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Research news

Controlling the speed of enzyme motors brings biomedical applications of nanorobots closer

A study by scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), the Universidad Complutense (UCM), Universidad de Girona (UdG), and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), working together with other international centers, has overcome one of the key hurdles to the use of nanorobots powered by enzymes called lipases.

LipoBots: robust nanomotors for biomedical applications developed with encapsulation technology

Researchers at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) have developed a new type of encapsulated enzyme nanomotors.

The called LipoBots, which could be used for medical applications. LipoBots are capable to self-propulsate and to retain their enzymatic functionality in conditions similar to those of the human stomach.

Range selectivity, a new concept that could lead to more efficient nanoparticle drug delivery 

In a new study published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, researchers describe a new concept called “range selectivity”, explaining why biomimetic nanoparticles only bind to receptors when their density is within a precise range.

This finding could pave the way for the development of highly targeted therapies against a number of diseases.

New method could help to find the best treatment for a pediatric cancer

A study led by IBEC researchers from the Nanobioengineering group, uses a functional predictive biomarker to anticipate the effect of treatments against rhabdomyosarcoma, the most common soft-tissue cancer affecting childhood and adolescence.

This advance can help in predicting treatment efficiency thus, avoiding tumor resistance and decreasing undesired secondary effects.

3D printed hydrogels for cancer immunotherapy T-cell growth

The new 3D hydrogels provide high rates of cell proliferation, as they mimic lymph nodes, where T-cells reproduce in vivo. A new project, led by researchers from ICMAB and IBEC, and with the collaboration of VHIO and UIC, wants to transfer this technology to hospitals.

Cancer immunotherapy is based on using and strengthening the patient’s own immune system to recognize and fight tumor cells, without damaging healthy tissues.

Lights, Cells, Action! IBEC develops small molecules able to control endocytosis with light

IBEC’s research group “Nanoprobes and nanoswitches” creates a system based on light to inhibit the endocytocis and control its spatio-temporal dynamics. The newly developed light-sensitive small-molecule inhibitors of endocytosis (called dynazos) are water-soluble, cell permeable, photostable, and enable fast photoswitchable inhibition of endocytosis. This technology will allow more accurate and controlled studies were endocytosis is crucial, as in cellular grow, differentiation and motility.

A new method confirms the impact of COVID-19 confinement measures on mental health and well-being

Researchers from the SPECS lab at IBEC develop a new method to evaluate the mental health and wellbeing of people living under strict confinement measures such those during COVID-19 pandemic on April 2020. The study, conducted with people living in 17 countries, confirms that confinement measurements leads to a negative impact on the emotional wellbeing. The researchers also detected some personal situations that can entail a higher risk for the mental health and wellbeing.

Researchers identify a mechanism that explains the recurrence of many lung infections

A team of researchers from the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) has discovered that strains of the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from patients are more persistent than laboratory strains and propose a molecular mechanism to explain intracellular survival.

The study, published in the journal Virulence, finds that the class II ribonucleotide reductase enzyme (RNR) plays a key role in frequent lung infections, for example, those that occur in patients with cystic fibrosis.