Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia

Curso de primeros auxilios
2017-04-26 09:00 - 13:00 (Europe/Madrid)
El objetivo del curso es ser una ayuda para adquirir los conocimientos necesarios de cara a prestar los primeros auxilios a aquellas personas que sufran un accidente o enfermedad repentina, hasta la llegada del personal sanitario. De esta primera actuación va a depender, en gran medida, el estado general y la posterior evolución de la persona. Con este curso conoceremos los tratamientos que están a nuestro alcance y sabremos lo que NO debemos hacer nunca para no agravar el estado del lesionado.
Fechas:
26 de Abril. 4 horas, de 9 a 13h.
Participantes:
Toda la comunidad IBEC
Formador: ASEM.

II Festival de la Nanociencia (10alamenos9)
2017-04-25 00:00 - 2017-04-26 23:59, 2017-04-25 - 2017-04-26
IBEC is an organiser of this year’s Festival de la Nanociencia (10alamenos9), funded by FECYT.
The festival will take place simultaneously in Barcelona, Saragossa, Bellaterra, San Sebastian and Madrid.
The programme will include seminars by Gabriel Gomila and Samuel Sanchez and a Workshop on Drug Delivery (Cosmocaixa 26/04/2017), visits to IBEC and workshop for students (March and April at IBEC), and a Nano Workshop in collaborations with Il·lustraciència (Cosmocaixa 25/04/2017 and 26/04/2017).
More details here.

PhD Discussions Sessions: Aida Garrido and Marina Uroz
2017-03-31 10:00 - 23:00
Optical control of endogenous receptors and cellular excitability using targeted covalent photoswitches
Aida Garrido, Nanoprobes and nanoswitches group
Light-regulated drugs allow remotely photoswitching biological activity and enable plausible therapies based on small molecules. However, only freely diffusible photochromic ligands have been shown to work directly in endogenous receptors and methods for covalent attachment depend on genetic manipulation. Here we introduce a chemical strategy to covalently conjugate and photoswitch the activity of endogenous proteins and demonstrate its application to the kainate receptor channel GluK1. The approach is based on photoswitchable ligands containing a short-lived, highly reactive anchoring group that is targeted at the protein of interest by ligand affinity. These targeted covalent photoswitches (TCPs) constitute a new class of light-regulated drugs and act as prosthetic molecules that photocontrol the activity of GluK1-expressing neurons, and restore photoresponses in degenerated retina. The modularity of TCPs enables the application to different ligands and opens the way to new therapeutic opportunities.

Traction forces at the cytokinetic ring regulate cell division and polyploidy in the migrating zebrafish epicardium
Marina Uroz, Integrative Cell and Tissue Dynamics group
Epithelial repair and regeneration are driven by collective cell migration and division. Both cellular functions involve tightly controlled mechanical events. Mechanics of collective cell migration is increasingly well understood, but physical forces associated with cell division in cohesive epithelia have escaped experimental observation. Using the zebrafish epicardium as a model system, we show that cells dividing in a migrating epithelium exert large cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) forces during cytokinesis. These forces point towards the midbody and are exerted through paxillin-rich focal adhesions that connect the cytokinetic ring to the underlying extracellular matrix. Large forces at these adhesions are associated with failure of cytokinesis and polyploidy, indicating that abnormal cell-matrix adhesion at the cleavage furrow impedes the latest stages of abscission. Mechanical interaction between the cytokinetic ring and the ECM thus provide a new mechanism for the regulation of cell division and polyploidy.

