Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia

PhD Thesis Defence: Núria Blanco-Cabra
2021-04-16 10:00 - 12:00 (Europe/Madrid)
Noves metodologies per al tractament de bacteris creixent en forma de biofilm
Núria Blanco-Cabra, Bacterial infections and antimicrobial therapies group at IBEC
The defence will take place online, if you wish to attend to this defence, write an email to doctoratmedicina@ub.edu at least 48 hours before the defence.

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

PhD Thesis Defence: Patrica Prado Peralta
2021-04-07 10:00 - 12:00
Developing new strategies to understand human kidney development and target human disease
Patricia Prado Peralta, Pluripotency for organ regeneration group
The defence will take place online using the BBCollab platform

PhD Discussions Sessions: Héctor López Carral
2021-03-26 10:00 - 12:00
Subjective ratings of emotive stimuli predict the impact of the COVID-19 quarantine on affective states
Héctor López Carral, SPECS lab, IBEC
The COVID-19 crisis resulted in a large proportion of the world’s population having to employ social distancing measures and self-quarantine. Given that limiting social interaction impacts mental health, we assessed the effects of quarantine on emotive perception as a proxy of affective states. To this end, we conducted an online experiment whereby 112 participants provided affective ratings for a set of normative images and reported on their well-being during COVID-19 self-isolation. We found that current valence ratings were significantly lower than the original ones from 2015. This negative shift correlated with key aspects of the personal situation during the confinement, including working and living status, and subjective well-being. These findings indicate that quarantine impacts mood negatively, resulting in a negatively biased perception of emotive stimuli. Moreover, our online assessment method shows its validity for large-scale population studies on the impact of COVID-19 related mitigation methods and well-being.
The PhD discussions session will be held ONLINE at the GoToMeeting platform

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: 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

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.

PhD Thesis Defence: Maider Badiola
2021-03-10 09:00 - 23:00
Compartmentalised microfluidic culture systems for in vitro modelling of neurological and neuromuscular microenvironments
Maider Badiola, Nanobioengineering group
Movement of skeletal-muscle fibres is generated by the locomotion circuit. Failures in any part of the circuit can cause or define the severity of neuromuscular diseases (NMD), such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Conventional in vitro study models coculturing motoneurons and skeletal muscle cells are not physiologically relevant. Moreover, studying fragments of the circuit cannot provide a comprehensive and complete view of the pathological process.
This thesis aims to study the neuromuscular context in vitro through compartmentalised microfluidic culture systems (cµFCS) and to create physiologically relevant study models. It offers an evolving prospective of in vitro models, moving from mice to human cells, from 2D to 3D cell cultures, from primary cells to human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC), and analysing both healthy and diseased cells.
This thesis gathers many technological innovations from a Bioengineering point of view, paving the way for future studies in the neuromuscular field. It shows that the integration of the entire neuromuscular circuit components in the developed in vitro systems provides a wider view of the neuromuscular physiology and the pathological processes. These results show first steps towards future 3D physiological neuromuscular circuit models on a chip for NMD studies.
The defence will take place online using the Microsoft Teams Platform

Barcelona Tribuna «La innovació, la gestió del talent i la recerca científica a Barcelona»
2021-02-25 09:00 - 12:00
Emmarcat dins del cicle (Re)Imaginem Barcelona, Barcelona Tribuna reuneix Jordi Marin, director general de l’Associació Catalana d’Empreses Consultores (ACEC); Josep Samitier, director de l’Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya; Núria Bayó, cap de programes acadèmics i eficàcia organitzativa del Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST); i Alexis Roig, director del SciTech DiploHub, per parlar de “La innovació, la gestió del talent i la recerca científica a Barcelona“.

Nano Rare Diseases Day 2021
2021-02-24 11:30 - 13:30
Nano Rare Diseases Day es un evento organizado en el marco del Día Mundial de las Enfermedades Minoritarias donde se darán a conocer las últimas innovaciones en materia de Nanomedicina para el tratamiento y diagnóstico de dichas enfermedades, con temas que van desde el diagnóstico precoz, la liberación controlada de fármacos o el desarrollo de nuevas terapia
Durante esta jornada, expertos en Nanomedicina de diferentes campos -investigación, empresa, práctica clínica, autoridades sanitarias, pacientes, etc.-, expondrán los últimos avances y nos darán la oportunidad de descubrir el generador de progreso que la Nanomedicina significa para la salud como creador de nuevas oportunidades en el diagnóstico y el tratamiento de las enfermedades minoritarias.
Más información e inscripciones aquí

PhD Thesis Defence: Davia Prischich
2021-02-23 15:00 - 17:00
Development and applications of photoswitchable small molecules and peptides to control protein-protein interactions and GPCR activity
Davia Prischich, Nanoprobes and Nanoswitches group, IBEC
The defense will be held online through the platform provided by the UB. For those who are interested in joining, please remember that you have to write an email to vd.quimica.recerca@ub.edu at least 48 hours before the event.

