News U9

Conference on Nanotoxicity, next May 24, Parc Scientific of Barcelona

NANBIOSIS is organizing a Conference on Nanotoxicity in collaboration with Nanomed Spain and Materplat, next May 24 in the Parc Scientific of Barcelona, to debate about the efect of nanotoxicity of nanoparticles and nanotechnologies in health.

The increase of potential risks to health has created the new discipline of nanotoxicity, that is, the study of the toxicity produced by the effect of nanoparticles and nanomaterials. The objective of this day is to learn more about the lines that are being followed by researchers in the area of nanotoxicity, the progress of different projects in this field, as well as existing tools to know and reduce the toxicity of nanoparticles and nanomaterials.

Nanotechnology intervenes in the design, production and use of structures and objects that have at least one of its dimensions in the scale of 100 nanometers or less. This science is allowing the achievement of advances in various areas with great repercussions for society.

However, manufactured nanoparticles can have properties and effects very different from those of the same materials in conventional sizes, which may pose new risks to the health of man and other species. Some nanoparticles, which are used as a vehicle for drugs to reach the desired cells in greater quantities, to reduce the side effects of the drug in other organs or both, have the same dimensions as certain biological molecules and can interact with them.

The increase of potential risks to health has created a new discipline, nanotoxicity, that is, the study of the toxicity produced by the effect of nanoparticles and nanomaterials. The objective of this day is to learn more about the lines that are being followed in research in the area of nanotoxicity, the progress of different projects in this field, as well as existing tools to know and reduce the toxicity of nanoparticles and nanomaterials.

The event will count with the presentations of Jesús Izco, Executive Director of NANBIOSIS, Ibane Abasolo, Scientific Coordinator of NANBIOSIS U20 In Vivo Experimental Platform and Francisco Balas,Scientists of NANBIOSIS U09 Synthesis of Nanoparticles Unit

The assistance is free but it is necessary to register.

For further information, agenda and registration click here

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Posters presentation by NANBIOSIS Units in CIBER-BBN ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2017

Last 13 and 14 of November, CIBER-BBN has celebrated its 11th Annual Conference in Hotel Santemar in Santander. In this conference there was a poster session with the participation of the following Units of NANBIOSIS. Special mention deserves Unit 1 with Neus Ferrer as Director and Paolo Saccardo as Coordinator (in the picture):

Posters:

U1. Protein Production Platform (PPP):

Engineering protein complexes as nano- or micro-structured vehicles or drugs for human and veterinary medicine. Ugutz Unzueta, Naroa Serna, Laura Sánchez-García, José Vicente Carratalá, Olivia Cano-Garrido, Mercedes Márquez, Paolo Saccardo, Rosa Mendoza, Raquel Díaz, Héctor, López-Laguna, Julieta Sánchez, Anna Obando, Amanda Muñoz, Andrés Cisneros, Eric Voltà, Aida Carreño, José Luis Corchero, Neus Ferrer-Miralles, Esther Vázquez, Antonio Villaverde.

Units U1. Protein Production Platform (PPP) and U18. Nanotoxicology Unit:

Intrinsic functional and architectonic heterogeneity of tumor-targeted protein nanoparticles. Mireia Pesarrodona, Eva Crosa, Rafael Cubarsi, Alejandro Sanchez-Chardi, Paolo Saccardo, Ugutz Unzueta, Fabian Rueda, Laura Sanchez-Garcia, Naroa Serna, Ramón Mangues, Neus Ferrer Miralles, Esther Vázquez, Antonio Villaverde.

Units U3. Synthesis of Peptides Unit, U6. Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit, and **U20. In Vivo Experimental Platform**:

Synthesis of different length monodisperse COL-PEG-PEPTIDE to increase biodisponibility of multifunctional nanovesicles for Fabry’s desease. Edgar Cristóbal-Lecina; Daniel Pulido; Solène Passemard; Elizabet González-Mira; Jaume Veciana; Nora Ventosa; Simó Schwartz; Ibane Abasolo; Fernando Albericio and Miriam Royo.

