Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia

Online IBEC Seminar: Javier Ramón
2020-04-17 10:00 - 12:00 (Europe/Madrid)
Bioprinting methods for organ-on-a-chip applications

Javier Ramón , IBEC
Engineered tissues in three-dimensional (3D) cell culture platforms that resemble the complex native structure and organization can be used as in vitro models to study tissues physiology and metabolism. Our technology allows us to develop a new platform to model metabolic and muscle diseases in vitro in order to study its response to candidate therapeutics and to better understand disease mechanisms of pathogenesis. To this end, we monitor the secretion of disease-associated biomarker proteins and metabolites.
Here, we present 3D skeletal muscle constructs, fabricated by encapsulating C2C12 cells and pancreatic mouse islets in a photocrosslinkable Gelatin Methacrylate (GelMA) and Carboxymethylcellulose Methacrylate (GelMA:CMCMA) hydrogel and cryogel scaffolds. These scaffolds present a microgrooved topography that promotes cell alignment and differentiation. These 3D tissues are integrated with biosensors for in situ monitorization of cytokines and hormones released under different external stimuli, toxins, drugs or electrical stimulation.
We have obtained a new platform to study the evolution of congenital muscle diseases, specifically myotonic dystrophy 1 and evaluate the functional tissues by metabolic and gene expression analysis. Monitor the secretion of biomarkers proteins, metabolites, and the glycolysis pathway of muscle tissues for different drug candidates. Discussion: This platform has been tested with different drugs assays and represent a step toward the goal of producing in vitro drug testing systems for medical and pharmaceutical industry applications. Finally, such “multi tissue-on-a-chip” devices can be fabricated using patient’s own cells as a major step toward personalized medicine.
The seminar will take place online at the GoToMeeting Platform
Know more about Javier Ramón’s research here

Online IBEC Seminar: Lorenzo Albertazzi
2020-04-21 16:00 - 17:00
A super-resolved look at nanomedicine

Lorenzo Albertazzi , IBEC
Nanomaterials revolutionized the field of biomedicine introducing innovative approaches towards drug delivery, molecular imaging, regenerative medicine and biosensing. However, despite the large investments in nanotechnology the translation into clinical applications is still unsatisfactory. One of the main reasons is the lack of knowledge about the behavior of nanostructures in the biological environment that makes the rational design of effective materials extremely challenging.
The main aim of our group is to use advanced microscopy techniques to understand the interactions of nanomaterials with living matter and to exploit this information to design novel devices for biomedical applications with a particular focus on drug delivery. To this goal we employ innovative optical imaging techniques such as super resolution microscopy to visualize and understand the molecular interactions of nanomaterials with their cellular targets in unprecedented detail. Super resolution microscopy techniques such as stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) and point accumulation for imaging in nanoscale topography (PAINT) offer nanometric resolution and multicolor ability, therefore they are ideal tools to study nano-sized multicomponent functional objects in vitro and in cells. This allows to get a closer “look” at the mechanisms of the key phenomena responsible for device performances such as particle stability, protein corona and targeting. The fundamental knowledge acquired will pave the way towards the “microscopy-guided” design of novel nanomaterials for drug and gene delivery.
The seminar will take place online at the GoToMeeting Platform
Know more about Lorenzo Albertazzi’s research here

Online IBEC Seminar: Samuel Sánchez
2020-04-28 16:00 - 18:00
BioEngineering Hybrid Robotic Machines: from nanobots to 3D Bioprinted Robots

Samuel Sánchez , IBEC
The combination of biological components and artificial ones emerges into what we called hybrid machines/bots/robots. Here, I will present two types of hybrid systems that we are currently developing in our lab which span across different length scales, from a few nanometers to centimeters.
Alike bacteria or small swimmers found in nature, these artificial nanobots convert bio-available fuels to generate propulsion force to swim at the nanoscale. One of the dreams in nanotechnology is to engineer small vehicles which can eventually be applied in vivo for medical purposes. In the first part of my talk, I will present how we bioengineer our hybrid nanobots combining the best from the two worlds: biology (enzymes) and (nano)technology (nano- micro-particles) providing swimming capabilities, biocompatibility, remote control, multifunctionality and actuation. I will present some of the proof-of-concept applications such as the efficient transport of drugs into cancer cells and spheroids, sensing capabilities and the use of molecular imaging techniques for their tracking and localization both in vitro and in vivo.
In the second part of my talk, I will present the 3D bioprinting technique to fabricate hybrid 3D BIOBOTS which provides flexibility, scalability, rapid prototyping and simplicity. This technique has emerged as a powerful tool for the development of functional three-dimensional tissues and, in particular, skeletal muscle. By electrical stimulation, we studied the adaptability of 3D hybrid Robots after long-term trainings and the force evolution during the trainings together with the dynamic gene expression. Two types of devices are bioengineered in our lab: (i) 3D Actuators which useful force measurement platform for drug screening against dystrophies and (ii) 3D BIOBOTS that can be a next generation of living soft robotics systems with swimming capabilities.
The seminar will take place online at the GoToMeeting Platform
Know more about Samuel Sánchez’s research here

Online IBEC Seminar: Elena Martínez
2020-05-08 10:00 - 12:00
Development of biomimetic models of intestinal tissue: guiding cellular self-organization through biofabrication techniques

