IBEC Seminar: Enabling technologies for biofabrication of functional materials and biomimetic environments
2016-11-18 12:00 - 13:00 (Europe/Madrid)
Enabling technologies for biofabrication of functional materials and biomimetic environments
Dr. Alvaro Mata, Director of the Institute of Bioengineering at Queen Mary University of London
The talk will present novel self-assembling and printing technologies enabling the fabrication of 2D and 3D bioactive and/or biomimetic materials for potential application in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and in vitro models.
Examples of projects that will be presented include a) a bioactive membrane capable of growing hierarchically-ordered hydroxyapatite structures that resemble those found in human dental enamel; b) a dynamic self-assembling peptide-protein system capable of controllably accessing non-equilibrium to grow tubes and capillaries with potential application in tissue engineering; and c) a simple 3D molecular printing method to create distinct chemical environments ranging from tens of microns to centimeters in size and depth within different types of hydrogels.

NanoBio&Med2016
2016-11-22 08:00 - 2016-11-24 17:00 | UB Faculty of Medicine, c/ Casanova 143, Barcelona, Spain
NanoBio&Med2016 presents the most recent international developments in the field of Nanobiotechnology and Nanomedicine and will provide a platform for multidisciplinary communication, new cooperations and projects to participants from both science and industry.
Emerging and future trends of the converging fields of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology and Medicine will be discussed among industry, academia, governmental and non-governmental institutions. NanoBio&Med2016 will be the perfect place to get a complete overview into the state of the art in those fields and also to learn about the research carried out and the latest results. The discussion in recent advances, difficulties and breakthroughs will be at his higher level.
An industrial forum will be organized to promote constructive dialogue between business and public leaders and put specific emphasis on the technologies and applications in the nanoBioMed sector.
For more details and to register, visit http://www.nanobiomedconf.com/NBM16/index.php

IBEC Seminar: Herbert Levine
2016-11-22 15:00 - 16:00
Models of individual and collective cell motility
Herbert Levine, Director, Center for Theoretical Biological Physics (CTBP), Rice University, Houston
Eukaryotic cells can move either individually or collectively and this property is crucial for many biological functions. Often cells use directional information to decide on their direction; for single cells this can take the form of chemical or mechanical gradients. For collective motion, additional information can be obtained from neighboring cells through such processes as the contact inhibition of locomotion. Our group develops a variety of computational models for studying actin-based crawling motions. These models range from rather complex and detailed at the single cell levels to simple reduced representations that can handle tissue-level processes. This talk will focus on out recent progress in this direction, specifically on collective chemotaxis of cellular clusters and the role of contact inhibition in the mechanical state of expanding tissues.

IBEC PhD Discussions Sessions: Jamish Parmar and Marta Pozuelo
2016-11-25 10:00 - 11:00
Title to follow
Jamish Parmar, Smart nano-bio-devices group
Abstract to follow

Title to follow
Marta Pozuelo, Nanoprobes and nanoswitches group
Abstract to follow

IBEC PhD Discussions Sessions: Gizem Altay and Marta Pozuelo
2016-11-25 10:00 - 11:00
Towards bioengineering a platform for the growth and differentiation of intestinal stem cells
Gizem Altay, Biomimetic systems for cell engineering group
Intestinal diseases affect major part of the world population; yet, there is still the need of developing effective treatments. Animal models are widely used to study these diseases; however, many intestinal processes are difficult to control in vivo. Besides these models are very costly and they raise ethical concerns. In vitro models, on the other hand, can enable improved studies in a well-controlled and ethical manner. The most advanced in vitro model reported up to date is the organoid system. Organoids are stem cell derived 3D self-organized tissue models that recapitulate many biological parameters of the native tissue such as the spatial organization, multicellular hierarchy, cell-matrix interactions and some physiological functions. Intestinal organoids contain crypt-villi domains with all major intestinal cell types and a central lumen region, resembling many aspects of the intestine in vivo. However, it is often difficult to control the stem cell differentiation and cell-matrix interactions within these systems. Besides, the luminal compartment being inaccessible is a major inconvenience for studies such as drug absorption. These drawbacks raise the need to bioengineer a platform to obtain an intestinal epithelial model from intestinal stem cells.
In the intestinal epithelium the stem cell growth and differentiation are controlled by biochemical gradients of the stemness factors. Moreover, the 3D architecture and the mechanical properties of the native tissue are influential in the phenotype of these cells. Therefore, in bioengineering the cellular microenvironment, it is very important to reproduce the structural and mechanical characteristics of the native intestinal epithelium and to provide cells with the appropriate biochemical cues.
In this study we have developed 3D villus anatomical models from extracellular matrix like soft polyethylene glycol based hydrogels. The platform developed has controlled biochemical functionality and supports the intestinal stem cell attachment and growth. It is characterized to be able to create spatio-chemical gradients of the stemness factors to further modulate stem cell growth and differentiation. We have also developed a way to obtain 2D epithelial monolayers from intestinal crypts to further be implemented in the hydrogel based 3D villus models.