PhD Complementary Skills Session: Lab greening – how you can play your part!
2021-02-19 10:00 - 12:00
Lab greening – how you can play your part!
Una FitzGerald, Galway Neuroscience Centre, Founder – ‘Galway Green Labs’ initiative
Dr FitzGerald will share her motivation for getting involved in promoting and implementing green lab practices at first, within her own University in Galway, and then, across Ireland and Europe. She will describe the experience of recruiting researchers and technical staff to join a green team and how this idea has spread to other labs on-campus, eventually being adopted as a University Strategy for 2020-2025. Some recommendations on how young researchers might go through the same process, are provided. In the end, the talk should encourage anyone working within the Biomedical Engineering sector, to implement new protocols that will minimise the impact that their daily work has on the environment.

After completing a BE (Ind Eng) and MSc in Biotechnology at NUIG, Dr FitzGerald worked in the pharmaceutical sector for five years in France and the UK, before embarking on a PhD in Molecular Biology at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Following a brief spell in cancer research, on joining Prof. Sue Barnett’s lab in Glasgow Uni. she discovered her true passion – neuroscience and in particular, research on brain disorders including multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. Since returning to the University in Galway, Ireland, Dr FitzGerald has built a track record in MS research, is a funded investigator in CÚRAM, the SFI Centre for Research on Medical Devices and is ex-director of the Galway Neuroscience Centre. She is the lead PI and Coordinator of a €3.9M EU-funded Innovative Training Network which is training 15 PhD students across Europe, with the aim of developing a novel device for treating the progressive phase of MS. In 2019 she led the CÚRAM lab to be the first in Europe to gain Green Lab Certification from My Green Lab and she now chairs a national working group on sustainable public sector labs. Dr FitzGerald’s talk will describe her journey from neuroscience research to climate activism.
This seminar will take place online using the GoToMeeting platform

Crafting a Winning ERC Proposal
2021-02-18 10:40 - 14:00
Do not miss the workshop “Crafting a Winning ERC Proposal”, with the participation of ERC Grantee and Panel Member Samuel Sánchez from IBEC, as well as other grantees and ERC Officers.

This is an event organised by “Academia Joven de España”.
Connection link here

100tífiques
2021-02-12
On the occasion of the International Day of Woman and Girls in Science researchers from IBEC went to different catalan schools to give a presentation of women in science to encourage all kids to study STEAM digrees.
Furthermore, as IBEC has a partnership with the elementary school “Escola Gayarre” within the frame of the “Magnet Projects” some of our researchers visited their classrooms and also gave an oran exposition of women in science.

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

Nanodía Mundial Contra el Cáncer
2021-02-04 11:00 - 14:00
El Nanodía Mundial Contra el Cáncer es un evento organizado en el marco del Día Mundial contra el Cáncer donde se darán a conocer las últimas innovaciones en materia de NANOMEDICINA contra el CÁNCER, con temas que van desde el diagnóstico precoz, la liberación controlada de fármacos o la radioterapia con nanopartículas.
Un año más, expertos en NANOMEDICINA de diferentes campos -investigadores, empresarios, médicos oncólogos, pacientes, etc.-, expondrán los últimos avances y nos darán la oportunidad de descubrir el generador de progreso que la NANOMEDICINA significa para la salud como creador de nuevas oportunidades en el diagnóstico y el tratamiento del cáncer y como podemos contribuir en la misión Europea contra el cáncer.
Iniciado bajo el nombre de NANO WORLD CANCER DAY, NANOMED Spain organiza la sexta edición, este año de manera virtual con la colaboración del Institut Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP).
Inscripciones: http://nanomedspain.net/jornada_ndcc/

