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Research news

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.

New avenues for identifying and evaluating treatments for CDKL5 deficiency disorder

Researchers from the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) have participated in a study led by Imperial College London in which the role of cyclin-dependent protein kinase 5 (CDKL5) in pain perception has been uncovered.

The defective version of the gene that produces this protein is behind CDKL5 deficiency disorder, a rare disease with no cure for which effective treatments will now be testable in mouse model, thanks to the results of this work.

New biodegradable nanomotors for biomedical applications

A paper published in Nano Letters describes the engineering and functionality of a biocompatible and biodegradable nanomotor. This hybrid structure, which is composed of an organic exterior, propels itself using inorganic nanoparticles acting as an engine that the researchers have synthesized inside the nanomotor.

The research was led by Jan van Hest and Laoi Abdelmohsen from the Institute of Complex Molecular Systems at TU/e in collaboration with Samuel Sánchez from the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) in Barcelona, as well as researchers based in China and the UK.