Units U13. Tissue & Scaffold Characterization Unit and U17. Confocal Microscopy Service::

Preclinical behavior of medium-chain cyanoacrylate glue with two different surgical application forms for mesh fixation in abdominal wall repair. Gemma Pascual, Bárbara Pérez-Köhler, Marta Rodríguez, Claudia Mesa-Ciller, Ángel Ortillés, Estefanía Peña, Begoña Calvo, Juan M. Bellón.

Units U27. High Performance Computing and U8. Micro – Nano Technology Unit:

Inspiration and Expiration Dynamics in Acute Emotional Stress Assessment. Javier Milagro, Eduardo Gil, Jorge M. Garzón-Rey, Jordi Aguiló, Raquel Bailón.

U5. Rapid Prototyping Unit:

Poly-DL-lactic acid films functionalized with collagen IV as carrier substrata for corneal epithelial stem cells. Ana de la Mata, Miguel Ángel Mateos-Timoneda, Teresa Nieto-Miguel, Sara Galindo, Marina López-Paniagua, Xavier Puñet, Elisabeth Engel, Margarita Calonge.

U6. Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit:

Strategy for engineering myoglobin nano-traps for biomedical sensing technology. E. Laukhina, O. V. Sinitsyna, N. K. Davydova, V. N. Sergeev, A. Gomez, I. Ratera, C. Blázquez Bondia, J. Paradowska, X. Rodriguez, J. Guasch, Jaume Veciana.

Structure and nanomechanics of quatsome membranes. B. Gumí-Audenis, L. PasquinaLemonche, J.A. Durán, N. Grimaldi, F. Sanz, J. Veciana, I. Ratera, N. Ventosa and M.I. Giannotti

U7. Nanotechnology Unit:

Bioreceptors nanostructuration study for early detection of Alzheimer. José Marrugo, Dr. Samuel Dulay, Dr. Mònica Mir, Prof. Josep Samitier.

RGD dendrimer-based nanopatterns promote chondrogenesis and intercellular communication for cartilage regeneration. Ignasi Casanellas, Anna Lagunas, Iro Tsintzou, Yolanda Vida, Daniel Collado, Ezequiel Pérez-Inestrosa, Cristina Rodríguez, Joana Magalhães, José A. Andrades, José Becerra, Josep Samitier.

Long-range electron transfer between redox partner proteins. Anna Lagunas, Alejandra GuerraCastellano, Alba Nin-Hill, Irene Díaz-Moreno, Miguel A. De la Rosa, Josep Samitier, Carme Rovira, Pau Gorostiza.

U8. Micro – Nano Technology Unit:

Miniaturized multi-sensing platform for pH and Dissolved Oxygen monitoring in Organ-On-aChip systems. M. Zea, A. Moya, I. Gimenez, R. Villa, G. Gabriel.

Electrochemical characterization of SWCNTs based microelectrodes fabricated by inkjet printing. M. Mass, A. Moya, G. Longinotti, M. Zea, M. Muñoz, E. Ramon, L. Fraigi, R. Villa, G. Ybarra, G. Gabriel.

U9. Synthesis of Nanoparticles Unit:

In vivo imaging and local persistance of polymeric micro- and nanomaterials labelled with the near infrared dye IR820. Isabel Ortiz de Solórzano, Gracia Mendoza, Inmaculada Pintre, Sara García-Salinas, Víctor Sebastián, Vanesa Andreu, Marina Gimeno, Manuel Arruebo.

U10. Drug Formulation:

Cationic nioplexes-in-polysaccharide-based hydrogels as versatile biodegradable hybrid materials to deliver nucleic acids. Santiago Grijalvo, Adele Alagia, Gustavo Puras, Jon Zárate, Judith Mayr, José Luis Pedraz, Ramon Eritja

U12. Nanostructured liquid characterization unit:

Perfluorocarbon-loaded Nanocapsules from Nano-emulsion Templates as Microbubble Precursors for Biomedical Applications. G. Calderó, A. González, M. Monge, C. Rodríguez-Abreu, M.J.García-Celma, C. Solans.