Elena Martínez , IBEC
Epithelial tissues contain three-dimensional (3D) microstructures that guide cell self-organization at the tissue level. In the small intestine, crypts and finger-like villi microstructures improve its absorbance function, provides specific microenvironments and compartmentalizes cell types. Despite its physiological relevance, tissue architecture and multicellular population are neglected in the standard in vitro models, thus compromising their predictive capabilities. Our efforts in addressing these shortcomings by including key elements to mimic the native tissue in vitro will be discussed in this talk. First, this will include strategies to promote cell’s self-organization capabilities giving rise to crypt-villus domains on 2D monolayers, and strategies to engineer cell spatial positioning through micropatterning. Then, our approach to include the 3D architecture of the tissue will be addressed. In here, light-based biofabrication techniques to produce 3D villus-like structures will be discussed. Finally, I will introduce our biofabrication proposal to produce tissue engineered models that include the epithelial and the stromal compartments. Improving the prediction capabilities of cell-based assays is a growing strategy to lead to more efficient drug development processes. As 2D-based systems are showing their limits, new 3D strategies are gaining acceptance among the scientific community. Our approaches aim to further accelerate this trend by providing feasible strategies to routinely incorporate 3D multicellular structures at the tissue level in cell culture systems.
The seminar will take place online at the GoToMeeting Platform
Know more about Elena Martínez’s research here

Online IBEC Seminar: Gabriel Gomila
2020-05-15 10:00 - 12:00
Multiscale approach to bioelectricity

Gabriel Gomila , IBEC
Understanding how electricity is generated and propagated in living systems is key to understand many physiological processes and to develop medical instruments for diagnosis, monitoring and therapy.
In this seminar I will present the multiscale approach to bioelectricity developed in our research group at IBEC, which covers from multicellular systems to single biomolecules, with an emphasis on passive electrical properties. Topics will include novel devices for electrophysiological recordings, novel routes and structures for extracellular electron transfer in bacterial cells, on-chip impedance flow cytometry, label-free electrical methods for microbiology and nanoscale electrical mapping of single cells.
The seminar will take place online at the GoToMeeting Platform
Know more about Gabriel Gomila’s research here

Online IBEC Seminar: Giuseppe Battaglia
2020-05-29 10:00 - 12:00
Bionics at the molecular level: copying Nature to control Nature

Giuseppe Battaglia , IBEC

A very established approach in medicine involves the replacement of organs or other malfunctioning body parts by synthetic versions, engineered to mimic (or even augment it, if you allow the sci-fi digression) the original function. Bionics is a very established medical discipline where engineering spouses the life sciences, creating exquisite combinations. With the help of nanoscience and nanotechnology, we can now push such an effort down to the molecular level. In our group, we fabricate synthetic surrogates of trafficking vesicles, viruses and, one day perhaps, even a whole cell. Such molecular bionic units offer more efficient solutions to deliver drugs, to probe life at the nanoscale, and to act as a model to understand biological complexity.

Our efforts are intrinsically multidisciplinary, and we mix chemistry, physics and biology in all we do. We typically start studying biological complexity, with a strong focus on transport, trafficking and multivalent interactions (Physical Biology). To help this, we develop new tools to look at biological systems in four dimensions capturing life’s spatiotemporal patterns (Microscopy). We thus apply a constructionist approach where we mimic biological complexity in the form of design principles such as compartmentalisation, multivalency and taxis, to produce functional units from simple building blocks and their interactions (Molecular Engineering).​ Finally, we apply the resulting constructs to tackle disorders such as cancer, neurodegeneration, inflammation, and infections (Nanomedicine).

Today, I start introducing our research activities giving a few examples of each segment, to eventually focus my seminar on one of the latest and most exciting developments, our understanding of multivalent interaction and how these control crucial biological processes, such as cellular selectivity and trafficking.

The seminar will take place online at the GoToMeeting Platform
Know more about Giuseppe Battaglia’s research here

Online IBEC Seminar: Benedetta Bolognesi
2020-06-05 10:00 - 12:00
Deep mutagenesis to understand Protein Phase Transitions

Benedetta Bolognesi , IBEC
Specific insoluble protein aggregates are the hallmarks of many neurodegenerative diseases. Whether the protein aggregates themselves or other forms of the proteins are toxic to cells is still unclear in many of these diseases. This lack of understanding of the causes of cellular toxicity is reflected in the general failure of multiple therapeutic approaches so far attempted. The causes of this rely mainly on the lack of systematic approaches able to estimate in parallel the effect of mutations on cell viability as well as on protein conformation. Our lab uses deep mutagenesis as a systematic and unbiased approach to identify and investigate the toxic species of proteins.
In this seminar I will explain how we used this approach to report on the toxicity of thousands of protein sequences and how, more recently, we adapted this method to track more specific biochemical processes, such as amyloid nucleation. Overall, the results I will discuss demonstrate that deep mutagenesis is a powerful approach to study intrinsically disordered proteins and also illustrate that it can be used to genetically validate assays as discovery platforms.
The seminar will take place online at the GoToMeeting Platform
Know more about Benedetta Bolognesi’s research here

Online IBEC Seminar: Pere Roca-Cusachs
2020-06-26 10:00 - 12:00 | IBEC
Sensing the matrix: transducing mechanical signals from integrins to the nucleus

Pere Roca-Cusachs , IBEC
Cell proliferation and differentiation, as well as key processes in development, tumorigenesis, and wound healing, are strongly determined by the properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM), including its mechanical rigidity and the density and distribution of its ligands. In this talk, I will explain how we combine molecular biology, biophysical measurements, and theoretical modelling to understand the mechanisms by which cells sense and respond to matrix properties.
I will discuss how the properties under force of integrin-ECM bonds, and of the adaptor protein talin, drive and regulate matrix sensing. I will further discuss how this sensing can be understood through a computational molecular clutch model, which can quantitatively predict the role of integrins, talin, myosin, and ECM receptors, and their effect on cell response. Finally, I will analyze how signals triggered by rigidity at cell-ECM adhesions are transmitted to the nucleus, leading to transcriptional regulation.
The seminar will take place online at the GoToMeeting Platform
Know more about Pere Roca-Cusachs’ research here