PhD Discussions Sessions: Gerard Rubí and Ignasi Ferrer
2021-01-29 10:00 - 12:00
Development of an in vitro three-dimensional colorectal tumor model for drug screening
Gerard Rubí, Biomaterials for Regenerative Therapies
The majority of morphogenetic and pathological processes are driven by cells responding to the surrounding matrix cues, including matrix composition, architecture, and mechanical properties. Despite the increased evidence of extracellular matrix (ECM) properties, in vitro substitutes still fail to effectively mimic the native microenvironment. In this study, we aim to develop and characterize cell-derived extracellular matrices (CDMs) obtained through a protein deposition from human mesenchymal stem cells cultured in sacrificial 3D scaffold templates of poly-lactic acid (PLA) microcarriers. Obtained decellularized CDMs closely mimic biochemical, physical, and mechanical properties of native tissues’ ECM. The produced novel CDMs, are currently tested as a 3D cell culture platform for disease modelling. This is achieved through CDMs repopulation with colorectal cancer cells and cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs). The new 3D CDMs-cancer platform will provide an in vitro tumor model to study the cells-ECM interactions and potential therapeutic targets, to finally serve as a drug-screening platform for personalized medicine.
Novel m-Health and multimodal physiological biomarkers for non-invasive monitoring and home healthcare of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and COPD patients with comorbidities
Ignasi Ferrer, Biomedical Signal Processing and Interpretation
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder in which repetitive upper airway obstructive events occur during sleep. These events can induce hypoxia, which is a risk factor for multiple cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. OSA is also known to be position-dependent in some patients, which is referred to as positional OSA (pOSA). The gold-standard technique for diagnosing OSA is nocturnal polysomnography (PSG), which consists in recording multiple physiological signals while the patient is asleep in a hospital sleep lab. However, PSG has some important limitations, such as the high cost of the diagnostic test; the diagnosis is usually performed with a one-night sleep assessment, which does not account for the variability of sleep performance in the patient; and the sleep quality varies from that at home, because the patient has to sleep in a different bed connected to a lot of electrodes and wires.
In this study we aim to study how smartphones could be used to diagnose and monitor sleep apnea at home. Since smartphones are worldwide available devices, with a lot of embedded sensors, they appear as a feasible mHealth tools that could help overcome these limitations.
The PhD discussions session will be held ONLINE at the GoToMeeting platform

PhD Thesis Defense: Maria Blancas Muñoz
2021-01-15 11:00 - 13:00
Knowing what you know. A pedagogical model based on learners’ metacognitive abilities
Maria Blancas Muñoz, Synthetic, Perceptive, Emotive and Cognitive Systems (SPECS)
This thesis defense will be held online next 15th January at 11, via “zoom”, using this link.