Biodistribution study of polymeric drug-loaded nanoparticles in murine model. Marta Monge, Aurora Dols, Stephane Fourcade, Aurora Pujol, Carlos Rodríguez-Abreu, Conxita Solans.

U16. Surface Characterization and Calorimetry Unit:

Behavior and a comparative study between tantalum and titanium alloy implant surfaces against bacterial adhesion. M.A. Pacha-Olivenza, M.L. González-Martín.

Bacterial adhesion on calcium ion-modified titanium implant surfaces. M.A. Pacha Olivenza, R. Tejero, M. Delgado-Rastrollo, M.L. González-Martín.

Bioactive coatings to promote tissue regeneration and ingrowth into 3D custom-made porous titanium endoimplants (COATREG-3D). Santos-Ruiz L; Granados JF; Ruiz F; Yáñez JI; González A; Cabeza N; Vida Y; Pérez-Inestrosa E; Izquierdo-Barba I; Vallet-Regí M; Rubio J; Orgaz F; Rubio N; González ML; Peris JL; Monopoli D; Becerra J.

U17. Confocal Microscopy Service:

Subcutaneous implantation of a biodegradable apatite/agarose scaffold: biocompatibility and osteogenesis characterization in a rat model. Natalio García-Honduvilla, Gemma Pascual, Miguel A. Ortega, Alejandro Coca, Cynthia Trejo, Jesús Román, Juan Peña, María V. Cabañas, Julia Buján, and María Vallet-Regí.

U25. NMR: Biomedical Applications I:

Dual T1/T2 NCP-based novel contrast agents for brain tumor MRI: a preclinical study. Suarez, S; Arias-Ramos, N; Candiota, AP; Lorenzo, J; Ruiz-Molina, D; Arús, C; Novio, F.

Metronomic treatment in immunocompetent preclinical GL261 glioblastoma: effects of cyclophosphamide and temozolomide. Ferrer-Font, L; Arias-Ramos, N; Lope-Piedrafita, S; Julià- Sapé, M; Pumarola, M; Arús, C; Candiota, AP.

U26. NMR: Biomedical Applications II:

Gated nanodevices for innovative medical therapies. Maria Alfonso, Irene Galiana, Beatriz Lozano, Borja Diaz de Greñu, Cristina de la Torre, Andrea Bernardos, Sameh El Sayed, Daniel MuñozEspin, Miguel Rovira, José Ramón Murguía, Manuel Serrano, Ramón Martínez-Máñez.

NANOPROBE: Gated sensing materials and devices for the detection of infectious diseases and urological cancer. Ángela Ribes, Luís Pla, Sara Santiago-Felipe, Alba Loras-Monfort, M.Carmen Martínez-Bisbal, Elena Aznar, Guillermo Quintás-Soriano, José Luis Ruiz-Cerdá, María Angeles.

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Gold nanoparticles can activate drugs inside tumors

Jesus Santamaría, Scientific Director of Unit 9 of NANBIOSIS has participated in a study that shows the ability of gold nanoparticles to generate in situ potent anticancer drugs from inert molecules thanks to a mechanism of elimination of terminal chemical groups that nanometric gold is able to catalyze. Gold is ideal for this catalytic role due to its high biocompatibility.

These results, published in the journal Angewandte Chemie, offer new hope in the fight against cancer and have been obtained thanks to the collaboration of scientists of Unit 9 of NANBIOSIS and, Víctor Sebastián, Silvia Irusta and Jesús Santamaría, with researchers from the Center for Cancer Research at the University of Edinburgh, led by Dr. Unciti-Broceta.