Online IBEC Seminar: Santiago Marco
2020-07-03 10:00 - 12:00
Signal and Data Processing Workflows for Untargeted Chemical Analysis: Sensor Array and Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Complex Gas Samples
Santiago Marco , IBEC
In diverse sectors such as health, food, environment, complex natural gas samples are analysed. Those samples can contain hundreds or thousands of compounds. In many cases, the question to be answered does not require full separation, quantification, and identification of all compounds. Instead detection of abnormal samples (normal/ faulty), assignation of classes to samples (e.g.healthy/disease), or evaluation of global quantitative indexes (e.g odour intensity) is required.
The analysis of gas phase samples can be carried out with high-end lab equipment based on Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry or lower cost systems based on chemical sensors. In all cases, the resulting raw signals/data need substantial efforts to extract the hidden information. In health applications the problem of biomarker discovery becomes like finding a needle in a haystack. Intimate knowledge of the instrumental problems and the sampling conditions is key for the correct interpretation of the results.
These problems are often addressed by building mega-variate predictive models using tools from machine learning. However, in small sample conditions the possibilities to obtain overoptimistic results abound due to the curse of dimensionality. Careful model validation and statement of model validity domains is needed.
The seminar will take place online at the GoToMeeting Platform
Know more about Santiago Marco’s research here

Online IBEC Seminar: Xavier Trepat
2020-11-13 10:00 - 12:00
Mechanobiology of intestinal organoids

Xavier Trepat, IBEC
Intestinal organoids capture essential features of the intestinal epithelium such as folding of the crypt, spatial compartmentalization of different cell types, and cellular movements from crypt to villus-like domains. Each of these processes and their coordination in time and space requires patterned physical forces that are currently unknown. In this study, we map the three-dimensional cell-ECM and cell-cell forces in mouse intestinal organoids grown on soft hydrogels. We show that these organoids exhibit a non-monotonic stress distribution that defines mechanical and functional compartments. The stem cell compartment pushes the ECM and folds through apical constriction, whereas the transit amplifying zone pulls the ECM and elongates through basal constriction. Tension measurements establish that the transit amplifying zone isolates mechanically the stem cell compartment and the villus-like domain. A 3D vertex model shows that the shape and force distribution of the crypt can be largely explained by cell surface tensions following the measured apical and basal actomyosin density. Finally, we show that cells are pulled out of the crypt along a gradient of increasing tension, rather than pushed by a compressive stress downstream of mitotic pressure as previously assumed. Our study unveils how patterned forces enable folding and collective migration in the intestinal crypt.
This seminar will take place online at the Microsoft Teams Platform
Know more about Xavier Trepat’s research here

Online IBEC Seminar: Paul Verschure
2020-12-04 10:00 - 12:00
The volitional brain in action: counterfactual error and the virtualization of memory

Volitional motor control can be seen as the result of a gradual replacement of feedback by feedforward control. We have addressed this question from the perspective of an integrated architecture called the Distributed Adaptive Control (DAC) theory of mind and brain. DAC proposes that the brain is a multi-layer control system which optimizes the how of action by considering why (motivation), what (objects), where (space), when (time) and who (agents) or the H5W problem. We have shown that for DAC to realize optimal solutions in foraging problems, its decision-making renders policies that simultaneously optimize perceptual evidence, memory bias, goals, and utility. This raises the question of what the principles are that underlie the processing and adaptation of these factors. In this presentation, I will focus on a link between volition, policy adaptation and perceptual learning we have recently advanced. The dominant model of anticipatory motor control relies on the notion of an inverse model that by learning from encountered errors acquires corrective responses that supersede feedback control. However, these models are predicated on a Markovian world assumption and thus by necessity face problems in handling exceptions, such as observed in probe trials, where fast feedback control is required. We solve this challenge by proposing that adaptive motor control can also be obtained by relying on a cascade of purely sensory predictions that drive feedback control via counterfactual errors or Hierarchical Sensory Predictive Control. Using robot experiments, we have demonstrated the robustness of this solution. I will present further supporting evidence for the relevance of counterfactual error in the physiology of motor learning, the neurophysiology of human memory as obtained with intracranial recordings and in the rehabilitation of stroke patients. In conclusion Paul will comment on the challenges involved in bringing science to society.

Paul Verschure is Catalan Institute of Advanced Studies (ICREA) Research Professor, Director of the Synthetic Perceptive, Emotive and Cognitive Systems Laboratory at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalunya and the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology. Paul has received his MA and Ph.D. in Psychology, and has worked in Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence and his scientific aim is to develop a unified theory of mind and brain, to validate it using synthetic methods and to apply it to quality of life enhancing technologies. To achieve the latter goal, Paul is founder/CEO of Eodyne Systems S.L. (Eodyne.com), which is commercializing novel science grounded neurorehabilitation, education and cultural heritage technologies. Paul is founder/Chairman of the Future Memory Foundation (futurememoryfoundation.org) which aims at supporting the development of new tools and paradigms for the conservation, presentation, and education of the history of Nazi crimes. Paul is founder/Chairman of the Convergent Science Network Foundation which hosts the annual Living Machines conference for which Paul also hosts the Convergent Science Network podcast. Paul chairs the annual Barcelona Cognition, Brain and Technology summer school. Paul manages a multidisciplinary team of about 30 researchers with whom he has published over 400 articles in leading journals and conferences in a range of disciplines and has completed 15 Ironman races.
This seminar will take place online at the GoToMeeting platform
Know more about Paul Verschure’s research here

