Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia

PhD Thesis Defence: Ignasi Casanellas
2022-04-13 15:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Madrid) | Home
Cell-adhesive nanopatterns for musculoskeletal tissue engineering
Ignasi Casanellas, Nanobioengineering Group
This thesis defence will take place at “Sala de Graus Eduard Fontseré, Facultat de Física, Universitat de Barcelona” at 3PM. If you wish to follow this defence online, you can contact Ignasi here.
More information here

PhD Thesis Defence: Ignasi Casanellas
2022-04-13 15:00 - 17:00 | Satisfaction survey

PhD Thesis Defence: Ignasi Casanellas
2022-04-13 15:00 - 17:00 | Sala de Graus Eduard Fontseré

PhD Discussions: Sefora Conti
2022-04-15 10:00 - 12:00 | IBEC, floor 11, tower i
Mechanical phenotyping of colorectal cancer patient derived organoids based on LGR5 expression

Sefora Conti, Integrative cell and tissue dynamics group

Colorectal cancer (CRC) tumors are composed by heterogeneous cell populations comprising differentiated cells and a small pool of cancer stem cells (CSCs). The link between cancer cell differentiation states and their metastatic potential has been the focus of extensive investigation, with some studies pointing to microenvironmentally defined plasticity as a mechanism indispensable for metastasis formation. Another aspect that might be determinant in tumor cells ability to successfully disseminate, intravasate, survive in the blood stream, extravasate, colonize distant organs and form secondary tumors is their mechanical phenotype.

Adopting a bottom-up approach, we performed a broad biophysical characterization of CRC patient derived organoids (PDOs), engineered to fluorescently label cells expressing LGR5, a well-established marker for CSCs. We show that CRC cells differentiation states are associated with distinct biomechanical phenotypes, with potential repercussions on their metastatic ability.

At the single cell level, LGR5+ cells display a more elongated and polarized shape while the LGR5- cells exhibit higher roundness and a smaller asymmetry in the stress field. LGR5+ are stiffer compared to their differentiated counterparts and more prone to adopt a fast amoeboid-like migration under confinement. At the molecular level, cancer stemness is related to differential expression of the ERM protein family, responsible of tethering the cell membrane to the underlying actin cortex.

These distinct mechanical phenotypes translate to different migratory and morphological phenotypes at a cluster level. Clusters expressing high levels of LGR5 showed a more spread and flattened shape compared to more differentiated clusters. Moreover, LGR5 expression in clusters is negatively correlated with their migration speed and their polarization state. Hence, clusters containing more differentiated cells migrate faster, display higher roundness and higher polarization state.

At higher complexity levels, such as interactions with endothelial cells, LGR5 expression in CRC clusters affects their ability to adhere to an endothelial monolayer and form a gap through which they attach to the underlying collagen coating. Notably, we found that clusters expressing more LGR5 have an advantage while attaching to the endothelium as indicated by higher attachment rate and shorter time to form a gap.

Based on these findings relating distinct mechanical phenotypes to LGR5 expression, we speculate that mechanical adaptability coupled with cancer plasticity may be an indispensable mechanism for cancer progression.

Open BIST Seminar: Dr. Wiktor Szymanski
2022-04-27 00:00 - 13:00 | IBEC, floor 11, Tower I, Baldiri Reixac 4-8, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Molecular basis for the use of light in medicine
Wiktor Szymanski, Medical Imaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen
Light is a unique control element in chemistry and biology, because it can be safely delivered with very high precision to modulate processes in space and time. In this educational lecture, aimed at Master students but hopefully of interest to all academics, I will discuss the main processes that a molecule can undergo once it has been promoted to the excited state under light irradiation. Using the Jablonski diagram as the starting point, I will outline how these processes are or could be used in the clinic for diagnostics (optical and optoacoustic imaging) and therapy (photodynamic therapy and photopharmacology).

Wiktor Szymanski received his PhD degree from The Warsaw University of Technology, Poland, in 2008, working under the supervision of Prof. Ryszard Ostaszewski. He spent two years working on the use of biotransformations in organic chemistry with Prof. Ben L. Feringa and Prof. Dick B. Janssen at the University of Groningen. Since 2010 he has been working on the construction of photoactive protein- peptide- and DNA-bioconjugates and photopharmacology in the Feringa Labs. In 2014, he joined the Medical Imaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen, where he was appointed in 2015 as tenure track assistant professor and in 2019 as associate professor (adjunct hoogleraar).

Fira Recerca en Directe 2022
2022-04-27 10:00 - 2022-04-30 15:00 | CosmoCaixa
Fira Recerca en Directe

La Fira Recerca en Directe es planteja com a un tastet de projectes de recerca que estan en curs sobre diferents disciplines amb un format de proximitat, on es presenta l’oportunitat de parlar cara a cara amb els mateixos investigadors, així com de realitzar petits experiments amb la instrumentació científica i part del laboratori que desplacen fins a la Fira.

