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Research news

How we learn in chunks – and what it means for the brain

fonollosa numbersIn some research conducted with his colleagues at the University of California San Diego, IBEC senior researcher Jordi Fonollosa has shed some light on the mechanisms behind how we memorize sequences – as well as how failures in these mechanisms can provide insight into neurological disorders.

Previous behavioral experiments suggest that humans and some animals learn and recall sequences in smaller segments.

Another big step towards understanding the electric properties of the cell

Having measured the electric polarizability of DNA – a fundamental property that directly influences its biological functions – for the first time ever last year, IBEC´s Nanoscale Bioelectrical Characterization group has made a further breakthrough in the understanding of the dielectric properties of cell constituents by measuring the electric polarizability of the main components of the cell membrane – namely lipids, sterols and proteins – with a spatial resolution down to 50nm.

The cell membrane plays an essential role in fundamental bioelectric phenomena. Found in places such as neurons or cardiac cells, it regulates the exchange of ions between the cell and the environment, as well as enabling the formation of electric potentials that can propagate over long distances.

Possible new treatment for bladder cancer using a mycobacterium

Collaborators at the UAB and IBEC have found a mycobacterium that is more effective in treating superficial bladder cancer and does not cause infections, unlike those used up to now.

Mycobacteria are the only bacteria used in cancer treatment. The administration of the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis (BCG) is the current treatment for superficial bladder cancer, and is inserted directly into the bladder through a catheter. BCG prevents new tumours from appearing, but despite its efficacy it has many adverse side effects, the most serious being BCG infections that need to be treated with antituberculous drugs.

Safe nanomotors propelled by sugar

Researchers at IBEC and their collaborators have made a breakthrough in nanomotors for applications in medicine by developing the first ever fully biocompatible self-propelling particles that are powered by enzymes that consume biological fuels, such as glucose.

In Nanoletters today, IBEC group leader and ICREA research professor Samuel Sánchez and his collaborators at Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS), the University of Tübingen and the MPI for Solid State Research, describe their fabrication of enzyme-powered synthetic nanomotors that overcome the disadvantages of current systems by being both biocompatible and powered by biologically benign fuels.

IBEC group presents 4th generation biomaterial that mimics bone

nanoscaleoscarIBEC researchers have published a paper in Nanoscale elucidating a brand new biomaterial that paves the way towards a fourth generation of effective structures for tissue regeneration.

The Biomaterials for Regenerative Therapies group and their collaborators in the Netherlands and Poland describe a hybrid material which faithfully mimics the structure of bone’s extracellular matrix.

Findings on seizure susceptibility open new avenues to understanding epilepsy in rapid progressive dementia

IBEC researchers have revealed the role played by the cellular prion protein (PrPC) – which is associated with a plethora of biological functions including cell proliferation, differentiation and signaling – in epilepsy.

In the latest edition of Scientific Reports, a Nature group journal, the Molecular and Cellular Neurobiotechnology group and their collaborators outline findings that could lead to a better understanding of rapid neurodegenerative diseases that involve epileptic fits, such as Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD).

How cells cope with stress and strain

opcio 13_webA study by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) reveals how cells withstand breakage during the constant changes in shape and volume experienced in most biological processes

During critical biological processes such as embryonic development, breathing, the pumping of the heart, wound healing and tumor growth, the body’s cells are stretched and distorted to adapt to their environment. The cell’s membrane, though, is rigid and inflexible. So how does it withstand all these constant deformations, so that it doesn’t break?

New malaria strategy proposes using unaffected red blood cells as drug carriers

IBEC and ISGlobal’s joint unit, Nanomalaria, has published a new therapeutic strategy against malaria.

The study, which appeared in the current edition of the Journal of Controlled Release, tackles a major hurdle in malaria treatments, which is that most antimalarial drugs start working on the infected cell quite late in Plasmodium’s life cycle, when their effect is often too short to be lethal to the parasite. The work has been done in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline, as one of the few cases of partnerships involving industry in the research and development of innovative antimalarial nanomedicines.

IBEC groups join forces to combat chronic bacterial infections

torrentsengelA study published today in the Journal of Controlled Release describes a new nanoparticle strategy able to target hard-to tackle infections caused by biofilm-forming bacteria.

Two IBEC groups have worked together to develop a new type of nanoparticle to help fight chronic illness caused by biofilm-forming bacteria.

Genetic “editing” a new tool to fight inherited disease

CellforwebResearchers at the Hospital Clínic, IDIBAPS, the Hospital Sant Joan de Deu and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) have participated in a study, led by Dr. Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte of the Gene Expression Laboratory at California’s Salk Institute, that uses molecular “scissors” to remove mitochondrial mutations in mouse eggs.

For thousands of women worldwide who are carriers of a mitochondrial disease, having a healthy child can be a gamble.