IBEC Seminar: Aranzazu Villasante
2017-03-29 12:00 - 13:00
Cancer Engineering: Strategies to Engineer Predictable Tumor Models
Dr. Aranzazu Villasante, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York
Although many drugs show promise in monolayer or in animal models systems, most fail to translate in humans and this is because they lack of ability to replicate the human microenvironment in patients. In response to these limitations, I have generated a set of predictable tissue-engineered (TE) models of cancer by using different strategies. Today, I am going to focus on some of these approaches to engineer pediatric tumors in vitro. Firstly, I will show a TE model of Ewing’s sarcoma (ES) within its bone niche. This particular strategy is based on engineered human bone by introducing osteoclasts in co-culture with osteoblasts in the 3-dimensional bone niche. This model mimics bone remodeling and recapitulates some of the features observed in the osteolytic process in cancer and also, the effects of the therapeutic reagent Zoledronic acid observed in patients. The second strategy consists in designing biomaterials with the same tumor composition to mimic the biological and mechanical properties of tumors from patients. I have developed 3D porous collagen 1-hyaluronic acid scaffolds (Col1-HA scaffolds) for studies of tumor derivedexosomes, which are known to be initiators of pre-metastatic niche formation in certain sites. Interestingly, I found high levels of a critical mediator of ES growth and metastasis (EZH2) in exosomes isolated from both patients and TE model of ES. Alternatively, we cultured TE models based on Col1-HA scaffolds into a mechanical loading bioreactor for better mimicking biomechanical forces in ES. We found that biomechanical stimuli modulate osteolytic-related proteins (i.e. RUNX2) and sensitivity to anticancer drugs, such as Sorafenib. I will also explain the use of perfusion bioreactors and cell sheet engineering to develop a novel model of Neuroblastoma (NB) to study the effect of consolidative drugs, such as Isotretinoin, on tumor vasculature and stem-like cells. Here, I will show the existence of sub-populations of NB cells with different levels of stemness properties; these levels are related to the capacity of stem-like cells to transdifferentiate and also, to chemoresistance and relapse. Finally, the take-home message of my talk will be that TE models can bridge the gap between 2D in vitro cultures and in vivo animal models in a predictive, inexpensive and low timeconsuming fashion for successfully understand cancer biology and improve cancer treatments.

IV IBEC Calçotada
2017-03-18 11:00 - 17:00 | Merendero Font de les Planes
IV IBEC Calçotada
At “Merendero Font de les Planes”, a picnic area where you can arrive by public transport: FGC station “Les Planes” (aprox. 20min from Barcelona).
Organized by the IBEC PhD Committee.

X Conferencia Anual de las Plataformas Tecnológicas de Investigación Biomédica
2017-03-07 09:00 - 2017-03-08 17:00 | Hotel Meliá Avenida de América, C/Juan Ignacio Luca de Tena, 36, Madrid, Spain
Los próximos días 7 y 8 de marzo, se celebrará en Madrid, la X Conferencia Anual de las Plataformas Tecnológicas de Investigación Biomédica: Medicamentos Innovadores, Nanomedicina, Tecnología Sanitaria y Mercados Biotecnológicos.
En la Conferencia, se van a abordar diferentes aspectos de la Innovación en el Sistema Nacional de Salud, desde una perspectiva nacional e internacional de colaboración público-privada, que permita a los pacientes el acceso a los nuevos fármacos, incorporar la medicina personalizada y las nuevas tecnologías en el tratamiento de sus enfermedades, y de este modo, contribuir a la sostenibilidad del SNS.
Programme

IBEC Seminar: David Cahen
2017-03-06 12:00 - 13:00
Electron Transport across Peptides and Proteins
Prof. David Cahen, Weizmann Institute of Science
Electron transport (ETp), i.e., electronic conduction across peptides and proteins in a solid state–like configuration is surprisingly efficient, and comparable to, or at times even more efficient than via completely conjugated molecules of comparable length. Working with modified proteins and with homopeptides we find both cofactors and secondary structure to matter for ETp efficiency. An open question is if contact to the external world is the dominant factor, or intra-protein transport. This is important, also for electron transfer, ET: nature regulates ET via redox chemistry, i.e., injection and extraction of electrons; this is where ET and ETp are related, because the analog in the latter is the coupling to the electrodes. In ET control over the process is achieved at the free energy price of a redox event, but no redox process is required for ETp. This allows studying ETp via non-redox proteins, such as rhodopsins or albumins (“dopable” proteins), pointing to peptides as efficient transport media; studying transport via, including coupling to them, can help to learn about protein ETp.

