Research news

IBEC’s Nanoprobes and Nanoswitches group have designed a single-protein electrical contact which can efficiently transfer an electrical charge.

Through a subtle mutation in a copper protein which is responsible for various metabolic redox processes in the bacterium Pseudomona aeruginosa, they managed to control the transport of electrons in the biomolecule.

In their effort to shed light on the role that physical forces play in the body, Pere Roca-Cusachs’ group at IBEC has shown how these forces ‘switch on’ the expression of genes that may result in cancer.

Cells apply mechanical forces to their surrounding tissue, and this mechanical effect is crucial for tissue function. In diseases such as cancer or liver and lung fibrosis, tissue rigidity and mechanical forces increase, promoting the progression of the disease.

Eduard Torrents’ group at IBEC has published some important findings that could lead to a change in common experimental protocol.

Along with their collaborators at Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron and in the Department de Genètica i Microbiologia of the UAB, Eduard and PhD student Anna Crespo reveal in Scientific Reports today that the most-used laboratory strain of bacteria may not be the reliable reference tool for testing new antibiotic treatments that it was previously thought to be.

A paper by IBEC’s Smart nano-bio-devices group addresses the problem of biofilms, the “microbe cities” that enhance cell-to-cell communication for bacteria, allowing infection to thrive and increasing the chances of evading the immune system. In the body, they can be found in a wide variety of microbial infections, such as in the lungs of cystic fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

Biofilm colonies are usually resistant to antibiotics and require targeted methods of removal. One method uses nanoparticles as carriers for antibiotic delivery, where they randomly circulate in fluid until they make contact with the infected areas. These are not very effective, however, as they need to be able to get much closer to the biofilm.

Xavier Fernàndez Busquets’ joint IBEC-ISGlobal Nanomalaria group has moved a step closer to the validation of immunoliposomes as a vehicle for antimalarial drugs by showing that they increase the efficacy of lipohilic (poorly soluble) compounds in a mouse model of malaria.

The results, published in Biomaterials, suggest that this strategy could be used for the treatment of severe malaria.

Most antimalarial drugs currently in the pipeline are poorly soluble in water, and high amounts are needed to ensure their efficacy, particularly in cases of severe malaria.

IBEC’s Nanobioengineering group have made important inroads in mechanobiology by creating an in vitro model of the extracellular matrix that shows how this environment works with protein complex actomyosin – the essential substance that allows muscle to contract – to direct the movement of cells.

The group’s paper, which appears in Advanced Functional Materials this week, sheds light on cell migration, which is essential for many biological processes such as embryonic development and wound healing when things are going right, and cancer progression when things go wrong.

An IBEC group has developed a new imaging method that can characterize the conductance of single molecules, shedding light on the molecular mechanisms behind biological processes such as respiration, photosynthesis and repair.

Publishing in the journal Small, the Nanoprobes and Nanoswitches group describe a new way to observe conduction pathways in redox proteins and complexes – in which the transfer of electrons causes a change in oxidation – at the nanoscale.

IBEC junior group leader Lorenzo Albertazzi is a contributor to the 2017 edition of ChemComm Emerging Investigators, which is published annually by the UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry.

Now in its seventh year, the special issue showcases research carried out by internationally recognised, up-and-coming scientists in the early stages of their independent careers, and who are making outstanding contributions to their respective fields.