Online IBEC Seminar: Silvia Muro
2021-01-15 10:00 - 12:00
Targeted drug delivery: fundamental aspects and translational applications

Silvia Muro, IBEC
The design of strategies to enable efficient and safe delivery of therapeutic agents to areas of the body requiring intervention is an active research field. Therapeutic targets are often confined to specific regions or tissues in the body, where access may require active transport from the administration site into a subjacent or far-away tissue. Once within the tissue or body compartment of interest, most targets for therapeutic intervention relate to particular sub-cellular environments, e.g., the cell surface versus different intracellular compartments, requiring strategies to achieve the final destination of interest. Using polymer nanocarriers functionalized with affinity moieties against single or combined cell-surface receptors, along with additional biological signaling moieties, my laboratory focuses on understanding the parameters that regulate transport of drug delivery vehicles across cellular barriers and/or into compartments of subjacent tissues. We examine these aspects using cell culture models with subsequent validation in laboratory animals to correlate molecular/cellular mechanisms with in vivo outcomes. We investigate the influence exerted on targeting and transport by drug carrier design parameters (size, shape, avidity, combination targeting, etc.) and parameters that are intrinsic to the physiological system (disease states, flow, receptor epitopes being targeted, modulation of regulatory molecules, etc.).
In this presentation, I will focus on reviewing some of our most recent efforts in this field. The characterization of these complex physiological and design parameters, along with the understanding of the mechanisms governing the interaction of drugs carriers with the surrounding biological environment, are necessary steps toward achieving efficient drug delivery systems.
This seminar will take place online at the GoToMeeting platform
Know more about Silvia Muro’s research here

Online IBEC Seminar: Jordi Alcaraz
2021-02-05 10:00 - 12:00
Improving lung cancer management by reengineering tumor-associated fibroblasts
Jordi Alcaraz, UB facultat de Medicina & IBEC Associated Researcher
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death due in part to subtoptimal patient responses to current therapies, which have been largely designed to targeting cancer cell abnormalities. However, there is a paradigm shift in cancer research that considers tumors as abnormal organs, thereby acknowledging the key contribution to tumor progression provided by fibroblasts and other non-cancerous stromal cells that shape the tumor mechanical and biochemical ecosystem.
Our group pioneered the study of tumor-associated fibroblasts (TAFs) in lung cancer in Spain in collaboration with oncologists at the Hospital Clínic. I will provide an overview of our efforts in unveiling how TAFs contribute to tumor progression in major lung cancer subtypes and in identifying how can we target such contributions with new therapeutic strategies, including the development of novel preclinical models. Moreover, I will describe our efforts to define novel TAF-related prognostic and/or diagnostic biomarkers. Part of this work is carried out in collaboration with pharmaceutical companies. I will also briefly summarize ongoing collaborations with IBEC groups in these topics.
This seminar will take place online at the GoToMeeting platform
Know more about Jordi Alcaraz’s research here

Online IBEC Seminar: Ester Caffarel
2021-03-10 12:00 - 14:00
Breaking Paradigms: Delivering insulin orally
Ester Caffarel, MIT
Biologics have revolutionized disease treatment; however, their rapid degradation and poor absorption in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract generally limit their administration to parenteral routes. Devices for the oral delivery of biologics must aid in both localization and permeation to achieve systemic drug uptake. For this purpose, we have developed various ingestible devices that rapidly propel drug-loaded posts into the tissue wall of the different organs of the GI tract.

Online IBEC Seminar: Paolo Arosio
2021-03-12 10:00 - 12:00
Membraneless compartments based on intrinsically disordered proteins: from biology towards new protein materials
Paolo Arosio, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich
In the last few years, discoveries in biology are revealing that a class of intrinsically disordered protein sequences plays an important role in the formation of cellular membraneless compartments by spontaneous liquid-liquid phase separation of proteins and nucleic acids. These compartments underlie several important functions and can act as microreactors, in which environment and composition are carefully regulated in space and time. These observations inspired us to exploit these biological sequences to mimic these membraneless compartments on the bench, towards the development of high-performance open microreactors, with applications for instance in biocatalysis. With these sequences we can regulate not only the dynamic process of phase separation but also several properties of the resulting compartments, including uptake of client molecules, polarity and material properties. With this control we can, in turn, regulate biochemical reactions occurring within the compartments.
We further show the development of droplet microfluidic platforms to characterize multiple properties of the open compartments, including both thermodynamics and dynamics of phase separation. We illustrate these concepts by investigating an established in vitro model of Processing bodies consisting of the phase separation of the DEAD-box protein ATPase Dhh1 in the presence of ATP and RNA.
This seminar will take place online
Know more about Paolo Arosio’s research here

