+34 620 10 75 37info@nanbiosis.com

News U6

News U6

Infertility: Exosomal microRNAs in seminal plasma as sensitive and specific biomarkers of the presence of testicular spermatozoa for azoospermia

NANBIOSIS ICTS coordination equipment has recently received from researchers of Human Molecular Genetics Group of Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) a publication mentioning NANBIOSIS in the Acknowledgements for its participation in the results of its investigations. The article has been publish by the journal Human Reproduction of OXFORD UNIV PRESS  with Quartile 1/ Decile 1.

The study carried out by  Maria Barcelo, Ana Mata, Lluís Bassas, and Sara Larriba demonstrates the potential of several miRNAs contained in small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) of seminal fluid as sensitive and specific biomarkers for selecting those azoospermic individuals with real chances of obtaining spermatozoa from the testicular biopsy. The nanoparticle tracking analysis was performed by the ICTS NANBIOSIS  U6 Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit.

Article of reference:

Maria Barceló, Ana Mata, Lluís Bassas and Sara Larriba, Exosomal microRNAs in seminal plasma are markers of the origin of azoospermia and can predict the presence of sperm in testicular tissue Human Reproduction, pp. 1–12, 2018doi:10.1093/humrep/dey072

Read More

NANOMOL group, coordinator of NANBIOSIS Unit 6 collaborates with the VHIR in the developement of a new nanomedicine for the treatment of a childhood cancer

Within the MOTHER project (Molecule-based materials and supramolecular organizations for therapy, diagnosis and tissue engineering), the NANOMOL group from ICMAB collaborates with the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR), on the developement of a new nanomedicine for the treatment of high risk neuroblastoma, one of the most typical childhood cancers. Now, researchers from VHIR have identified new microRNAs that reduce the progression of this type of cancer.

The participation of NANOMOL group and NANBIOSIS unit 6 Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit, as experts in nanoparticles and nanovesciles for nanomedicine, is on the synthesis of the adequate nanocapsules to protect, stabilize and direct this microRNAs molecules to the cancer tumours. The near future goal is to be able to administer the identified microRNAs for the treatment of high-risk neuroblastoma.

For further information

Read More

NANBIOSIS Scientific Women in the International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Today February 11 is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a day to raise awareness of the gender gap in science and technology.

According to the United Nations, while yet women and girls continue to be excluded from participating fully in science, science and gender equality are vital to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Thus, in recent years, the international community has made a great effort to inspire and promote the participation of women and girls in science.

NANBIOSIS wants to acknowledge  the efforts made by scientific women who struggle every day to contribute their bit to Science and highlight their essential role in nowadays research. Especially we want to recognize the work of scientists women involved in our units, whatever is the nature of their contribution: technical, scientific development, management, coordination, direction, etc; just to mention some examples:
Neus Ferrer in the Scientific Direction of Unit 1 Protein Production Platform (PPP)
Pilar Marco and Nuria Pascual in the Management and Scientific Coordination of U2 Custom Antibody Service (CAbS) 
Miriam Royo in the Scientific Direction of U3 Synthesis of Peptides Unit
Laura Lechuga and M.Carmen Estevez in the Direction and Scientific Coordination of U4 Biodeposition and Biodetection Unit
Nora Ventosa and Nathaly Segovia in the Scientific Direction and Technical Coordination of U6 Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit
Isabel Oliveira and Teresa Galán in the Coordination of U7 Nanotecnology Unit
Rosa Villa and Gemma Gabriel in the Management and Scientific Coordination of U8 Micro – Nano Technology Unit
Gema Martínez in the Scientific Coordination of U9 Synthesis of Nanoparticles Unit
Fany Peña in the Scientific Coordination of U13 Tissue & Scaffold Characterization Unit
Mª Luisa González Martín in the of Direction and Scientific Coordination of U16 Tissue & Scaffold Characterization Unit
Gemma Pascual and Isabel Trabado in the Coordination of the U17 Confocal Microscopy Service
Mª Virtudes Céspedes in the Scientific Coordination of U18 Nanotoxicology Unit
Beatriz Moreno in the Scientific Direction of Unit 19 Clinical tests lab
Ibane Abásolo in the Scientific Coordination of Unit 20 In Vivo Experimental Platformt
Verónica Crisóstomo in the Scientific Direction of Unit 24 Medical Imaging 
Ana Paula Candiota in the Scientific Coordination of Unit 25 Biomedical Applications I 
Maria Luisa García in the Scientific Direction of U28 NanoImaging Unit from Bionand, recently incorporated to NANBIOSIS

Thanks to all of you and your teams!

Read More

NANBIOSIS Against Cancer

The World Health Organization, the International Cancer Research Center (IARC) and the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) celebrate February 4 of each year as World Cancer Day

Every year, 14 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed worldwide and the disease causes 8.2 million deaths.