The work reveals the possibility of carrying out catalysis in biological means using tiny particles of gold. These gold nanoparticles, camouflaged in a resin microcapsule implanted in the brain of a zebrafish, have succeeded in catalyzing a chemical reaction generating fluorescent compounds.

Significant practical importance

“The main problem of chemotherapy treatments are the side effects in various organs due to the toxicity of the molecules that are used to fight cancer. For this reason, alternative routes are explored from nanotechnology, for example, transporting drugs to the tumor using nanoparticles or alternative treatments to drugs, such as hyperthermia, elevation of local temperature, obtained with nanoparticles”, says Jesús Santamaría.

The conclusions of this work suggest a different way: the drug would be supplied to the patient in its inert form and only converted to the toxic form locally, thanks to the catalysis of the nanoparticles that a surgeon would implant in the tumor.

Article of reference

Pérez-López, A. M., Rubio-Ruiz, B., Sebastián, V., Hamilton, L., Adam, C., Bray, T. L., Irusta, S., Brennan, P. M., Lloyd-Jones, G. C., Sieger, D., Santamaría, J. and Unciti-Broceta, A. (2017). “Gold-Triggered Uncaging Chemistry in Living Systems”. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.. doi:10.1002/anie.201708379

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Platform2nano research by Víctor Sebastián, (Unit 9 of NANBIOSIS) awarded Marie Skłodowska-Curie

The Platform2nano research project (2012-2016) has just been awarded a second prize in the “Contribution for a better society” category, at the “Mobility Takes Research Further” conference organized by Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA 2017) in the framework of the Presidency of Malta of the Council of the European Union. More than 195 researchers from 30 nationalities who have developed their scientific work through the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Scholarships were presented to these awards.

The project “Development of a microfluidic platform to produce nanomaterials and assessment on new nanotechnology applications” in which participate the researchers Manuel Arruebo, Laura Usón, Isabel Ortiz de Solorzano y Jesús Santamaría members of the group Nanostructured Films and Particles -NFP, coordinator of Unit 9 of NANBIOSIS, was rated as excellent for its outstanding contribution to the design of a wide variety of nanomaterials through efficient technologies and for its multiple applications in different fields of great social interest such as biomedicine or energy processes.

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Nanotechnology and biomedical applications. Gene therapy

Yesterday, at the University of Zaragoza, Prof. Nuria Vilaboa (CIBER-BBN– Hospital Universitario de La Paz) gave a talk on “Nanotechnology and biomedical applications. Gene therapy“.

The event was organized by Manuel Arruebo II Institute of Nanoscience of Aragon), researcher of the coordinating group of Unit 9 of NANBIOSIS.

In recent years, a multitude of materials of nanometric size have been explored, which because of their small size have properties that give them a great attraction for a wide range of biomedical applications. Prof. Vilaboa reviewed gene therapy technology, where materials at nanoscale offer interesting alternatives.

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J. Santamaría, U9 NANBIOSIS gets 2.5M € to develop a revolutionary cancer treatment

Jesús Santamaría, Scientific Director of Unit 9 of NANBIOSIS, has obtained, for the second time in six years, an ERC Advanced Grant, one of the most prestigious and extremely competitive European research grants, restricted to senior researchers with a research trajectory of high quality for more than ten years.

The CADENCE (Catalytic Dual-Function Devices Against Cancer) project will be financed by the EU with 2.5M € to work for five years with a powerful team: four own researchers and seven others to be selected from candidates from all over the world.

