Mazzini from University of Milan, and Dr. Raimundo Gargallo from the University of Barcelona, acting as guest editors of the journal Frontiers in Chemistry, welcome authors to submit their articles on special issues on Nucleic Acid-Based Aptamers in Therapeutics and Diagnostics.

Nucleic acid‐based aptamers are short DNA or RNA sequences able to adopt specific three‐dimensional architectures. The high affinity and selectivity shown for a selected target, as well as the wide range of molecular targets, make aptamers a valuable alternative to antibodies in several biological applications.

Oligonucleotide-based aptamers have become an attractive tool not only in molecular biology research but also in modern medicine as precision instruments for molecular diagnostics, as sensing device and in therapy (as drugs or drug-delivery systems). Numerous improved methodologies for their selections and various applications, such as bioimaging, diagnoses, molecular therapies, and nanotechnology, have been reported to date.

This Research Topic will concentrate on the latest development’s nucleic acid-based aptamer chemistry. We encourage authors to submit original research and review articles dealing with all the aspects of aptamer research, including aptamer selection technology, engineering/modification strategies, characterization, development, and/or application of aptamers in therapeutics and diagnostics.

Manuscripts should be submitted on line on the following link.

Deadline for submission: 26 May 2022

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NANBIOSIS renews its accreditation as Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructure (ICTS)

The Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, chaired the XI meeting of the Council for Scientific, Technological and Innovation Policy, in which the update of the Map of Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructures, the ICTS Map for 2021-2024, was approved.

The ICTS are facilities dedicated to cutting-edge research of the highest quality, as well as to the transmission, exchange and preservation of knowledge, technology transfer and the promotion of innovation.

The map has 29 ICTS distributed among all the territories, includes NANBIOSIS, the Infraestructure for Production and Characterization of Nanomaterials, Biomaterials and Systems in Nanomedicine with its 26 units.

As a novelty, the update incorporates four new nodes or infrastructures associated with the ICTS. Specifically, the NASERTIC computing node in Navarra, the CIEMAT computing node in Extremadura and Madrid, and the Port d’Informació Científica data node in Catalonia are incorporated into the ICTS Red Española de Supercomputación, while the Center for Microanalysis of Materials is associated as a node to the new distributed Infrastructure of Applications Based on Accelerators. Likewise, Navarra incorporates an infrastructure to this map for the first time, an instrument that improves the management of ICTS and helps these organizations to access funding from the Ministry as well as regional and European funds, particularly the ERDF funds and the Recovery Funds and Resilience (MRR).

In this sense, the minister announced that the next call to strengthen the ICTS, scheduled for the first half of 2022, will allocate 38 million euros until 2025 to finance lines of investment associated with the construction, development, instrumentation, equipment and improvement of its scientific- techniques. The previous call, published in 2021, dedicated nearly 37 million euros to these infrastructures.

NANBIOSIS is one of the five ICTS in the area of health sciences and biotechnology. This thematic area has significantly increased its representation in the current ICTS Map. Under the concept of distributed ICTS, infrastructure networks have been established in the field of imaging, nanotechnology and omics sciences. In addition, the high biological safety laboratories are also reinforced, expanding the infrastructures of this type that offer their services.

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The coming revolution: synthetic DNA and RNA for therapeutic and diagnostic applications

The discovery of the mRNA vaccines for the treatment of coronavirus, as well as new medicines for the treatment of genetic diseases, has been important in the quest of solutions for undrugable diseases in an unexpected short-time.

Thus, the chemical modifications of nucleic acids with diagnostic and therapeutic purposes is now a reality, a revolution that promises to give hopes on unsolved medical problems or optimize previous approaches, largely due to the research push for the development of mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Now, the prestigious “The Chemical Record” journal has invited the Nucleic Acids Chemistry group, of IQAC-CSIC and CIBER-BBN and belonging to the Global Health Platform of CSIC, to describe the advances and modificacions of the nucleic acids in the last decade. The article, authored by Dr. Carme Fàbrega, Dr. Anna Aviñó and Dr. Ramon Eritja (coordinator and director, respectively, of Unit 29 of ICTS NANBIOSIS), reports the development of synthetic DNA and RNA for therapeutic and diagnostic applications.

The article describes the most important results from the Nucleic Acid Chemistry group in this area covering the international context that surrounded these studies. These include the development of modifications in potentially therapeutic oligonucleotides to enhance nuclease resistance as well as improving cellular uptake and avoiding side effects, and the advances in the use of DNA nanostructures in the controlled deposition of matter in surfaces and their potential application as drug delivery systems is reported.