Thanks to scientific research, great advances have been made in the fight against cancer. Through surgery, chemotherapy or radio therapy and, in the last 20 years, through immunotherapy, hormonal treatment or cell therapies, tools have been obtained to improve early diagnosis and treatments, increasing cancer survival by 20%.

The only way to understand cancer and, someday, eradicate it or eliminate the suffering and death due to this disease, is RESEARCH

NANBIOSIS as an ICTS (Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructures) for biomedical research plays a very important role in the fight against cancer. Some examples are bellow:

Thanks to a coordinated action between units U1 of Protein Production Platform (PPP), U18 of Nanotoxicology and U29 of Nucleic Acid Synthesis, NANBIOSIS is developing nanopharmaceuticals with a high degree of efficacy for the treatment of metastases in colon cancer, by using of proteins with high specificity of binding to metastatic cells and a high degree of permanence in the blood flow, loaded with anti-cancer drugs that are selectively released inside the tumor cells that are going to form the metastases. Through the public financing of a NEOTEC project and a RETOS-COLABORACION and the company NANOLIGENT SL, the first antimetastatic drug on the market will be developed.

The Protein Production Platform-PPP collaborates with research projects whose objective is the development of new cancer therapies based on recombinant modular proteins with the ability to self-assemble. These multimeric complexes have shown, in animal models, a high stability in serum and an improved biodistribution compared to that observed with drugs for clinical use. These principles have been valued in different types of cancer, including colorectal cancer and breast cancer. The modular design of these constructions allows the incorporation or substitution of direct peptides and therefore they are presented as a transversal tool for more effective treatments against cancer. In addition, the PPP has served the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) of Barcelona, the Josep Vilanueva group (CIBERONC) in the field of biomarker study and new targets associated with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Unit 6 of NANBIOSIS Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit is working on a project in collaboration with VHIR, financed by the Spanish Goverment and CIBER-BBN, for the development of a new nanomedicine for the treatment of high-risk neuroblastoma, one of the most frequent childhood cancers.

Unit 6 is also working on the project Artificial Lymph Nodes for Cancer ImmunoTherapy (ALYCIA) A project born of a initiative of CIBER-BBN/ CIBERONC to enhance scientific interdisciplinary collaborations between research groups working on oncology and nanomedicine. Researchers of unit 6 will develop Artificial Lymph Nodes (ALN) based on dynamic 3D scaffolds able to promote efficient ex vivo lymphatic cell expansion of relevant phenotypes. Such ALN represent a new approach to lymphocyte expansion, which not only includes artificial Antigen Presenting Cells in suspension like the state-of-the-art expansion techniques, but also mimics the function of the LN ex vivo.

One of the singular capabilities of the U25 of NANBIOSIS NMR: Biomedical Applications I is the acquisition of high quality, high resolution preclinical magnetic resonance imaging/spectroscopy/spectroscopic imaging data. This allows performing leading-edge studies in preclinical cancer models such as noninvasive therapy response follow-up in murine brain tumours, revealing new response biomarkers with translational potential for brain cancer patients.

NANBIOSIS U4 Biodeposition and Biodetection Unit  is currently developing the national project PREDICT Point-of-care Nanoplasmonic Platforms for Novel High-Value Diagnostics and Therapy Follow-Up , which works in the early detection of lung cancer. PREDICT project will use the Unit 4 of Nanbiosis for the multiplexed biofunctionalization of the biosensor chips and their methodology optimisation.

Finally, Unit 20 of NANBIOSIS In Vivo Experimental Platform at VHIR, is the most implicated of the CIBER units on projects in the field of cancer, just to name some of them: H2020-NoCanTher: magnetic nanoparticles against pancreatic cancer through the use of hyperthermia combined with conventional treatment. H2020-Target-4-Cancer: nanotherapy based on polymeric micelles directed against specific receptors of tumor stem cells in colorectal cancer. H2020-DiamStar: nanodiamonds directed against leukemia for the potentiation of chemotherapy. FET-OPEN EvoNano: in silico and tumor-tumor models for the prediction of PK / PD and tumor efficacy of antitumor nanomedicines against tumor stem cells. FIS-ISCIII: polymeric micelles for siRNA and combined therapy against breast cancer tumor stem cells. CarboXigel: hydrogels for the sustained release of chemotherapeutic drugs against the metastatic spread of ovarian cancer. MelanoMir: nanomedicine applied to skin cancer, melanoma, beside other projects promoted by CIBER-BBN.

