2017 - Nanbiosis

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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New gelatine devices that mimic the body’s activity in bone regeneration

The NanoBioCel Group, Coordinator of Unit 10 of NANBIOSIS has led the development of new scaffolds (such as burns, trauma or tumour extractions), to regenerate critical bone defects that, in addition to physical support, offers the opportunity to release growth factors temporarily replacing the bone matrix and aiding the regeneration of bone tissue.

In order to make the material biodegradable, and reduce the risk of rejection, “we use a collagen derivative, a gelatine that is produced by processing collagen, since it has been found to be less cytotoxic than collagen itself, but maintains the properties we were looking for”, explains Pello Sánchez, member of the NanoBioCel group. In addition, for the polymerization of gelatine proteins and scaffold cohesion, they used a molecule that is extracted from the fruit of gardenia, genipina, “because it has a lower toxicity to the cells.”

All the tests and processes carried out to know the properties, biocompatibility and possible cytotoxicity of the scaffolds have been satisfactory. Preclinical studies have been performed on animals with promising results, which are in the process of being published. The group is trying now to improve what has been achieved to date, such as introducing other elements such as calcium, or other growth factors, that improve regeneration.

The project is part of a new line of research promoted by Drs. Gorka Orive and José Luis Pedraz, whose research group NanoBioCel of the Laboratory of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology of the UPV / EHU and CIBER-BBN coordinates Unit 10 of NANBIOSIS, used in the research. They also have counted with the collaboration of UCA (Unit of Arthroscopic Surgery), and the work of the company AGRENVEC, which was the supplier of the growth factors.

Bibliographic referenc

Sánchez, J.L. Pedraz, G. Orive .. Biologically active and biomimetic dual gelatin scaffolds for tissue engineering. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 98: 486-494 (2017). DOI: 10.1016 / j.ijbiomac.2016.12.092.

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Unit 6 of NANBIOSIS-ICTS Biomaterials processing and Nanostructuring at ICMAB-CSIC received the visit of high school students

A group of 22 students from the high school La Serra (Mollerusa) visited the Biomaterials and Nanostructuring Unit of NANBIOSIS, at the Institute of Material Science of Barcelona of CSIC.

The visit was an activity within the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology festival 10alamenos9 in which ICMAB participates.

The students were guided through the labs by Amable Bernabé, technical responsible of U6, who explained them about nanotechnology, NANBIOSIS-ICTS research infrastructure and the different techniques available at “Biomaterials processing and Nanostructuring Unit”.

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NMR signal enhancement of >50 000 times in fast dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization

Jaume Veciana, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS-ICTS has participated in the research results published in the journal Chemical Communication, wich reports the synthesis and the study of a novel mixed biradical with BDPA and TEMPO radical units that are covalently bound by an ester group (BDPAesterTEMPO) as a polarizing agent for fast dissolution DNP. The biradical exhibits an extremely high DNP NMR enhancement of >50000 times, which constitutes one of the largest signal enhancements observed so far, to the best of our knowledge.

Some of the researchs were made taking advantage of the characterization facilities provided by ICTS NANBIOSIS.

For more information:

L. F. Pinto, I. Marín-Montesinos, V. Lloveras, J. L. Muñoz-Gómez, M. Pons, J. Veciana and J. Vidal-Gancedo*. Chem. Commun., 2017,53, 3757-3760. DOI: 10.1039/C7CC00635G

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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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NANOMOL group, coorditator of Unit 6 of NANBIOSIS has authored 26% of the scientific articles of ICMAB in NATURE

The Nature Index takes into account the published scientific articles from 1 February 2016 to 31 January 2017. This index is elaborated annually based on the affiliations of the authors of scientific articles published in a selection of 68 high-quality journals (http://www.natureindex.com/faq#journals)

CSIC appears as the first Spanish research centre in this ranking and occupies position number 38 in the global ranking of 500 research centres worldwide, while ICMAB occupies the first position within the CSIC centre, taking into account the corrected index WFC that shares the work between the different co-authoring institutions and corrects for the overrepresentation of some fields. Thus, ICMAB appears in the Nature index with a total of 42 articles out of which 12 have been authored by researchers of NANOMOL, showing a significant contribution (26% of the publications contained in this list) to the leadership of ICMAB in excellence in Science.

Some of the published papers were made taking advantage of the characterization facilities provided by ICTS NANBIOSIS

NANOMOL is a research group with wide expertise and recognized excellence in the synthesis, processing and study of molecular and polymeric materials with chemical, electronic, magnetic and biomedical properties, that continuously generate new knowledge in its basic and applied research projects regarding the micro and nano structuring of molecular materials. NANOMOL offers this knowledge to improve the properties of products manufactured in diverse sectors, such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals and electronics, thereby contributing to increasing their added value. NANOMOL is a research group actively involved in implementing nanotechnology and sustainable and economically efficient technologies for preparing advanced functional molecular materials. It is also the group coordinator of Unit 6 of NANBIOSIS and its Leader group, Dr. Jaume Veciana, is the Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS-ICTS

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JUMISC awarded with the Prize to the Best Research Practice

Last Friday, May 5, JUMISC was awarded in the 1st edition of Extremadura Health Prices, event organised by Sanitaria 2000, text-editor of the Redacción Médica, the most famous and specialised newspaper in its sector.