With this project the researchers propose a revolutionary cancer treatment to be developed and tested. “The central idea of the project is to consider the tumor as a chemical reactor in which catalysts can be introduced. A catalyst is agent capable of directing chemical reactions and, in this case, would destroy molecules that are useful for the tumor and generate toxic products inside the tumor. The project thus has the potential to add a new member -catalysis- to the toolbox in oncology And if we could do within the tumor cells themselves we would have a very powerful tool. It would be to use catalysis as an arsenal in oncology “, explained Jesús Santamaría. But in addition to developing catalysts that can work successfully under intratumoral conditions (temperature, oxygen concentration, pH), a method must be devised to bring those catalysts selectively into the tumor either through the capillaries by which it extends or Or inside mesenchymal stem cells, as a Trojan horse. Finally, the project contemplates activating the catalysts remotely by infrared radiation, once they have achieved their goal. There are already initial results of the group that allow to glimpse possibilities of achieving these three objectives. A central part of the project will be the synthesis of catalytic nanomaterials. For this, the capabilities of NANBIOSIS-ICTS will be intensely used”

Jesús Santamaría, believes that CADENCE has been selected because it is a new idea and, a priori, could be used in all types of tumors. “It’s new, it’s interesting and we’re going to contract the best researchers, because we’re going to need them,” he said. Among others, they will need experts in oncology, in photocatalysis and in modulation of bioreactors. .

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Three Scientifics of NANBIOSIS in University of Zaragoza ERC 10 years celebration event

2017 is the year of the X Anniversary of the European Research Council (ERC), created to finance research projects of excellence at the frontier of knowledge of any scientific discipline.

The structure of the ERC consists of an autonomous scientific council made up of 22 distinguished scientists supported by an executive agency that is responsible for implementing the program, organizing the evaluation and managing the aid.

The University of Zaragoza, hosting three units of NANBIOSIS, joined the celebrations with an event that took place on March 15. Among the assistants, three Scientists of NANBIOSIS recognized with ERC:

Jesús Santamaría, Scientific Director of Unit 9 of NANBIOSIS, received an Advanced Grant, on the senior side, with a funding of 1.85 M. for his project Héctor.

Manuel Arruebo, researcher of the group of Nanostructured Films and Particles, coordinator of Unit 9 of NANBIOSIS, obtained the Consolidator Grant endowed with 1.5 M of euros with a Nanobiomedicine project.

Esther Pueyo, researcher of the group BSICoS, coordinator of Unit 27 of NANBIOSIS, obtained an ERC Started Grant for her Modelage project, financed with 1.5 M euros.

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Titania-coated gold nanorods with expanded photocatalytic response

New communication in the Journal Nanoscale, from the Royal Society of Chemistry by NFP Group, coordinator of Unit 9 of NANBIOSIS.

Jesús Santamaría, Scientific Director of Unit 9 of NANBIOSIS together with other authors of the Nanostructured Films and Particles (NFP) Group, coordinator of Unit 9 of NANBIOSIS, has published on February 7, 2017, a Communication in the Journal Nanoscale, from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The syntheses of materials during the research have been performed by the Platform of Production of Biomaterials and Nanoparticles of the NANBIOSIS ICTS, more specifically by the Nanoparticle Synthesis Unit, as stated in the publication.

Gold nanorods coated with a uniform titanium dioxide nanoshell have been prepared and used as glucose-oxidase surrogates. Remarkably, this core–shell photocatalytic nanostructure has been able to induce complete oxidation of glucose at near room temperature (32–34 °C) in a wide range of pH values with the aid of a near-infrared (NIR) irradiation source. In contrast, the uncoated gold nanorods exhibit negligible photo-oxidation response under identical experimental conditions thereby proving the photoactivity of the titania shell towards glucose oxidation. The process takes place via in situ photo-generation of singlet oxygen or hydroxyl radicals as reactive oxidative species (ROS). This underlines the role played by the core nanorods as plasmonic light harvesters in the NIR range and constitutes the first example of a NIR-activated enzyme-like catalyst.

Article of reference:

Ortega-Liebana MC, Hueso JL, Arenalcd R, Santamaria J. Titania-coated gold nanorods with expanded photocatalytic response. Enzyme-like glucose oxidation under near-infrared illumination. Nanoscale, 2017, 9,5, 1787-1792

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Conference on Nanotoxicity, next May 24, Parc Scientific of Barcelona