Moreover, the article has been selected to illustrate the front cover of The Chemical Record, a journal of the Chemical Society in Japan, with a suggestive image that shows the research activity in this area. The back image is the three dimensional reconstruction of a DNA array described by the group of Dr. Seeman obtained by A. Garibotti in Barcelona. On the top the crystal structure of the Argonaute protein from the Protein Data Bank is shown. This protein is a natural player that helps the therapeutic action of RNA molecules. 

Read the full article in this link.

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Experimental & molecular medicine: a new article with NANBIOSIS U17

ICTS-NANBIOSIS. UNIT 17 CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY SERVICE. (CIBER-BNN. UNIVERSITY OF ALCALÁ)

The UAH research groupTranslational research of chronic diseases associated with aging and kidney disease has recently published an article in which unit NANBIOSIS unit 17 and Leica SP5 confocal microscope has had a great contribution

Located in the Support Center for Research in Medicine and Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Healthe Sciences, University of Alcalá (UAH). The Unit is equipped with a Leica TCS-SP5 confocal microscope. The confocal module is equipped with three spectral detection channels, AOBS (Acousto-optical beam splitter) and a resonant scanner system that allows analysis at high speed and resolution and makes possible the analysis of dynamic in vivo physiological processes in short periods, significantly improving the survival of living biological samples by shortening the exposure times to lasers. Includes an argon laser, a He/Ne laser, a DPSS laser diode and a violet excitation laser. The microscope is coupled to a cell incubation kit that allows multi-position time-lapse experiments. The equipment includes a workstation and four software for acquisition and analysis, which allow 3D visualizations, co-location studies, FRAP (Fluorescent Recovery after Photo-bleaching), FLIP (Fluorescent Loss in Photobleaching) and FRET (Fluorescence Resonant Energy Transfer). The equipment allows 3D characterization in detail of living cells and tissues through the use of different fluorochromes, expression and localization of molecules in 2/3D, colocalization and interaction of proteins or other types of molecules; endocytosis and intracellular transport, in situ hybridization with fluorescent probes, interaction studies between cells and materials, etc.

The unit provides researchers with a wide array of routine and specialized services as well as the latest advances in microscopy, including technical and scientific support to scientists for the study of cell/tissue biology, physiology and pathogenesis of diseases.

Article of reference

Campillo, S., Bohorquez, L., Gutiérrez-Calabrés, E., García-Ayuso, D., Miguel, V., Griera, M., Calle, Y., de Frutos, S., Rodríguez-Puyol, M., Rodríguez-Puyol, D., & Calleros, L. Indoxyl sulfate- and P-cresol-induced monocyte adhesion and migration is mediated by integrin-linked kinase-dependent podosome formation Experimental & molecular medicine, 2022, 54(3): 226–238. https://doi.org/10.1038/s12276-022-00738-8

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is an important cause of death in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Protein-bound uremic toxins, such as p-cresyl and indoxyl sulfate (IS), are poorly removed during hemodialysis, leading to vascular endothelial dysfunction and leukocyte extravasation. These processes can be related to dynamic adhesion structures called podosomes. Several studies have  indicated the role of integrin-linked kinase (ILK) in the accumulation of integrin-associated proteins in podosomes. Here, we investigated the involvement of ILK and podosome formation in the adhesion and extravasation of monocytes under p-cresol (pc) and IS exposure. Incubation of THP-1 human monocyte cells with these toxins upregulated ILK kinase activity. Together, both toxins increased cell adhesion, podosome formation, extracellular matrix degradation, and migration of THP-1 cells, whereas ILK depletion with specific small interfering RNAs suppressed these processes. Interestingly, F-actin colocalized with cortactin in podosome cores, while ILK was colocalized in podosome rings under toxin stimulation. Podosome Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP)-interacting protein (WIP) and AKT protein depletion demonstrated that monocyte adhesion depends on podosome formation and that the ILK/AKT signaling pathway is involved in these processes. Ex vivo experiments showed that both toxins induced adhesion and podosome formation in leukocytes from wild-type mice, whereas these effects were not observed in leukocytes of conditional ILK-knockdown animals. In summary, under pc and IS stimulation, monocytes increase podosome formation and transmigratory capacity through an ILK/AKT signaling pathway-dependent mechanism, which could lead to vascular injury. Therefore, ILK could be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of vascular damage associated with CKD.

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ISO 9001:2015 Quality Certification for the Soft Scientific and Technical Service at ICMAB and Unit

The aim of the quality certification obtained is to ensure the quality of the service provided and to continue with its improvement and extension to future services.

The Scientific and Technical Service for the characterization of nano and biomaterials, the Soft Lab, run by the Nanomol Research Unit of the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB, CSIC), and which is part of Unit 6 of the ICTS Nanbiosis, and CIBER-BBN, aims to offer characterization services of micro- and nanostructured soft molecular materials to the entire scientific community that requires them.