Studying charge transport in Single-Protein wires
Marta Pozuelo, Nanoprobes and nanoswitches group
Electron Transfer (ET) is undoubtedly one of the most important processes in life. Molecularly well-defined ET pathways in complex protein ensembles play a vital role in biological processes such as cell respiration or photosynthesis. The fundamental understanding of ET processes in biology is important not only to understand such key natural processes but also to advance in the design of biomolecule/electrode interfaces for Bioelectronic applications. The development of new techniques such as scanning probe microscopies (SPM) played a key role. In particular, the electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (ECSTM) has been exploited to in situ monitor the ET rate as a function of the applied potential of individual metalloproteins immobilized on an Au electrode thanks to the single-molecule spatial resolution and the electrochemical gate capabilities.
Azurin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a widely studied redox protein model both in bulk and at the single molecule level. Its globular structure contains a coordinated copper ion, which makes the protein capable of exchanging electrons by switching its redox state (Cu I/II) and supports its role as a soluble electron carrier in the respiratory chain of bacteria.
In this contribution, we will show our advances on the design and characterization of single-protein devices using a Cu-Azurin metalloprotein model. We have demonstrated transistor like-behaviour in an electrochemically-gated single-protein wire that operates at very low voltages thanks to the Cu-Azurin redox properties. It was demonstrated that the conductance varies depending on the redox state of the Cu centre, having its maximum value at the redox-midpoint. We have also analysed the spontaneous formation of single-Azurin electrical contacts through the monitored current when the two ECSTM electrodes were placed at a fixed distance. Discrete switching events for the conductance were observed, whose frequency depends on the applied electrochemical conditions and, therefore, they were univocally ascribed to discrete changes in the redox state of the trapped protein.
In order to tailor the charge transport behaviour of the single-protein wire, we have synthesized several mutants of the protein by exploiting point-site bioengineering schemes at different positions of the protein second coordination sphere. Our results show that we can rationally change the transport mechanism of the single-protein device by studying the effect of the specific residue modification on the particular ET pathways in the protein backbone.

Advancing Gender Equality and Diversity in science
2016-11-30 10:30 - 14:00 | Sala Dolors Aleu, Cluster II, Parc Científic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
IBEC is committed to awareness of diversity and gender equality in science and society. This follows our mission to carry out interdisciplinary research at the highest international quality level which, by creating knowledge, helps to improve health and quality of life, and generate wealth.
This event will be a space for reflection and debate, open to the public, and involving experts from the field of gender and science.
10:30am Registration
11:00am David Badia (Introduction), Managing Director, IBEC
11:10am Montse Montllau, Marketing and communications consultant (lecture in Catalan)
11:40am Mara Dierssen, Group Leader, CRG
12:10pm Jörg Müller, Researcher, Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3-UOC). Gender & ICT
12:30pm Carolina Marí, Head of HR, IBEC
13:00pm Lluís Rovira (Closing remarks), Director, CERCA
13:20pm Time for questions and discussion
13:35pm Networking and snacks
To register, visit www.ibecbarcelona.eu/events/genderequality&diversity

IBEC Christmas Party 2016
2016-12-20 19:00 | Fifteen Restaurant, PCB
We’re delighted to invite you once again to the biggest, best IBEC Christmas Party Ever!
Tuesday 20th December · Fifteen Restaurant, PCB

As last year, there’ll be a chance to take part in a charity event to raise money for some very good causes. The more 1€ raffle tickets you buy during dinner, the more likely you are to win one of the fabulous prizes provided by our sponsors.
When you register, you’ll have a chance to choose one of the following charities to be a beneficiary of this fundraising:
Option 1: Amics de la Gent Gran
Option 2: Associació de Familiars i Amics de Nens Oncològics de Catalunya (AFANOC)
Option 3: SETEM
Option 4: Soñar Despierto
Christmas party programme:
18:30: Activity organised by the PhD Committee: Engineering BioChristmas
20:00: Dinner and sale of raffle tickets
22:00: Winning tickets and party
00:30: End
With all this, plus food, drink, music and some fun surprises, the IBEC Christmas Party promises once again to be a fabulous way to kick-start the festive season!
Please register here (deadline 13th December). We’re counting on you to make the party go with a swing!

IBEC Christmas Party 2016
2016-12-20 19:00 | Fifteen Restaurant, PCB
More details coming soon – save the date!

