Biomimetic systems for cell engineering

The “Biomimetic Systems for Cell Engineering” group is a multidisciplinary research group focussing its research activities on the development and application of new artificial systems that mimic tissue micro and nanofeatures for biomimetic in vitro assays.

The use of more biomimetic and complex 3D models in in vitro assays is now a hot and extremely relevant topic.

“Flat biology” results are questioned when being transferred to in vivo, while the pressure to decrease animal testing continues increasing. As a group of engineering providers working in the biotechnological field, we see these issues as both a challenge and a clear opportunity to impact the field with novel technological solutions. Our research ambition will be to develop better engineering tools to help in the development of organotypic cell culture models, easy to implement in daily cell culture routines, so they have a real and meaningful impact in the biotechnological arena and, therefore, will impact applications in basic cell research, disease modelling and regenerative medicine.

Along with this line, we are working towards the following objectives: (i) to engineer and validate a complex in vitro model of small intestinal epithelium, (ii) to validate a novel in vitro model of engineered cardiac tissue and (iii) to engineer a novel vessel-on-chip to reproduce the tumor metastatic environment. To carry out our research we employ cutting edge biofabrication technologies such as bioprinting and novel biological tools such as organoids.

Micro and nanofabrication techniques:

• Biomolecule gradients produced by microfluidics
• Large-area nanostructured polymer surfaces produced by diblock copolymers
• 3D microstructures on hydrogel materials
• Mini-bioreactor for 3D cell culture

Characterization techniques:

• Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) measurements on polymer materials
• Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) expertise
• Optical Microscopes (white light/epifluorescence)
• Focused Ion Beam (FIB) / Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) of biological specimens

Equipment:

• Biological safety cabinet (class II)
• High precision syringe pumps
• Peristaltic pumps
• Access to the Nanotechnology Platform (IBEC Core Facilities): equipment for hot embossing lithography, polymer processing and photolithography, chemical wet etching, e-beam evaporation and surface characterization (TOF-SIMS)
• Access to the Scientific and Technological Centers (University of Barcelona): equipment for surface analysis (XPS, AFM, XRD) and microscopy techniques (SEM, TEM, confocal)
• PRUSA i3MK3S (FDM printer) 
• Phrozen Shuffle XL (DLP-SLA printer)
• SOLUS (DLP-SLA printer)

• Prof. Ángel Raya / Dr. Samuel Ojosnegros
  Center of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona (CMRB), Barcelona
• Prof. Eduard Batlle
  Institut de Recerca Biomédica (IRB), Barcelona
• Prof. Pablo Loza
  Institut de Ciències Fotòniques (ICFO), Castelldefels (Spain)
• Dr. Javier Ramón, IBEC
• Dr. Elisabeth Engel, IBEC
• Prof. Raimon Jané, IBEC
• Prof. Josep Samitier, IBEC
• Prof. Javier Santos, Dra. Maria Vicario
  VHIR, Barcelona (Spain)
• Dr. Bruno Sarmento
  i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Porto, Portugal
• Dr. Sonia García-Blanco
  University of Twente, Enschede (The Netherlands)
• Dr. Fabio Variola
  University of Ottawa (Canada)
• Dr. Daniel Riveline
  ISIS/IGBMC, Strasbourg (France)
• Dr. Matthew Dalby
  University of Glasgow (UK)
• Prof. Jordi Martorell
  Institut de Ciències Fotòniques (ICFO), Castelldefels (Spain)
• Prof. José Antonio Plaza
  CNM-CSIC, Barcelona
• Dr. Francesc Mitjans
  LEITAT, Barcelona
• Francesco Pampaloni
  Buchmann Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (Frankfurt)
• Dra. Elena Élez
  VHIO