Va néixer el 2003 per establir un canal de comunicació on es pogués transmetre a la població el mètode científic i la recerca que es porta a terme als laboratoris de tot Catalunya.

Participa el grup de “Nanobioenginyeria” amb un stand on parlaràn sobre les nanopartícules i com viatgen pel nostre cos.

Open BIST Seminar: Dr. Wiktor Szymanski
2022-04-27 12:00 - 13:00 | IBEC, floor 11, tower i

PhD Discussions: Sefora Conti
2022-04-29 10:00 - 12:00 | IBEC, floor 11, Tower I, Baldiri Reixac 4-8, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Pint of Science 2022
2022-05-09 18:30 - 2022-05-11 21:00 | Careers at IBEC
Monica Mir de Nanobioengineering, Agustín Gutierrez de Signal and Information Processing for Sensing Systems y Silvia Pujals de Nanoscopy for nanomedicine participarán en el evento global de divulgación científica Pint of Science.
El festival Pint of Science, que se celebrará del 09 al 11 de mayo, tiene como objetivo ofrecer charlas interesantes, divertidas y relevantes sobre las últimas investigaciones científicas de la mano de las personas que las llevan a cabo.

Lunes, 9 de mayo:

Monica Mir “¿Como funcionan los test para detección de COVID?”
Agustín Gutierrez “Una nueva inteligencia para controlar el mundo”

Martes 10 de mayo:

Silvia Pujals “Nanopartículas para la medicina. ¿Promesa o realidad?”

Si quieres más información, visita: Eventos de Barcelona | Pint of Science ES.
Podéis ver el cartel aquí.

Research4Talent 2022
2022-05-12 10:15 - 14:00
On Thursday 12th May 2022 we’ll open our doors to UNDERGRADUATE & MASTER’s students interested in a research career

The day is a chance for you to talk to our researchers and ask them questions about their day-to-day work in the lab, career paths, work-life balance, mobility etc.
In 2021 IBEC signed more that 165 internship agreements for Undergraduate and Master Students with a wide range of national and international universities. If you are interested in IBEC’s eighth edition of reSEARCH4TALENT, please register now.

IBEC Seminar: Iris Batalha
2022-05-13 10:00 - 12:00 | IBEC, floor 11, Tower I, Baldiri Reixac 4-8, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Nanotherapeutics – ‘How we sometimes underestimate the influence of little things’
Iris L. Batalha, Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC)
Deaths caused by infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria are expected to skyrocket over the next decades, with a staggering 10 million deaths per year projected for 2050. Treating infections by intracellular pathogens, such as M. tuberculosis, is ‘a perfect storm’. The WHO revealed that while some 50 new antibiotics and 10 biologics are under development, only half of those target WHO-priority pathogens and the majority have very limited benefits when compared to existing antibiotics. Reformulating existent drugs in nanocarriers may help achieving enhanced efficacy and safety while reducing dose frequency, by providing temporal and localised control of drug exposure. In this talk, I will present my work on the synthesis of dual-drug tunable nanoparticle-based antibiotics, which showed increased bacterial killing efficacy in a zebrafish larval model of mycobacterial infection when compared to free drugs at the same concentration. In addition, nanoparticles were able to efficiently penetrate mycobacterial cords and granulomatous lesions – shielded regions of difficult access by free drugs, improving the therapeutic effect.

Iris Batalha is currently a Junior Leader Research Fellow at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) in Barcelona, a Panel Tutor in Nanotherapeutics at the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education, a freelance Senior Innovation Consultant at Inspiralia (Spain and USA), a Co-founder, Director and Editor-in-Chief of the non-profit organisation Women Ahead of Their Time (WATT), and a Research Associate at Peterhouse College. From 2017 to 2020, she was a joint Research Associate at the Department of Engineering Nanoscience Centre and Department of Medicine Molecular Immunity Unit, University of Cambridge. From 2014 to 2017, she worked at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, and the biopharmaceutical company MedImmune/Astrazeneca, followed by a brief experience as a healthcare/pharmaceutical consultant. Her research interests and expertise lie in medical and pharmaceutical research and development, particularly in the fields of nanobiotechnology, bio-inspired materials, downstream processing, formulation and drug delivery.

