Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia

PhD Thesis Defence: Jordi-Ysard Puigbó
2019-10-01 16:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Madrid)
Learning mechanisms of uncertainty and neuromodulation
Jordi-Ysard Puigbó, Synthetic, Perceptive, Emotive and Cognitive Systems (SPECS) group
Supervisors: Dr. Paul F.M.J Verschure (IBEC) and Dr. Miguel Ángel González Ballester
Committee: President: Dr. Gustavo Deco (UPF) Secretary: Dr. Andrea Soltoggio (Loughborough Univ.) Member: Dr. Yves Boubenec (ENS)

IBEC Seminar: Carlos Rodríguez Cabello
2019-10-01 10:00 - 11:00 | IBEC, floor 11, Tower I, Baldiri Reixac 4-8, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Dynamic Systems Based on Elastin-Like Recombinamers
Carlos Rodríguez Cabello, Bioforge Lab, University of Valladolid CIBER-BBN
The use of recombinant technology in the production of macromolecule-based advanced biomaterials has caused a breakthrough increase in achievable degree of complexity and control on the molecular designs and compositions. Those recombinant macromolecules of polpeptide nature are called recombinamers. They are produced from a purely synthetic gene, in which the amino-acid sequence is not restricted to those found in naturally occurring proteins and it is dictated only by engineering design parameters. The high degree of complexity and control of the recombinamer compositions permit to reach unmatched levels of functionality in the materials produced by this way and on the systems based on them.
The development of functionality in such systems comes by to different ways. In one hand, these materials can display direct functionality. Such functionality is based on the presence in their composition of functional epitopes, typically inspired by functional epitopes found in natural proteins. The other source of functionality is the holistic functionality that emerges by the precise combination and interactions of direct functions in a precise and well designed macromolecular composition. This holistic function is particularly evident in system with a dynamic nature; systems that rearrange and respond to changes in their environment.
Examples of such dynamic systems will be presented. The examples will expand from complex 3D structures for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering that are able to incorporate a designed program of degradation and time evolution, to more fundamental matters such as the hierarchical spontaneous development of morphology and macroscopical shapes in natural and artificial systems.
Dr. Rodríguez-Cabello is a full professor at the Dept. of Condensed Matter Physics of the University of Valladolid (UVa) Spain. During his career he has been teaching courses related to physics of polymers and biomaterials science in both undergraduate and graduate levels. In 1997, he founded BIOFORGE in the UVa, which nowadays is an internationally recognized and word leading group in the field of recombinamers. His current research interests include the development of biofunctional, smart and customized protein polymers towards obtaining advanced biomedical devices.

PhD Thesis Defence: Carlos Pérez González
2019-09-30 08:00 - 17:00
Active forces driving spreading and retraction of living tissues
Carlos Pérez González, Integrative Cell and Tissue Dynamics group

SEMINAR Series in Development, Regeneration and Disease
2019-09-25 15:00 - 16:00 | Felix Serratosa, Baldiri Reixac, 10-12, Barcelona, Spain
“Engineering human pluripotent stem cells for organoid applications in regenerative medicine”
Nuria Montserrat
Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain.
Pluripotency for Organ Regeneration, Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), The Barcelona Institute of Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain.
Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Madrid, Spain.
ABSTRACT
The generation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) derived organoids is one of the biggest scientific advances in regenerative medicine. Recently, we have demonstrated that lengthening the time that hPSCs are exposed to a threedimensional microenvironment in the presence of defined renal inductive signals we are able to generate kidney organoids that transcriptomically match secondtrimester human fetal kidneys. Furthermore, we have recently developed a transplantation method that utilizes the chick chorioallantoic membrane to emulate a soft in vivo microenvironment further sustaining the growth and differentiation of implanted kidney organoids, as well as providing a vascular component.
In order to promote the efficient generation of nephron-like structures we have also mimicked the stiffness of the in ovo chorioallantoic membrane microenvironment in vitro by fabricating compliant hydrogels. This approach showed that by mirroring both biochemical and mechanical cues during organoid generation we are able to boost renal commitment and nephron differentiation. We will also discuss recent findings on the application of different bioengineering strategies (i.e., including 3D biopriting and tissue engineering) for kidney organoid generation, as well as the definition of culture conditions mimicking renal disease. Furthermore, we will discuss how through the use of CRISPR/Cas9 we are able to introduce mutations related to kidney developmental diseases exploiting kidney organoid technology.

Mechanobiology of cancer summer school 2019
2019-09-17 08:00 - 2019-09-21 17:00 | La Cerdanya Eco-Resort
The MECHANO·CONTROL consortium, led by several research institutions across Europe, is launching a Summer School that will be taking place between 17-20 of September 2019 at the Eco Resort in La Cerdanya. The aim of the summer school is to provide training on mechanobiology, and specifically its application to breast cancer. This school will include lectures as well as practical workshops in different techniques and disciplines, ranging from modelling to biomechanics to cancer biology.
There will be scientific sessions in the morning, mixing 6 keynote speakers with 18 short talks selected from abstract submissions by junior scientists attending the school. In the afternoon, there will be 2-3-hour practical workshops, given by scientists from the MECHANO·CONTROL consortium. The course will also include leisure activities.
The 6 confirmed speakers who will attend the summer school are:
Marija Plodinec (University Hospital Basel)
Andrew Ewald (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)
Peter Friedl (Radboud University Nijmegen)
Guillaume Salbreux (Francis Crick Institute)
Christina Scheel (Institute of Stem Cell Research, Helmholtz Center Munich)
Buzz Baum (Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology at UCL)
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:
Pere Roca Cusachs, Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (chair)
Xavier Trepat, Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (co-chair)
Marino Arroyo, Technical University of Catalonia-BarcelonaTech and Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (co-chair)