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

PhD Thesis Defense: Laia Lidón Gil
2020-12-21 11:00 - 13:00
Regulación de la expresión de PrPC como elemento clave en las modificaciones de tau en la enfermedad de Alzheimer
Laia Lidón, Molecular and Cellular Neurobiotechnology
La enfermedad de Alzheimer (EA) es la causa más común de demencia y tiene una elevada prevalencia a nivel mundial. Se caracteriza por un deterioro cognitivo progresivo y muestra como principales rasgos neuropatológicos la presencia de placas seniles enriquecidas en βamiloide y ovillos neurofibrilares intracelulares constituidos por la proteína tau hiperfosforilada. Una precisa regulación de la fosforilación de tau es esencial para que la proteína ejerza sus funciones normales, ya que su hiperfosforilación interrumpe procesos neuronales básicos como el transporte axonal.
Por otro lado, la proteína priónica celular (PrPC) es una glicoproteína de unión a membrana que en humanos se expresa mayoritariamente en el sistema nervioso central a partir de un único gen, PRNP. Sus funciones fisiológicas abarcan un conjunto de propiedades neuroprotectoras como la regulación de la homeostasis del calcio, la actividad anti-apoptótica y la capacidad antioxidante.
En los últimos años, el interés por la PrPC y su implicación en diversas enfermedades neurodegenerativas ha ido en aumento a medida que se han ido conociendo los múltiples rasgos comunes a nivel molecular y/o neuropatológico entre PrPC y dichas enfermedades. Por
ejemplo, se ha descrito que PrPC interacciona directamente con las proteínas tau, Aβ y αsinucleína participando así en diversos procesos patológicos y vías de señalización. Es por ello que PrPC ha sido asociada con la EA y otras taupatías o la enfermedad de Parkinson.
En este sentido, se ha descrito que el aumento de expresión de PrPC provoca una reducción de los niveles de tau y una menor susceptibilidad a la fosforilación en modelos experimentales de EA. Además, ha sido demostrado que durante el curso de la EA se producen cambios de expresión en el perfil de PrPC habiendo un incremento notable en estadios iniciales de la enfermedad, mientras que en estadios avanzados la expresión de PrPC disminuye coincidiendo con el incremento de depósitos de ptau. Este hecho, sugiere que PrPC podría estar ejerciendo un rol neuroprotector en las fases iniciales de la enfermedad y, en cambio, la reducción de su expresión en fases avanzadas contribuiría a la neurodegeneración y a la progresión de la patología.
A pesar de ello, se desconoce cuáles son los desencadenantes de los cambios de expresión de PRNP en la enfermedad y, por este motivo, uno de los objetivos principales de la presente tesis ha sido analizar dichos factores. Hemos estudiado diversos estímulos asociados a la EA que pueden estar implicados en la regulación transcripcional de PRNP en etapas iniciales de la enfermedad y nuestros resultados indican que el incremento celular de los niveles de tau promueve la activación del promotor de PRNP. Además, hemos descrito que la vía de señalización JNK-c-jun-AP1 es la principalmente implicada en la activación del promotor de PRNP por tau.
Por otro lado, diversos estudios sugieren que PrPC participa en la diferenciación neuronal de progenitores neuronales, un proceso altamente influenciado por la actividad de la glucógeno sintasa quinasa-3beta (GSK3β), siendo esta inhibida por PrPC . Múltiples trabajos han descrito un desequilibrio en la expresión de las diferentes isoformas de tau (tau3R y tau4R) derivadas del splicing diferencial que sufre el gen de tau, MAPT, en enfermedades que cursan acúmulo de tau, como la EA. En dichas enfermedades también se han encontrado niveles alterados de diversas quinasas, y entre ellas se encuentra la GSK3β, que además de incidir sobre la hiperfosforilación de tau, está directamente implicada en el splicing alternativo de MAPT. Por ello, otro de los propósitos del presente estudio ha sido analizar la intervención de PrPC , no solo en la fosforilación de tau y en el mantenimiento de sus niveles de expresión, sino también
en la generación de las diferentes isoformas tau3R y tau4R. Mediante el uso de animales transgénicos, muestras humanas de pacientes con EA y modelos experimentales de estudio de la PrPC , nuestros resultados corroboran la implicación de PrPC en el splicing alternativo del exón 10 de tau a través de su papel inhibidor de la actividad GSK3β.

This thesis defense will be held online next 21st December at 11, in order to be able to attend the defense, you have to write an email to: doctorat.biologia@ub.edu

PhD Thesis Defense: Sock Ching Low
2020-12-15 12:00 - 14:00
Giving Centre Stage to Top-Down Inhibitory Mechanisms for Selective Attention
Sock Ching Low, SPECS (Synthetic, Perceptive, Emotive and Cognitive Systems)
Selective attention determines the sensory signals that are processed at higher levels at the expense of others and is biased by higher-order brain regions which anticipate task-relevant stimuli and increase neural sensitivity to them in the sensory cortex. Often, this is thought to occur through excitation of selected neurons, but some studies have suggested that it is not the full description of the process. Increasingly, evidence has pointed to an alternative, top-down inhibitory biasing mechanism. Here, we investigated such an inhibitory model of attention. We first showed how sensitivity to stimulus features known to be task-irrelevant are reduced through top-down suppression. Secondly, we demonstrated a biologically grounded spiking model’s ability to modulate information processing and benchmarked it to physiology. Lastly, we explored the interaction between the excitatory and inhibitory models of top-down attention in a foraging agent. Our results support the inhibitory model of top-down attention as a biological attentional mechanism and show how it fits into the current zeitgeist of top-down attentional mechanisms.
This thesis defense will be held online using “Zoom” using this link.

PhD Thesis Defense: Elena Lantero
2020-12-11 14:00 - 17:00
Targeting strategies against Plasmodium and practical applications: blocking parasite development with heparin derivatives and identifying new aptamers for diagnosis
Elena Lantero, Nanomalaria Group
This thesis defense will take place ONLINE on the 11th December at 14.00 using the “BB Collaborate” streaming platform.