Clinical Colloquia: Anna Novials
2021-03-19 10:00 - 12:00
Diabetes, where are we?
Anna Novials, PI of the group “Pathogenesis and Prevention of Diabetes” at IDIBAPS/Clinic Hospital of Barcelona and member of CIBERDEM network.
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of chronic metabolic disorders all characterized by hyperglycemia. It occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the peripheral tissues cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. The global prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance (the intermediate transition between normal blood glucose levels and diabetes) has been increasing over recent decades. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) reported that in 2019 there were 463 million people between 20-79 years worldwide with diabetes, accounting for the 9.3 % of the global adult population. If this trend continues, it is expected to increase to 700 million by 2045. Furthermore persistent high blood glucose levels cause generalized vascular damage affecting the kidneys (nephropathy), the eyes (retinopathy), the nerves (neuropathy) and the heart (cardiovascular disease), leading to disabilities and premature death. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported diabetes to be the seventh leading cause of death. As a consequence the economic burden of diabetes has a high impact on the global health-care system.
The first national study in Spain published in 2012 (the Di@bet.es Study) revealed that the overall prevalence of DM in individuals ≥18 years old in our country was 13.8% and, about a half of them (6%) had unknown diabetes. In addition to this alarming values, the prevalence rates of isolated impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and isolated impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) 3.4% and 9.2%, respectively (2). Taken together, this study uncovered that almost 30% of the study population had some carbohydrate disturbance.
Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) accounts for the vast majority (around 90%) of diabetes worldwide. It can be effectively managed through education, adoption of healthy lifestyles, combined with medication as required. The pathogeny of T2D is extremely complex and comprises all the organs that work coordinately to maintain energy and glucose homeostasis. It is established that when the cross-talk between organs (pancreas, liver, muscle, adipose tissue, brain ,etc )is altered, then the main pathogenic events which are insulin secretory defects and insulin resistance appear as a hallmark of T2D. All current treatment for T2D are adressed to target molecular pathways in different tissues.
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is the major cause of diabetes in childhood. Patients need an uninterrupted supply of insulin for life. The pathogeny of diabetes consists in alteration in the autoinmunity. The main cause is not yet been stablished. The advances in the treatment remain dissapointing . Although technology applied to diabetes is in continuos progress, patients are still using the same treatment as 100 years ago, when insulin was discovered.
Collectively, these results evidence the need for more clinical and preventive intervention programs and highlight the importance of carrying out more basic research in order to understand the underlying mechanisms of the disease.

Dr. Anna Novials is endocrinologist at Hospital Clinic de Barcelona and leader group of research at IDIBAPS. She received her PhD from the University of Barcelona, in 1989, focusing her studies on the chronic effect of glucotoxicity on pancreatic function in patients with type 2 diabetes. A postdoctoral stay at the University of Cambridge and collaborations with the University of Oxford enriched her scientific and technical knowledge of molecular biology, turning her research objectives toward the molecular mechanisms that affect pancreatic islet function in diabetes, which she would then develop at the Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, going on to lead her own research group.
From 1998 to 2008, Dr. Novials conducted her clinical activity at the Sardà Farriol Foundation in Barcelona, first as Head of the Diabetology Unit and later as Executive Director. Here she devoted her efforts to promoting educational tools to help patients adhere to exercise programs as part of their diabetes treatment plan. In 2008, she rejoined the IDIBAPS as leader of a clinical and basic research team. Since 2010, she has also served as an Executive Committee member of the Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Disorders (CIBERDEM). Finally, Dr. Novials is the former President of the Spanish Diabetes Society and as served as member of the EASD-EU Committee of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes to advocate for diabetes research.
This clinical colloquia will take place online at the GoToMeeting platform

Online IBEC Seminar: Núria Montserrat
2021-04-16 10:00 - 12:00
Study on the of the interplay between glucose metabolism and SARS-CoV-2 infection exploiting human kidney organoids

Núria Montserrat, group leader “Pluripotency for organ regeneration” at IBEC
Severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection leads to a high risk of hospitalization and mortality in diabetic patients. SARS-CoV-2 binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor, which is expressed in key metabolic organs such as pancreas, muscle, heart, adipose tissue, the small intestine, and the kidneys. As a result, it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 may cause alterations of glucose metabolism that could complicate the pathophysiology of pre-existing diabetes or lead to new mechanisms of disease.
Thanks to an international collaboration we have previously shown that SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect engineered human blood vessel organoids and human kidney organoids. In these last months we have started to collectively addressed how to study on the interplay between glucose metabolism and SARS-CoV-2 infections making use of kidney organoid technology. We have first developed culture regime conditions in human kidney organoids mirroring cellular responses similar to those encountered in the human diabetic kidney. Through an exhaustive characterization including single cell RNA profiling and ulterior validation in organoids and kidney patient cells we are starting to dissect the different transcriptional programs that are differently regulated in these different contexts. To further assess on the key role of ACE2 in these processes we have make use of CRISPR/Cas9 technology to generate human pluripotent stem cells lines knock out (KO) for ACE2. Kidney organoids ACE2KO have been further subjected to SARS-CoV-2 infections in normoglycemic and oscillatory glucose conditions further demonstrating the central role of ACE2 in early steps of infection in these organoid model systems. Thanks to our international collaborators we have also explored on the role of ACE2 in early steps of SARS-CoV-2 infection in other organoid platforms including gastric and vascular organoids.
Together, our results provide evidence that SARS-CoV-2 infection altered glucose metabolism and support the use of kidney organoids as a platform to investigate the cellular susceptibility, disease mechanisms, and treatment strategies for SARS-CoV-2 infection in hyperglycaemic condition.
More information about Núria Montserrat’s research here
This seminar will be held using the GoToMeeting Platform

Online IBEC Seminar: Mónica Marro
2021-05-14 10:00 - 12:00
A new molecular dimension: exploiting Raman spectroscopy in Biomedicine
Mónica Marro, ICFO, The Institute of Photonic Sciences

Raman spectroscopy is a promising optical technique that enables the investigation of the molecular content of biological samples in a rapid, non-invasive, label-free and multiplexed approach. In the biomedical field, it is of special interest because the device can be portable and cost-effective.
In this seminar, I will show my work exploiting Raman spectroscopy in a broad range of biomedical applications from the molecular, to cellular and tissue level. I will present how Raman spectroscopy can represent a step forward into different fields, namely: cancer diagnosis, patient stratification, and personalized medicine; neurodegeneration; and mechanobiology. I will show also optical developments that can improve Raman spectroscopy in the speed of image acquisition, like the Raman light sheet approach, or Surface Enhanced Raman spectroscopy.
Overall, I will show how Raman spectroscopy coupled with data science and developments in photonics and nano-engineering could revolutionize the biomedical field in the next years, providing new and other-wise inaccessible molecular information, and giving an unprecedented step towards a more rapid, accurate, personalized diagnosis and treatments.