Read More

Quatsomes. A new family of nanocarriers for drug delivery

The XXXVII edition of the Biennial Meeting of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ) will be held from the 26th to the 30th of May in Donostia-San Sebastian

Prof. Jaume Veciana, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS and unit 06  of NANBIOSIS -ICTS  Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unitwill present on May 28th 2019 a lecture entitled “Quatsomes. A new family of nanocarriers for drug delivery” at the Simposium “From Chemistry to Nanomedicine” (http://bienal2019.com/simposios.php). In this lecture the advantages and disavatages of such a kind of nanocarriers will be presentaed as well as some of their applications as nanomedicines.”

Deadline for sending abstracts: January 30 (http://bienal2019.com/en/communications.php) 

Early registration until March 2. 

There are scholarships available for students members of the RSEQ and for any of the groups indicated in http://bienal2019.com/becas.ph

Read More

Lysosomal Rare Disorders: Focus on Fabry Disease

Last November 19, Vall d’Hebron held a seminar  on Lysosomal Rare Disorders: Focus on Fabry Disease as  part of the Rare Diseases Program at the Vall d’Hebron Campus, in collaboration with the European Commission, the Center for Biomedical Research Network on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN) and the CIBBIM-Nanomedicine at Vall d Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) through the Smart-4-Fabry projec

In the  second plenary session, moderated by Nora Ventosa and Simó Schwartz, Scientific Directors of NANBIOSIS units 6 and 20 and devoted to New therapeutic strategies for lysosomal disorders, the speakers presented their findings regarding biomarkers, genetic variants and treatment protocols. Ibane Abasolo, Scientific Coordinator of NANBIOSIS Unit 20 gave a talk on Nanomedicine in lysosomal disorders. Project Smart4Fabry .

The Smart4Fabry project, coordinated by CIBER-BBN and with the participation of NANBIOSIS units U3 Synthesis of Peptides Unit, U6 Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit and U20 Functional Validation & Preclinical Research (FVPR), was described in the course of this specific day on lysosomal diseases and Fabry’s disease.

Read More

FUNCATH: Prevention of infectious diseases with functionalized catheters awarded by La Marató de TV3

FUNCATH project,  coordinated by scientists of NANOMOL  group, led by Dr. Imma Ratera, has been awarded by Fundació La Marató de TV3 .

NANOMOL is the research group that coordinates NANBIOSIS U6 Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit, from ICMAB-CSIC and CIBER-BBN.

Fundació La Marató de TV3 2017 call was dedicated to infectious diseases and awarded 36 projects among the 186 evaluated according to their excellence, methodology and relevance.

FUNCATH is the project for Prevention of infections related to vascular catheters by functionalizing catheters impregnated with thermically activatable hydrogels with broad spectrum antimicrobial agents, whose ultimate goal is the development of vascular catheters coated with multibiofunctional hydrogels with broad spectrum antimicrobial activity. The hydrogels will have two functions: first act as a 3D matrix that will support the active biomolecules, specifically cationic peptides (PC), with bactericidal activity against most of the bacteria involved in nosocomial infections and second will act as a protection against the degradation of the PCs until the medical device is used. The latter will be possible thanks to the thermosensitive nature of the hydrogel that will only expose the PCs after their contact with body temperature; which will activate the degradation of the hydrogel and allow the release of active biomolecules. Besides Nanomol group the project involves researchers from the Parc Taulí Hospital, the Hospital Clínic, and the IRTA. The project financing: € 375,078.75 for three years.

 

Read More

Nanoparticles characterization techniques of NANBIOSIS unit 6

The Unit 6 of NANBIOSIS, Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit, has organized during the days 8 to 11 of October in the ICMAB-CSIC a course of characterization of Nanoparticles showing some of their techniques to the CSIC researchers.

Amable Bernabé, the technician of unit 6 of NANBIOSIS has shown the theory and practice of some methods to characterize nanoparticles and how to handle the necessary equipment.

Specifically, these techniques were:

  • 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

being these techniques developed through the equipment of unit 6 of NANBIOSIS among which are:

These techniques are part of the physical-chemical characterization of the cascade characterization service offered by NANBIOSIS and its diffusion will facilitate the access to the NANBIOIS ISCT increasing demand of NANBIOSIS unit 6.

Read More

Prof. Jaume Veciana, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS: Olivier Kahn Plenary Lecture speaker at the ICMM 2018

Prof. Jaume Veciana, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS has been honored with the Olivier Kahn Plenary Lecture given at the 16th International Conference on Molecule-Based Magnets (ICMM 2018), held on September 1-5, 2018, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

For further information: click here

Read More

Conversion of Biomolecules into pharmaceuticas Leads using nanovesicles

Nathaly Segovia, Scientific coordinator of NANBIOSIS U 6, Biomaterial Processing and naostructuring unit, explains in this video what the objective of her unit , the services they offer and their technologies  in the field of drug delivery.

Read More