PhD Discussions Sessions: Nimesh Ramesh and Sock Ching Low
2020-12-11 10:00 - 12:00
Microfluidic device for engineering 3D epithelial monolayers with controlled pressure
Nimesh Ramesh, Integrative Cell and Tissue Dynamics
The remarkable feature of the epithelial sheets is to form specialized 3D structures suited to their physiological roles, such as highly branched structures in the lungs, drastic shape changes during embryonic development, or self-organizing organoids. These tissues are distinctive not just in the forms cells assume, but also in function. To achieve this, tissues and the cells in them exhibit coordinated behavior across the spatial and temporal scale. In a sense, 3D epithelia resemble an active material that adapts and changes in response to its biophysical-chemical stimuli like gene expression, morphogen gradients, and lumen pressure. A rheological study of the epithelia would provide unique insight on two fronts. First, to understand the fundamental physical rules of the biology, and second for inspiration of new engineering tools and design principles.
Our study focuses on the tissue response to physical forces, specifically pressure, tension, and curvature. We have fabricated a microfluidic setup to subject epithelial tissues to lumen pressure at different spatial and temporal scales. The epithelial monolayer is grown on a porous surface with circular low adhesion zones. On applying controlled pressure, the monolayer delaminates into a spherical cap (dome). Laplace law for spherical shells allows us to compute tension in the 3D structure with applied pressure and the radius of the dome.
This microfluidic device helps us to characterize the 3D epithelial shape along with the mapping of physical forces. Here, we demonstrate that the device can subject MDCK epithelial cells to a range of lumen pressure at different rates. Drastic reduction in pressure results in tissue collapsing into wrinkles; showing buckling tendency of the tissue under compression. We think that our device enables studying geometrical and biophysical constraints of tissues and unravel emergent phenomena in tissues.

Saccade rate is associated with number of items in working memory
Sock Shing Low, Synthetic, Perceptive, Emotive and Cognitive Systems (SPECS)
Working memory has been shown to rely on theta oscillations for item representations, and the successful recall of items depends greatly on theta’s phase during both encoding and recall. At the same time, it has been observed that saccadic eye movements during visual exploration trigger theta phase-resets, raising the question of whether the neuronal substrates of mnemonic processing rely on motor-evoked responses. To quantify the relationship between saccadic eye movements and working memory load, we tested human participants performing an n-back Sternberg auditory task in combination with a colour-based catch detection task. We observed a task-specific interference in performance and an increase in saccade rate when both tasks were carried out simultaneously. Saccade rate also increased concurrently with working memory load in the Sternberg task’s pre-response stage, reflecting its hypothesised role in memory recall. Our results suggest an interplay between saccades and hippocampal theta during retrieval of items in working memory.
The PhD discussions session will be held ONLINE at the GoToMeeting platform

PhD Thesis Defense: Anna Vila Giraut
2020-12-10 15:30 - 17:00
Hydrogel co-networks of gelatin methacryloyl and poly(ethylene glycol)diacrylate sustain 3D functional in vitro models of intestinal mucosa
Anna Vila Giraut, Biomimetic systems for cell engineering Group
Conventional in vitro cell culture models do not possess the complexity that the native tissues offer. Because of this, the functional properties of the tissues are not properly mimicked, which causes poorly predictive capabilities. Engineered tissues, which combine biofabrication and tissue engineering techniques, try to overcome this gap by providing the cells with an environment similar to the native tissue, recapitulating (I) the physicochemical and mechanical properties of the cellular matrix, (II) the multicellular complexity of the different tissue compartments, and (III) the 3D structures of the tissues. These new engineered models are key factors to improve the platforms for basic research studies, testing new drugs or modelling diseases. Among all the engineered tissues, the intestinal mucosa is not well represented. The intestinal mucosa is formed by the epithelium, which is a multicellular monolayer laying on top of the lamina propria, a connective tissue containing several cell types (mesenchymal cells, immune cells). The gold standard intestinal models are based on epithelial cell lines derived from colon cancer cells grown on the hard porous membranes of the Transwell® inserts. The lack of the intestinal stromal compartment and the growth on a hard surface give high transepithelial electrical resistance and low apparent permeability. Therefore, the development of better in vitro platforms, which integrates both compartments and provides epithelium-lamina propria cell interactions, is highly desirable.
In this work, we describe an easy and cost-effective method to engineer a 3D intestinal mucosa model that combines both the epithelium and the lamina propria compartments. To build the 3D scaffolds we chose hydrogels as materials to mimic the physicochemical and mechanical properties of intestinal tissue. Thus, hydrogel conetworks of gelatin methacryolyl (GelMA), a natural polymer, and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), a synthetic polymer, are photopolymerized. On one hand, GelMA provides biodegradation and cell adhesion sequences but it lacks long-term mechanical stability. On the other hand, PEGDA, is non-biodegradable and does not present cell adhesion motifs. Nevertheless, it has good mechanical properties. By this technique, the lamina propria compartment of the intestinal mucosa can be reproduced in vitro. To do that, GelMA and PEGDA polymers are laden with mesenchymal cells (fibroblasts or myofibroblasts) and/or immune cells (macrophages). We demonstrated that GelMA – PEGDA hydrogel co-networks support the growth of these cells and epithelial monolayers on top of the scaffolds. Embedding fibroblasts or myofibroblasts on the hydrogel conetworks enhance the formation and the maturity of the Caco-2 epithelial monolayers, providing barrier properties similar to in vivo. The presence of the stromal cells also enhances the recovery of the epithelial integrity when the epithelium is temporally damaged. Finally, an immunocompetent model is obtained by the encapsulation of macrophages in the constructs. The presence of macrophages does not influence the formation of the epithelium. However, when the epithelial monolayer is disrupted, the presence of mesenchymal and immune cells in the stromal compartment increases cytokine secretion in a synergistic manner. Our model can successfully mimic the interactions between stromal and epithelial compartments found in vivo intestinal tissue, offering a potential platform to be used to study absorption and toxicity of drugs, as well as cell behaviour under physiological and pathological conditions.
Location: The defense will be online. People are invited to attend upon receiving a link that you have to request to vd.fisica.recerca@ub.edu