To this end, the Soft technical service has several laboratories at ICMAB equipped for the study of the stability of solutions, the study of particle size distribution, the determination of the density of porous solids, or the study of biomolecular interactions of materials, among others.

Following a series of audits that evaluated the Soft service’s characterization services, the service was awarded the ISO 9001:2015 quality certification at the end of 2021.

The ISO standard is the most widespread and recognised reference system for the implementation and certification of a quality management system, based on three axes: continuous improvement, customer satisfaction and involvement of all stakeholders.

The principles of quality management taken into account in the evaluation are: focus on the customers; management leadership; commitment with the people; process approach; continuous improvement; evidence-based decision making; relationship management.

Therefore, the Soft service is responsible, as reflected in the quality commitment agreement, for providing its services with the highest quality standards, and for the continuous monitoring of various indicators to assess the degree of compliance with the quality commitments, including the customer satisfaction degree. These statistics will be part of the corresponding quality reports and reviewed by the management team, as set out in the Soft/U6 Nanbiosis quality policy.

Congratulations to the Soft service and to all the Nanomol team for achieving this quality certification! 

ndp quatsomes mirna 03

Soft Service ICMAB / U6 Nanbiosis

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Researchers of NANBIOSIS U8 highlighted in the World Health Day

In the Picture: Gemma Gabriel and Rosa Villa

World Health Day is celebrated every year on 7 April (on the aniversary of the World Health Organization constitution) to raise awareness about the ongoing health issues that concern people across the world.

This year, Xarctec Salud has called the attention on patients with brain diseases and spinal cord injuries and has highlighted the GAB Lab. Biomedical Applications Group of the IMB-CNM-CSIC and CIBER-BBN, the group, led by Rosa Villa, coordinates unit 8 ICTS NANBIOSIS of Micro-nano Technology Unit.

https://youtu.be/wiA5oFc6Q48

The Xartec Salut is a network, led by CREB UPC, made up of 47 research groups that belong to 17 different institutions. It aims to be a catalyst for R+D+I in the field of HealthTech by Fostering the exchange of knowledge between research groups, institutions, hospitals and companies, promoting company creation and new career opportunities and offering more efficient instruments for technology transfer.

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Targeting of the breast cancer stem cells to improve the treatment of triple negative breast cancer

On April 1st PhD candidate Patricia Cámara Sánchez defended her doctoral thesis entitled “Targeting of the breast cancer stem cells to improve the treatment of triple negative breast cancer“, where ICTS-Nanbiosis Unit 20 participated in the in vivo assays. The thesis was supervised by Dr. Ibane Abasolo  (scientific director of Unit 20 from CIBER-BBN and VHIR). Nanbiosis was also present within the jury, with Dr. Ana Paula Candiota (scientific coordinator of Unit 25 from CIBER-BBN and UAB) acting as secretary.

Patricia Cámara graduated as biochemist, did the master’s degree in Translational Biomedical Research from VHIR-UAB. Shortly after, started the PhD, which was aimed at improving the treatment of very deadly subtype of breast cancer by using different nanoformulations to specifically target the cancer stem cells. The now doctor Cámara-Sánchez screened up to 20 small drugs with anti-cancer stem cell activity, found synergistic ratios with conventional chemotherapeutic agents, and finally developed polymeric micelles encapsulating selected drugs. During the discussion of the dissertation, the need of additional in vivo assays was highlighted, as well as the potential use of MR provided by the U25, to explore non-invasively the metabolomic differences between cancer stem cells and regular cancer cells.

‘I’m very grateful for the opportunity to have been part of this amazing project. It has been a very enriching experience’, she explains. ‘After 5 years of research, I finish the PhD feeling very proud of having contributed to the fight against this aggressive subtype of breast cancer’, she adds. From now on, new research lines will bring forward the synergies between both units of NANBIOSIS, reinforcing a collaboration started several years ago and reflected in joint papers.

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1st Meeting with Cystic Fibrosis Patiens (NanoBioCel -ARNASA)

Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. It is a genetic, degenerative and chronic disease, with a population incidence is 1 in 5,000, so it is considered among the so called “Rare Diseases”

The most common symptoms are continuous colds, repeated infections, decreased lung capacity, impossibility of fat absorption and malnutrition

As there is no cure for the disease, daily treatment is the only option to have an acceptable quality of life

The NanoBioCell Research Group, which coordinates unit 10 of NANBIOSIS of the CIBER-BBN and the UPV/EHU, has a wide experience in comprehensive research into effective therapies for the treatment of cystic fibrosis and related diseases has organized the ‘First meeting with cystic fibrosis patients’ in the collaboration with ARNASA Bizkaia, (the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Bizkaia, made up of affected people, their families and volunteers who collaborate with the association)

Registration is free here. After registration you will receive a link to the online meeting

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