IBEC Online Seminar: Jessica Ilenburg
2021-06-18 10:00 - 12:00
Tissue Engineering in Microgravity
Jessica Ilenburg, Gravitational Biotechnologist at Yuri gravity
Tissue Engineering and regenerative medicine are two fast growing and fast moving research fields. With the invention of bioprinting and tissue chips two breakthrough innovations have been made and now research in microgravity (for example on the ISS) promises even more and faster progress. A lot of advantages, like less contact inhibition and unrestrained growth in all 3 dimensions make the cell structures grow bigger and more complex. This presentation focuses on the qualities of the unique research environment of microgravity and introduces a couple of research findings.
Jessica Ilenburg is doing her master studies in molecular biotechnology at Bielefeld University in Germany. Currently she is working at yuri GmbH as a gravitational biotechnologist focusing on Tissue Engineering, bioprinting and protein crystal growth in microgravity. Previously she has worked at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability in Copenhagen working with thermophilic organisms and isolating proteins of the butanol pathway.

Online IBEC Seminar: Xavier Fernàndez-Busquets
2021-07-09 10:00 - 12:00
Nanomalaria group: 20 years at IBEC
Xavier Fernàndez-Busques, group leader of the Nanomalaria group at IBEC
We will start by briefly looking at the origins of our group back in 2001 as part of IBEC’s embryo, the Research Center for Bioelectronics and Nanobioscience. Our current activities integrate two decades of cumulative research oriented to the development of targeted nanocarriers for parasitic diseases with focus on malaria but currently expanding to leishmaniasis.
Because eventual antimalarial nanomedicines need to be deployed in low per capita income regions, their final components must take into account this particular economic landscape. Liposomes and polymeric nanocarriers offer advantages and suffer from limitations depending on the severity of the disease in each particular clinical case. Entering erythrocytes, the host cell of Plasmodium in the blood circulation, is a challenge in itself due to their lack of endocytic processes. Antibodies, polysaccharides like heparin, synthetic polymers and DNA aptamers have been used to target and eventually penetrate red blood cells.
Finally, we have recently launched an effort to discover new antimalarial drugs that should constitute the third and final element in the design of targeted nanocarriers for malaria. The know-how acquired in the development of nanocapsules, targeting elements and drugs has the capacity of being exported to other infectious diseases. Because, no matter how cost-efficient you can make a nanomedicine, clinical trials will significantly increase its cost, we are exploring a radical alternative: designing nanocarriers to target the parasites in their arthropod vectors.
More information about Xavier’s research here
This seminar will be held using the TEAMS app

Online IBEC Seminar: Pau Gorostiza
2021-07-16 10:00 - 12:00
Electrochemically Gated Charge Transport in Redox Proteins and Photosynthetic Complexes

Pau Gorostiza, group leader of the Nanoprobes and nanoswitches group at IBEC
Interprotein electron transport is an essential process in cell respiration and photosynthesis. It takes place between redox proteins and complexes, and it displays an outstanding efficiency and environmental adaptability. Although the biochemistry of electron transport processes is well characterized, nanoscale experimental methods are needed to understand electronic pathways in these redox protein structures, both for fundamental and for technological purposes. Electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (ECSTM) is an excellent tool to study electronic materials and redox molecules including proteins. It offers single molecule resolution and allows working in aqueous solution, in nearly physiological conditions in the case of proteins, and under full electrochemical control. ECSTM also allows performing conductance measurements by current-potential and current-distance tunneling spectroscopy. An overview of these methods and current projects in the laboratory will be presented, with special emphasis on cytochromes of the respiratory chain and on photosystem I complexes.
More information about Pau Gorostiza’s research here
This seminar will be held using the TEAMS app

Online IBEC Seminar: Daniel Gonzalez-Carter
2021-09-17 10:00 - 12:00
Delivering Nanoparticles Specifically to the Brain by Generating Artificial Brain Targets
Daniel Gonzalez-Carter, Molecular Bionics group at IBEC
Achieving efficient therapy delivery to the brain is one of the most pressing medical issues today. Therapy brain delivery is severely hampered by the protective blood-brain barrier (BBB), composed of the highly impermeable endothelial cells lining the brain vasculature. To overcome the BBB, therapies may be loaded onto nanoparticles functionalized with ligands which bind to target proteins expressed at the surface of brain endothelial cells (BEC), thereby increasing brain uptake. However, such strategies have inherent brain-specificity limitations, as the target proteins are also expressed on the vasculature of other organs, resulting in increased ‘off-target’ nanoparticle accumulation.
To achieve truly selective brain targeting, our group is developing a strategy to generate artificial targets exclusively at the BBB. This is done by exploiting the low endocytic rate of BEC, a key requirement for their high impermeability, to selectively retain exogenous targets on their surface. By generating nanoparticles capable of efficiently recognizing the artificial targets, we hope to increase nanoparticle delivery exclusively to the brain with minimal ‘off-target’ nanoparticle accumulation. Furthermore, we are developing an mRNA delivery platform to continuously re-generate the artificial targets from within the BEC to allow for repeated dosing in chronic diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.