Sala Baobab, Tower I, 11 Floor, IBEC

PhD Discussions: Srivatsava Viswanadha Venkata Naga Sai and Madhura Murar
2022-05-27 10:00 - 12:00 | IBEC, floor 11, Tower I, Baldiri Reixac 4-8, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Mechanical characterization of murine pluripotency dissolution
Srivatsava Viswanadha Venkata Naga Sai, Cellular and Molecular Mechanobiology Group
Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells (mESCs) can be maintained in ground/naïve state when grown in a defined N2B27 media with the supplementation of two inhibitors (2i) for MEK/Erk and GSK3β. Upon 2i withdrawal, mESCs exit naïve state and become functionally mature, acquiring differentiation competence. From a mechanical point of view, the instruction for initiating ground state exit is the integrin mediated mechano-sensing of extra cellular matrix (ECM). Although laminin has been found to be the pivotal ECM ligand for pluripotency dissolution, the down-stream mechano-responses accompanying its sensing, their spatio-temporal evolution and, their regulatory role in mESC maturation remain unclear. In this work, we combine mechanical measurements, functional characterization, and live cell imaging to unravel the role of mESCs-ECM interactions during naïve state exit and pluripotency dissolution. We employ a Rex1::GFPd2 expressing mESC line to monitor naïve state exit in real time, combined with a laminin-rich ECM environment. During naïve state exit, we observe a progressive increase in cell-ECM interaction, marked by an increase in traction forces, growth of focal adhesions, and the reorganization of the basal actin from a mesh-like network into an oriented filamentous morphology reminiscent of stress fibres. Furthermore, inhibition of non-muscle myosin-II using blebbistatin significantly delayed naïve state exit, suggesting a regulatory role of cell contractility in mESC maturation. We finally investigate the role of these changes in cell-ECM interactions in mediating nuclear mechanoresponses, and their influence in mESC pluripotency dissolution.

Dual peptide-mediated design of polymeric nanoparticles: towards precision prostate cancer targeting
Madhura Murar, Nanoscopy for Nanomedicine Group
A key bottleneck of current cancer treatments is the lack of selective targeting of cancer cells to reduce undesirable side-effects. Nanoparticles (NPs) allow for the design of ligand-coated materials that can fulfil this function but have not yet shown consistent clinical results to make the ‘magic bullet’ theory a paradigm. The inconsistencies may be due to a range of biological factors like differences in disease models or expression levels of target receptor(s). NP design parameters could play a key role in alleviating these inconsistencies and significantly influence the therapeutic efficacy. To further improve this efficacy, multi-ligand targeting strategies have been proposed, however, they remain controversial as they involve an intricate interplay between multitude of factors such as choice of ligands, their receptor binding affinities, NP surface densities, stoichiometric ratios etc., thereby calling for a thorough understanding of the impact of these properties to improve their targeting potential.
Within this context, we employ two cell targeting peptides (WQP and GE11) having different binding affinities to PSMA and EGFR receptors, which are known PCa biomarkers. We evaluate the effect of multivalency of low affinity WQP peptide over its monomeric form on PSMA targeting. We find that by increasing the valency of WQP on NP surface, we observe a higher cellular uptake of WQP-NPs over the monomeric form, attributing to a stronger avidity. Next, we assess the effect of two conjugation strategies using the high affinity GE11 peptide and study their impact on EGFR targeting in a systematic manner. We observe that conjugating GE11 peptide to PLGA-PEG polymer prior to NP formulation (pre-conjugation) allows for a higher and more controlled GE11 content on NP surface than conjugating it to formulated PLGA-PEG NPs (post-conjugation), consequently leading to a higher cellular uptake.
Based on these findings, we report a synthetic strategy for dual peptide-NPs with systematically varied properties, specifically surface valencies and ratios, and establish their impact on selective targeting in a prostate cancer (PCa) model. First, we study the impact of peptide valencies on NP surface of dual NPs in comparison to single peptide-NPs on the selective cellular uptake in different PCa cell lines. Once we establish optimal surface valency, we check the effect of different surface peptide ratios on cellular uptake and determine the optimal ratio for enhanced targeting of only those cells over-expressing both receptors, by the virtue of improved selectivity. Somewhat counterintuitively, we observe an increase in tumor cell uptake of NPs with lower peptide density, which can be attributed to improved surface distribution of the peptide, allowing for an enhanced availability to react with target receptor. This increase in uptake is a result of the two peptides acting in co-operation, as opposed to simply an additive effect. Our findings demonstrate that through refined design and well-characterized NP formulations, dual-peptide targeted nanosystems hold potential to provide precise cancer treatments.

This PhD Discussion session will be held at Tower I, 11th floor Baobab room, at 10:00am.

Meet the editors: Christine Horejs and Kristy Hooper
2022-06-07 15:00 - 17:00 | IBEC, floor 11, Tower I, Baldiri Reixac 4-8, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Come and meet the editors of Nature Reviews Bioengineering and The Company of Biologists: Christine Horejs and Kirsty Hooper. In this seminar we will hear about the latest updates in their journals and we will discuss the future of scholarly publishing and the open access models.

Sala Baobab, Tower I, 11 Floor, IBEC

PhD Thesis Defence: Gerard Rubí Sans
2022-06-10 11:00 - 13:00 | Careers at IBEC
Development of an in vitro three-dimensional colorectal cancer model using cell-derived extracellular matrices
Author: Gerard Rubí Sans
Directors: Dra. Elisabet Engel López and Dr. Miguel Ángel Mateos Timoneda
This thesis defence will take place at “Sala d’Actes de la Facultat de Matemàtiques i Estadística (FME)” at 11AM.
If you wish to follow this defence online, you can do it through Google Meet here.