IBEC Seminar: Kara Spiller
2019-08-02 12:00 - 14:00 | IBEC, floor 11, Tower I, Baldiri Reixac 4-8, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Immunomodulatory Biomaterials for Limb Salvage
Kara Spiller, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University
Diabetes and peripheral arterial disease affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Patients with these conditions frequently develop chronic wounds on the lower limbs that lead to amputation, with a 5-year mortality rate as high as 77%. Macrophages, the primary cell of the innate immune system, are critical regulators of angiogenesis and wound healing. Their dysfunction is strongly implicated in arterial dysfunction, limb ischemia, and poorly healing chronic wounds. The goal of the Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory at Drexel University is to understand the mechanisms by which macrophages orchestrate successful angiogenesis and tissue regeneration and to develop novel biomaterial strategies that apply these principles to pathological situations, in order to ultimately prevent limb amputation. This talk will focus on the effects of temporal changes in macrophage phenotype on angiogenesis, the design of biomaterials and drug delivery systems to modulate macrophage phenotype for enhanced angiogenesis, and the development of macrophage phenotype-related biomarkers to assist in clinical decision making for a personalized medicine approach to wound care.
Dr. Kara Spiller is an Associate Professor in Drexel University’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems. Her research interests include the role of immune cells in tissue regeneration, the design of immunomodulatory biomaterials, and international engineering education. Her research is funded by the NIH, the NSF, and private foundations. Her awards include a Fulbright fellowship, the NSF CAREER award, and the United States nomination for the ASPIRE prize.

PhD Discussions Sessions: Ariadna Marin and Ignasi Casanellas
2019-07-26 10:00 - 12:00 | IBEC, floor 11, Tower I, Baldiri Reixac 4-8, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Linking epithelial size, tension and pressure in curved epithelial monolayers
Ariadna Marin, Integrative Cell and Tissue Dynamics
Epithelia are thin cellular layers that act as mechanical and biochemical barriers. They are dynamic tissues that present strong intercellular junctions needed to maintain their integrity while growing and regenerating. During embryogenesis, they fold progressively and give rise to highly reproducible 3D shapes that guide the shape and positioning of organs.
The way pressure and tension depend on the size of 3D epithelial structures can help us understand how epithelia fold into determined shapes and are able to maintain them even under the continuous remodelling due to cell division. In this project we generate simple fluid-filled MDCK 3D monolayers to study the link between epithelial size, luminal pressure and intercellular tension.
Nanoscale surface adhesiveness continually modulates intercellular communication in cartilage development
Ignasi Casanellas, Nanobioengineering
Nanoscale inputs of the extracellular matrix (ECM) affect cell behavior, including differentiation. We have developed a method for the simple production of large-scale substrates functionalized with cell-adhesive moieties of arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) dendrimers, with uneven local densities at the nanoscale.
In the first stages of cartilage formation, mesenchymal stem cells gather together, forming condensates with an extensive gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) network. The establishment of this communication network is imperative for the development of healthy cartilage tissue. We have used nanopatterned substrates to locally control cell-substrate adherence during mesenchymal condensation, a prevalent morphogenetic transition, and promote stem cell differentiation towards chondrogenesis. We here demonstrate that local ligand density defines gap junctional protein Cx43 network architecture and GJ functionality.
By a condensate transplantation assay, we then reveal that differentiating stem cells are sensitive to evolving substrate inputs in a continuous feedback mode after condensation. The renewal of optimal ligand conditions led to a revamp of Cx43 expression.
This knowledge provides new insight into cell-matrix nanoscale interactions during morphogenesis. It is relevant for the design of nanopatterned platforms for cell-based regenerative therapies of mesenchymal tissues such as cartilage.

12th IBEC Symposium: Bioengineering for Active Ageing
2019-07-17 09:00 - 18:00
The IBEC annual symposium brings together high-profile international experts for an open forum for interdisciplinary discussions and networking.
This year the symposium is dedicated to Bioengineering for Active Ageing, one of IBEC’s three major application areas.
This year a special afternoon session has been organized with three keynote speakers coming from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in the framework of an ongoing project funded by MIT-SPAIN ”la Caixa” Foundation SEED FUND to foster IBEC-MIT collaborations.
Scientific community is invited to participate. Attendees from IBEC and abroad are welcome to present their research or projects in poster format. Moreover, some of these contributions will be selected by the scientific committee for an oral flash presentation.
Additionally, attendees are invited to present their research in a short video to be uploaded to the IBEC YouTube channel. The most popular video will win a prize at the end of the year.

Important deadlines:
Abstract submission: 16th June
Notification of acceptance: 28th June
Registration deadline: 8th July

Registration and Abstract submission: https://events.ibecbarcelona.eu/symposium2019/