IBEC Lab Tour
2017-03-03 17:00 - 22:00 | IBEC, Baldiri Reixac 10-12, Barcelona, 08028, Spain
Do you ever wonder what kind of research other groups do at IBEC?
IBEC’s PhD student committee is very pleased to invite you to the IBEC Lab Tour.
It’s an opportunity to visit other groups’ laboratories at IBEC and find out what they’re doing. All are welcome regardless of position (undergraduate student, master student, PhD student, postdoc, technician, etc.)
After the tour, there will be a pica-pica and more time for networking, and then a visit to Bowling Pedralbes for some bowling, beers and lots of fun.
If you want to join this activity, please register in the Doodle at http://doodle.com/poll/35yikkawr332atik before Monday 27th of February.

Meet at the Helix Building Reception at 17h00

IBEC Seminar: Maria Virumbrales
2017-03-03 10:00 - 11:00
“Development of microfluidic tools to reproduce and characterize the tumor microenvironment”
Maria Virumbrales, University of Zaragoza
Compelling evidence over the years has demonstrated that the tumor microenvironment (TME) shapes tumor initiation, development and response to therapy. This results in a high heterogeneity within the same cancer type, and hinders the process of finding effective treatments.[1,2]
In this context, microfluidics has proven a worthy sum of techniques to create comprehensive and personalized cancer in vitro 3D models reproducing the TME in a more relevant fashion than traditional in vitro setups.
Microfluidics also permits a high degree of control over the setup, combining different cell types in an orderly manner, as well as different physical and biochemical cues. [3] Furthermore, microfluidics facilitates optical inspection and diminishes sample sizes and reagent volumes needed for each experiment. Microfluidic devices are also compatible with high-throughput approaches, which make them an interesting option for drug testing, research and development.[4]
Hence, we developed two microfluidic tumor models, which we used to model and characterize different aspects of the TME. TME was characterized in terms of hypoxia, proliferation rates, reactive oxygen species concentration, apoptosis rate and glucose uptake.[5] Moreover, the influence of tumor cells on an endothelium was investigated. Furthermore, we carried out pharmacodynamic and drug efficiency studies in these newly-established models. Thereafter, we developed a simple enzymatic protocol to extract cells seeded in 3D from the microfluidic devices. Cells could be sorted by flow cytometry according to the expression of specific surface markers or by using different fluorescent stains. RNA was extracted for downstream quantification and gene profiling was carried out for the mentioned aspects of the tumor microenvironment.
All in all, we developed two easy-to-use microfluidic models for personalized medicine capable of comprehensive reproduction of the TME, which allows characterization of tumor signatures by means of microscopy and traditional benchtop methods.

Balkwill FR, Capasso M, Hagemann T (2012) The tumor microenvironment at a glance. J Cell Sci 125: 5591-5596.
Klemm F, Joyce JA (2015) Microenvironmental regulation of therapeutic response in cancer. Trends Cell Biol 25: 198-213.
Sackmann EK, Fulton AL, Beebe DJ (2014) The present and future role of microfluidics in biomedical research. Nature 507: 181-189.
Du G, Fang Q, den Toonder JMJ (2016) Microfluidics for cell-based high throughput screening platforms—A review. Analytica Chimica Acta 903: 36-50.
Ayuso JM, Virumbrales-Munoz M, Lacueva A, Lanuza PM, Checa-Chavarria E, et al. (2016) Development and characterization of a microfluidic model of the tumour microenvironment. Sci Rep 6: 36086.

Matins de recerca: Elisabeth Engel
2017-02-28 10:00 - 11:15 | CosmoCaixa Barcelona, Carrer d'Isaac Newton, 08022 Barcelona, Spain
Matins de recerca
A series of morning talks about current research, held at CosmoCaixa and given by researchers from the institutions and universities.
Science and technology are presented with the aim of encouraging young people into the world of scientific discovery in an accessible, engaging format.
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La regeneració d’òrgans com a paradigma de la medicina del futur
En el passat, la idea d’un home biònic ha estat només cosa de la ficció. Però actualment no sembla tan increïble que la tecnologia pugui igualar les capacitats del cos humà. Els investigadors de l’IBEC s’estan enfrontant a un ampli ventall de reptes en enginyeria de teixits.

Dr. Elisabeth Engel , Head of IBEC’s Biomaterials for Regenerative Therapies group

More details here.