Online IBEC Seminar: Veronika Magdanz
2021-10-08 10:00 - 12:00
Development of biohybrid and bioinspired microrobots toward biomedical applications
Veronika Magdanz, Smart Nano-Bio-Devices
Autonomous motion and precise control on the microscale is one of the main challenges in developing non-invasive medical microrobots. In this seminar, I present my approaches of how to develop artificial, biomimetic and biohybrid microrobots. We can be inspired by nature’s solutions to achieve such propulsion on the microscale. Specifically, sperm cells offer beneficial features as components of microrobots: as propulsion sources, as templates and as cargo. By combining smart microstructures with spermatozoa, new ways to control and manipulate sperm cells emerge.
This seminar will be held using the GoToMeeting app

Online IBEC Seminar: Mohit Kumar
2021-10-15 10:00 - 12:00
Peptide based nanomaterials with life-like functions
Mohit Kumar, Molecular Bionics group at IBEC
Chemists’ curiosity to create life de novo has sought inspiration from biological systems. In nature, self-assembled nanostructures constantly form and degrade which provides unique features like on-demand function, adaptation, temporal and spatial control. Such processes are enabled by the metabolism and the ability to consume chemical energy to perform useful work. However, these features are not trivial to obtain in synthetic systems. My talk will show that now peptide based self-assembled materials can also form and degrade over time and their nanostructures and functions can be regulated in time by consuming chemical fuel. Furthermore, by using super-resolution imaging dynamic transformations in solution can be probed in real-time, in situ.
This seminar will be held using the GoToMeeting app

Hybrid IBEC Seminar: Cesar Rodriguez-Emmenegger
2021-10-22 10:00 - 12:00
Bio-inspired soft matter at the service of interactive biointerfaces and synthetic cells
Cesar Rodriguez-Emmenegger, Group Leader, DWI-Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials
Nature achieves unmatched functionality by the self-assembly of (macro)molecular building blocks in a hierarchical manner. All information necessary for the function is encoded at the molecular level. Unraveling such blueprints serves as a powerful paradigm in the bio-inspired synthesis of materials that can seamlessly interface with living matter or perform non-natural functions. In this talk, I will present a selection of research studies from my lab addressing the overarching task of developing bio-inspired interactive materials and their application in the biomedical field. Three themes will be considered. Firstly, I will present hydrophilic arborescent polymers, a new class of quasi-dendritic macromolecules in which the topology codes for extreme flexibility and enables a myriad of multivalent interactions. Secondly, I will present highlights of the antimicrobial Kill&Repel and Adaptive hemocompatible nanocoatings and our efforts in translating them to medical devices. The last part of the talk will focus on the development of Membrane Machines, tailor-made synthetic vesicles capable of recapitulating some fundamental biological properties and performing specific tasks. We take advantage of these systems to study how biological selectivity can emerge from the lateral organization of ligand in static and dynamic systems such as the bacterial divisome. We are also developing synthetic macrophage-mimetic microrobots capable of endocytosing bacteria and viruses, including SARS-CoV-2.
This seminar will be hybrid, using the GoToMeeting app and also at the Baobab meeting room located at Tower I, 11th floor. Very few people will be able to attend this seminar in person due to the capacity of the meeting room. If you wish to attend this seminar please write an email to ibeccommunications@ibecbarcelona.eu the free spots will be assigned on a first come first served basis.. The seminar will also be available on streaming, by using the GoToMeeting app, available in this link.
More information about his research team here

IBEC Seminar: Cristina Mayor-Ruiz
2021-11-19 10:00 - 12:00 | IBEC, floor 11, Tower I, Baldiri Reixac 4-8, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Targeted protein degradation: genetic determinants and drug discovery opportunities
Cristina Mayor-Ruiz, IRBarcelona
Targeted protein degradation is a new therapeutic modality based on drugs that destabilize proteins by inducing their proximity to E3 ubiquitin ligases. Of particular interest are “molecular glue degraders”: compounds that can degrade otherwise unligandable proteins by orchestrating direct interactions between target and E3. However, their discovery has been serendipitous, thus hampering broad translational efforts. I will present a scalable target-agnostic strategy toward glue degrader discovery. This approach is based on differential chemical screening coupled to a multi-omics target deconvolution campaign. Collectively, our data outline a versatile and broadly applicable strategy to identify degraders and thus empower future drug discovery efforts.

This seminar will be held at Tower I, 11th floor Baobab room, there will be 30 avialable seats, the free spots will be assigned on a first come first served basis. If you wish to attend this seminar online, please write to ibeccommunications@ibecbarcelona.eu.
More information about Cristina Mayor-Ruiz’s research here
Cristina Mayor-Ruiz obtained her PhD in 2017 at the CNIO (Madrid) under the supervision of Óscar Fernández-Capetillo. There, she explored mechanisms of resistance to anticancer therapies. In 2018, she joined the group of Georg Winter at CeMM (Vienna) supported by EMBO and Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowships, where her interests focused on different aspects of chemical biology and drug screening. Since January 2021, she leads the “Targeted Protein Degradation & Drug discovery” lab at IRB Barcelona. Her research focuses on:
(1) Developing screening strategies for early drug discovery. In particular, to identify monovalent degraders and other proximity-inducing drugs with therapeutic interest.
(2) Tackling exciting biological questions that either benefit from the high kinetic resolution provided by targeted protein degradation, or that involve E3 (dys)regulation dynamics.

IBEC Seminar: Rob Jelier
2021-11-30 16:00 - 17:00 | IBEC, floor 11, Tower I, Baldiri Reixac 4-8, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
The effect of gene loss on adaptation | 3D cell shape analysis in embryos
Rob Jelier, CMPG – Predictive Genetics and Multicellular Systems University of Leuven
In this talk I will summarize two research projects. First, I will report on a large-scale experimental evolution study into the effect of gene deletion on adaptation. We found gene deletion can speed up adaptation. Further, tracking adaptation after the systematic perturbation of genes involved in a complex trait informs on the genetic architecture of the trait. Second, we have developed a segmentation-pipeline for membrane tagged cells from fluorescent microscopy timelapses. The pipeline uses a biophysical DEM model of cell shape to constrain the possible cell shapes. The retrieved accurate cell shapes are subsequently used for very sensitive characterization of cell shapes, for example to identify changes after perturbations.
This seminar will be held at Tower I, 11th floor Baobab room, there will be 30 avialable seats, the free spots will be assigned on a first come first served basis. If you wish to attend this seminar online, please write to ibeccommunications@ibecbarcelona.eu.