PhD Thesis Defense: Javier Rodriguez Benítez
2020-12-04 11:00 - 13:00
Characterization and interpretation of cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory dynamics in cardiomyopathy patients
Javier Rodriguez Benítez, member of Biomedical Signal Processing and Interpretation (BIOSPIN) Group
Friday 4th December 2020, at 11.00 am
This defense will be transmitted online at Google meet, using this link

PhD Thesis Defense: Arnau Biosca
2020-12-04 11:00 - 13:00
Discovery of protein aggregation in Plasmodium parasites and development of a combinational antimalarial therapy at the nanoscale
Arnau Biosca, Nanomalaria Group
This thesis defense will take place ONLINE on the 4th December at 11.00 using the “BB Collaborate” streaming platform.

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

PhD Thesis Defense: Jesús Ordoño
2020-11-25 00:00 - 14:00 | Sala d’Actes de la Facultat de Matemàtiques i Estadística (FME), Carrer de Pau Gargallo, Barcelona, 08028, Spain
Lactate: unraveling the regenerative potential for cardiac tissue engineering
Jesús Ordoño, Biometerials for regenerative therapies grouop
This thesis defense will take place on the 25th November at 12.00 at Sala d’Actes de la Facultat de Matemàtiques i Estadística (FME), Campus Diagonal Sud. It is possible to attend to this defense but it will also be transmitted online at Google meet (meet.google.com/ufd-vtgp-gmd).

Bioengineering and MedTtech against cancer
2020-11-24 09:00 - 2020-11-25 18:20
Bioengineering & MedTtech against cancer

To meet the challenges in healthcare of the 21st century, it is important to combined bioengineering and MedTech to develop biological system analyze and treatment to treat specifically cancer cells and protect the rest of the patient’s body by limiting side effects. To accomplish this, we need to promote an innovation model where scientists, engineers and doctors works together.
It’s in this optic that the digital oncology short course will take place the 24th and 25th of November 2020. This short course is part of ToHealth program, an EIT Health activity. The course is organized by Medicen Paris and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), with the collaboration of Biocat, “la Caixa” Foundation and Meditecnologia, under the framework of B·Debate.
A 2 days workshop reviewing different bioengineering and medtech technologies (liquid biopsies, targeted drug delivery, tumor on chip, mechanobiology and Car-T therapies…) which can significantly contribute to meet the challenges that the increasing prevalence of cancer poses on society and healthcare systems and what would be the difficulties that must be solved before these technologies are a reality in daily clinical practice. And also, a transversal session to discuss barriers and opportunities for the translation of these technologies to the clinical practice.

Location: Online Event

We invite you to register at https://event.meetmaps.com/bioengineeringandmedtech/en/landing

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