The contribution of the Extremadura Health Service and the regional health sector were awarded between the 56 nominations included in 14 categories. JUMISC obtained the award of “Best Research Practice”.

The event was held in the convent of San Juan de Dios, in Olivenza-Badajoz, and gathered the JUMISC’s Scientific Director, Mr. Sánchez Margallo (on behalf of the institution), together with other authorities and health managers.

A prestigious jury decided about winners in accordance to the following classification: The best public hospital, the best hospital service, the best physician, the best primary healthcare, the best health administration, the best research practice, the best private health institution, the best nursery practice, the best social responsibility for health, the best scientific society, the best technological contribution, the best association of patients and the best chemistry practice.

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New sensor for quick and easy detection of ecstasy

Spanish, Danes and Austrian researchers, including the group led by Ramón Martínez Mánez, coordinator of Unit 26 of NANBIOSIS, have developed a new sensor to detect ecstasy in a simple, reliable, fast and selective way.

Until now, this drug is detected by techniques such as capillary electrophoresis, spectroscopy or chromatography that require the use of expensive technical equipment and qualified personnel. The new method offers the advantages of easy use, low cost and high reliability according to Beatriz Lozano, a researcher at the Interuniversity Institute for Research on Molecular Recognition and Technological Development at the Universitat Politècnica de València and the group led by Ramón Martínez Mañez.

The sensor consists of a hybrid material including an inorganic carrier charged with a dye -fluorescein- and functionalized with an organic molecule derived from naphthol.

The dye is retained when the bluebox-molecule widely used in chemistry- is coordinated to the naphthol forming a molecular gate and in the presence of ecstasy in the analyzed sample, a variation of the fluorescence occurs, whose intensity varies as a function of the concentration of Drug detected.

“The affinity of BlueBox for different neurotransmitters such as dopamine had already been described, and because of the structural similarity between that neurotransmitter and ecstasy, we thought it would be a good idea to try to open the “molecular gate” in the presence of the drug and release the dye that gives the fluorogenic response”, explains Beatriz Lozano.

The characterization of the products by NMR was carried out by using facilities from NANBIOSIS-ICTS (unit 26)

Researchers are currently working on a new sensor for the detection of other synthetic drugs.

Reference Article:

Beatriz Lozano-Torres, Lluís Pascual, Andrea Bernardos, María D. Marcos, Jan O. Jeppesen, Yolanda Salinas, Ramón Martínez-Máñez and Felix Sancenón. Pseudorotaxane capped mesoporous silica nanoparticles for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in water detection. Chem. Commun., 2017, 53, 3559. DOI: 10.1039 / C7CC00186J

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2nd SUMMER SCHOOL OF EUROPEAN AND INTERNATIONAL SOCIETIES FOR NANOMEDICINE (ESNAM/ISNM)

The ESNAM / ISNM Summer School is co-organized by ESNAM and CIBER-BBN (led by Simó Schwartz, president of ESNAN and transfer manager of CIBER-BBN as well as Scientific Director of Unit 20 of NANBIOSIS).

The summer school is aimed at any student or professional interested in nanomedicine. It will count on the presence of speakers of recognized prestige in the area, among which are the Scientific Directors and Coordinators of several of the units of NANBIOSIS.

The ESNAM / ISNM Summer School will be held on 28-29 September 2017 at the Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona

The registration deadline with accommodation included ends on June 30

Program and registration details

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Laura Lechuga in the fight against cancer

Dr. Laura Lechuga, Scientific Director of Unit 4 of NANBIOSIS is highlighted in Cinco Días. Elpais Economía for its fight against cancer and, in particular, for the device developed with its team to detect the disease in matter of minutes

“Have you ever wondered why glucose meters are so smart that they just measure sugar? The answer is that they carry specific proteins that only interact with sugar, “explains the doctor. The same idea lies in the device designed by Laura Lechuga and her research group “With a minimum sample of the patient, it is possible to detect the presence of different diseases depending on the protein located in the micro-receiver, in an economic and fast way”.

Due to these characteristics, this developed technology, has great potential for greatly improving health in underdeveloped countries, as well as in other fields like measure the presence of pollutants or toxic agents in the environment.

In the news published by Cinco Días. Elpais Economía other scientists in the fight against cancer are interviewed, as Angel Raya (from CIBER-BBN) about the regenerative medicine.

More information here

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