Online IBEC Seminar: Arnau Hervera
2021-12-03 10:00 - 12:00
Therapeutic effects of HDAC3 inhibition on spinal injuries and autoimmune demyelinating diseases
Arnau Hervera, Molecular and Cellular Neurobiotechnology
The molecular mechanisms discriminating between regenerative failure and success remain elusive. While a regeneration-competent peripheral nerve injury mounts a regenerative gene expression response in bipolar dorsal root ganglia (DRG) sensory neurons, a regeneration-incompetent central spinal cord injury does not. This dichotomic response offered us a unique opportunity to investigate the fundamental biological mechanisms underpinning this regenerative ability. Following a pharmacological screen with small molecule inhibitors targeting key epigenetic enzymes in DRG neurons we identified HDAC3 signaling as a novel candidate, that hindered axonal regenerative growth. In vivo, we found that only a peripheral but not a central axonal injury induced an increase in calcium, activating protein phosphatase 4 (PP4) who in turn dephosphorylates HDAC3 thus impairing its activity and enhancing histone acetylation. Bioinformatics analysis of ex vivo H3K9ac ChIPseq and RNAseq from DRG followed by promoter acetylation and protein expression studies implicated HDAC3 in the regulation of multiple regenerative pathways. Additionally, we and others have found that, HDAC3 inhibition is able to modulate the neuroinflammatory environment in the CNS after injury. In that sense, after CNS injury, inflammatory phase transitions are poorly orchestrated leading to unresolved exaggerated inflammation that triggers secondary damage and functional deficits. We found that HDAC3 inhibition also altered the cytokinome after SCI, and we are currently characterizing the effects of this inhibition on the functions of different immune cells after SCI. Additionally, HDAC3 inhibition has been also previously described to play important roles in neuronal survival, lymphocyte differentiation and myelination, together with neuroinflammation, all these processes are essential regulators on the development and outcome of autoimmune demyelinating diseases, such as MS. In this direction, we are also currently studying the potential therapeutic effects of HDAC3 inhibition in the multiple sclerosis mouse model Experimental Autoimmune Encephalitis (EAE), as well as their underlying mechanisms, in neuroinflammation autoantigen presentation, lymphocyte differentiation, demyelination, remyelination and oligodendrocyte survival and differentiation.
This seminar will be held using the GoToMeeting app

Online IBEC Seminar: Irene Marco
2021-12-10 10:00 - 12:00
Updates on a new lab at IBEC: hyperpolarised magnetic resonance for real-time, in situ monitoring of cell metabolism
Irene Marco, Molecular Imaging for Precision Medicine group at IBEC
There is a clinical need for non-invasive and reliable markers to diagnose, stage and evaluate treatment response in many diseases such as cancer or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Magnetic resonance (MR) methods now have the potential to revolutionise in the identification of such biomarkers in real time. Spectroscopic identification and quantitation of metabolites via carbon-13 chemical shifts can be combined with imaging (MRI) to simultaneously probe spatial (biodistribution) and temporal (kinetics) aspects of metabolism in vivo. These capabilities are enabled by so-called hyperpolarised (HP) MR techniques, including Dynamic Nuclear Polarisation (DNP), which can transiently boost the carbon-13 MR signals by several orders of magnitude, compared to traditional methods. DNP enables real-time measurement of enzymatic reactions in cell suspensions and in vivo. Multiple HP 13C-labelled substrates have provided insights in several metabolic pathways, including glycolysis, the pentose-phosphate pathway and the cellular redox state. I will present the potential of DNP to study metabolism in cell suspensions, tissue ex vivo and animals in vivo. Also, I will talk about the progress we have made at IBEC in the past couple of months and how we plan to implement HP MR to monitor metabolism in organs-in-chips.
This seminar will be held at Tower I, 11th floor Baobab room, there will be 30 avialable seats, the free spots will be assigned on a first come first served basis. If you wish to attend this seminar online, please write to ibeccommunications@ibecbarcelona.eu.
More information about Irene Marco’s research here

Online IBEC Seminar: Carlos Aleman
2022-01-21 10:00 - 12:00
Smart and multifunctional artificial materials for bioengineering
Carlos Aleman, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunta (UPC)
The research of the ” Innovation, Modeling & Engineering in Materials” group in the field of multifunctional materials. Three, different examples of multifunctional systems will be presented: 1) Magnetic electroconductive and self-healing PEDOT:alginate hydrogels for sensing, drug-delivery and energy storage; 2) Self-standing PLA/PEDOT films as artificial muscles, controlled lactate release and selective ion transport; and 3) Permanently polarized hydroxyapatite a biocatalyst for carbon and nitrogen fixation.
Carlos Alemán graduated in Chemistry from the University of Barcelona (Spain). He received his Ph.D. from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) in 1994, where he was promoted to the position of Full Professor of Physical Chemistry. He was postdoctoral researcher at the ETH in Zürich (Switzerland) and visiting professor at the Università di Napoli Federico II (Italy), University of Twente (Holland) and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). Since 2003 he is the leader of the ‘‘Innovation, Modeling & Engineering in Materials’’ (IMEM) group. His main research interests focus on conducting polymers and biopolymers with biomedical and technological (energy) applications.
This seminar will take place online, using the go to meeting app