IBEC Thesis defense: Marc Van Der Hofstadt
2016-12-21 11:00 - 13:00 | Sala de Graus Aulari, Physics Faculty, UB, Barcelona
“Hygroscopic properties of single bacterial cells and endospores studied by Electrostatic Force Microscopy”
Marc Van Der Hofstadt, Nanoscale bioelectrical characterization group.
Marc will be defending his PhD thesis on Wednesday 21st December at 11:00 at the Sala de Graus (Aulari), Facultat de Física (UB).
Everybody is welcome to attend.
—
If you’re an IBEC PhD student and would like to advertise your PhD defence on the IBEC calendar, please contact vleigh@ibecbarcelona.eu

IBEC Seminar: Christian A. Nijhuis
2017-01-16 12:00 - 13:00
Molecular Diodes with Rectification Ratios of Nearly Six Orders of Magnitude
Christian A. Nijhuis, Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore
One of the major goals of molecular electronics is to relate the performance and electronic function of molecular devices to the chemical structure and intermolecular interactions of the organic molecules inside them. Molecular electronic devices are complex physical-organic systems that consist of at least two electrodes, the organic component, and two (different) organic/inorganic interfaces. Singling out the contribution of each of these components to the device performance is not straightforward. Besides, fabrication of molecular junctions is still challenging and defects have to be minimized.
During the talk, I will discuss our recent progress of molecular diodes based on self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of ferrocene-alkanethiolates of the form H(CH2)nFc (Fc = ferrocene) sandwiched between two electrodes. I will discuss in detail how we fabricate the junctions (using the well-characterized “EGaIn”-technique) and characterize our junctions and SAMs. We have investigated the various sources of defects in the junctions caused by the impurities in the SAM precursors,[1] defects in the electrode material,[2] or subtle changes to the electronic[3] and supramolecular structure of the junctions.[4] We used this accumulated knowledge to develop a well-performing diode that blocks the current in one direction of bias, but allows it to pass through in the other, with a difference of a factor of 6.3 x 105.[5,6]
We hope that our findings will help to guide future experiments and to explain why some on paper promising diodes had disappointing performances.[7]
References
1) Jiang, L.; Yuan, L.; Cao, L.; Nijhuis, C. A. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 1982.
2) Yuan, L.; jiang, L.; Thompson, D.; Nijhuis, C. A. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 6554.
3) Yuan, L.; Nerngchamnong, N.; Cao, L.; Hamoudi, H.; Del Barco, E.; Roemer, M.; Sriramula, R.; Thompson, D.; Nijhuis, C. A. Nat. Commun. 2015, 6.
4) Nerngchanmnong, N.; Yuan, L.; Qi, D. C.; Jiang, L.; Thompson, D.; Nijhuis, C. A. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2013, 8, 113.
5) Yuan, L.; Breuer, R.; Jiang, L.; Schmittel, M.; Nijhuis, C. A. Nano Lett. 2015, 15, 5506.
6) Chen, X.; Roemer, M.; Yuan, L.; Wei, D.; Del Barco, E.; Thompson, D.; Nijhuis, C.A. submitted
7) Thompson, D.; Nijhuis, C. A. Acc. Chem. Res. 2016, 49, 2061

PhD thesis defence: Pilar Rodríguez
2017-01-20 12:00 - 14:00 | room 9, 3rd floor, Faculty of Medicine, c/ Casanova 143, Barcelona, Spain
“Mechanics of boundary formation in epithelial monolayers by Eph-ephrin interactions”
Pilar Rodríguez, Integrative cell and tissue dynamics group
Pilar will be defending her PhD thesis on Friday 20th January at 12:00 at the UB’s Faculty of Medicine (Hospital Clinic), room 9, 3rd floor.
Everybody is welcome to attend.
—
If you’re an IBEC PhD student and would like to advertise your PhD defence on the IBEC calendar, please contact vleigh@ibecbarcelona.eu

Nano World Cancer Day 2017
2017-02-02 08:00 - 17:00 | Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain
Bienvenido al NANO WORLD CANCER DAY 2017!
El próximo 2 de febrero se celebrará la cuarta edición del NANO WORLD CANCER DAY (NWCD), un evento de alcance mundial organizado en el marco del Día Mundial del Cáncer. Su principal objetivo es dar 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.
Durante el NANO WORLD CANCER DAY 2017 se organizarán eventos simultáneos en diferentes países de toda Europa, con la presencia de la prensa. Este año los países participantes en el acontecimiento internacional serán: Alemania, Austria, Francia, Grecia, Irlanda, Italia, Países Bajos, Portugal, España, Suiza, Turquía y Reino Unido.
Durante este día, expertos en Nanomedicina de cada país, y desde los diferentes campos (investigadores, médicos, oncólogos, emprendedores, etc.) expondrán los últimos adelantos 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.
NANO WORLD CANCER DAY es un evento que se inició en 2013 y está organizado a nivel europeo por ETP Nanomedicine (European Technology Platform), en el marco del proyecto europeo ENATRANS (Enabling Nanomodicine Translation), y de manera local por los diferentes componentes de la plataforma en cada país, en España, NanomedSpain.
