Nanoscale bioelectrical characterization

The main goal of the Nanoscale Bioelectrical Characterization group is to develop a multiscale and multimodal (electrical, mechanical) approach to Bioelectricity, covering from the nano- to the microscale. To this end the group combines methods and techniques from Scanning Probe Microscopy, Artificial Intelligence and Organic Bioelectronics. The main objective is to contribute to develop new label-free characterization tools for Life Sciences, new nanomedical diagnosis approaches and new electronic biosensors.

Autonomous multimodal scanning probe microscopes for Life Sciences 

At present the group focuses in the development of an Autonomous Multimodal Functional Scanning Probe Microscope assisted by Artificial Intelligence for Life Sciences and Medical applications. The objective is to map the structural, electrical and mechanical properties at the nanoscale of cells, bacteria, drug nanocarriers and organic Bioelectronic devices with minimal intervention of the operator and at high throughput.  

The objective is to obtain in an autonomous way fast functional electric and mechanical nanoscale maps of Life Science samples and Organic Electronics devices in physiological conditions with minimal intervention of the operator and at high throughput. 

Initial results obtained by the group include the upgrade of the Scanning Dielectric Microscope to enable its operation in physiological buffers for living cell imaging, the development of a supervised machine learning algorithm to process Scanning Dielectric Microscopy data and provide almost instantaneously local dielectric constant maps of both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, and the implementation of a workflow for Scanning Dielectric Microscopy for high throughput and automatic nanoscale multimodal (electrical and mechanical) characterization. 

High throughput multimodal characterization of drug nanocarriers  

The development of novel drug nanocarriers require an exhaustive multiparametric characterization, which includes its morphology and structure, net charge, particle size distribution or phase transition temperature. These characteristics are obtained usually from different techniques. We target to obtain simultaneously and at high throughput multiparametric information on drug nanocarriers by using a single instrument, namely, the autonomous multimodal in liquid Scanning Dielectric Microscope. We aim at obtaining information on the size, sphericity, membrane wall thickness, lamellarity, Young’s modulus, stiffness, surface charge and membrane specific capacitance of drug nanocarriers, such as liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles or lipid nanoparticles. 

Interrelation of mechanical and electrical processes in living neurons 

Mechanical and electrical processes in cells and tissues can sometimes appear interrelated, as for instance, in the action potential propagation in neurons, which provokes the electrical polarization of the cell membrane and, at the same time, a change in neuron’s membrane tension. Similarly, the restructuring of the cytoskeleton of neurons, as occurring in the Alzheimer disease, can induce a change in cellular stiffness and, consequently, an improper neuron firing. We aim at investigating this interrelation by means of the multimodal in liquid Scanning Dielectric Microscope applied to living neurons. 

Unravelling the electrical conduction properties of cable bacteria 

Long-range electron conduction in cable bacteria filaments presents unusual characteristics in the biological world, exceeding by more than 6 orders of magnitude the conductivity of the best conducting protein nanowires. Electric conduction takes place through Niquel rich protein nanofibers located in the bacteria periplasm, but still many aspects of the electronic conduction in cable bacteria remain unknown. We aim at providing new insights on the conducting properties of cable bacteria by using the unique capabilities and versatility of the Scanning Dielectric Microscope. 

Novel nanoscale physical phenotyping of cancer cells 

The whole process of cancer aggression, from local growth to extravasation into blood vessels, migration, seeding into different organs and formation of metastases involves physical changes (mechanical and electrical) and their interplay with protein expression and genetic transformations. We aim at developing a high throughput nanoscale multimodal physical phenotyping method for cancer cells based on the Scanning Dielectric Microscope. Our ling term objective is to provide additional diagnostics tools to medical doctors for evaluating cancer progression and aggression. 

Structure-function relationships for materials in Organic Bioelectronics 

Organic semiconductor materials have emerged as key materials in the development of platforms (e.g. electrolyte gated transistors) for transducing and amplifying biological and biochemical signals. This fact makes them an integral part of diverse biosensing and bioelectronic devices able to sense even single molecules or to record bioelectric potentials from excitable cells. The fundamental understanding of the nanoscale electronic and ionic transport governing the operation of these materials and devices remains, however, poorly understood. We aim at providing new insights into the structure-function relationship of organic materials used in Bioelectronics with the unique capabilities of the multimodal in operando in-liquid Scanning Dielectric Microscope. 

Staff members:

Gabriel Gomila Lluch

Group Leader

+34 934 020 206

ggomilaibecbarcelona.eu

Researcher profile

Former members:

Harishankar Balakrishnan | PhD Student 
Now: Post-doc, University of Munich (Germany) 
Ignacio Casuso | PhD Student 
Now: Staff Scientist, INSERM (France) 
Maria Chiara Biagi | PhD Student 
Now: In-vivo Image Analysis Scientist, AstraZenca (Spain) 
Marti Checa | PhD Student 
Now: R&D Staff scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (USA) 
Martin Edwards | Postdoc 
Now: Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas (USA) 
Daniel Esteban Ferrer | PhD Student 
Now: CEO, ViR S.L. (Spain) 
Laura Fumagalli | Senior Researcher 
Now: Reader, University of Manchester (UK) 
Georg Gramse | PhD Student 
Now: Group Leader, Johannes Kepler University of Linz (Austria) 
Larisa Huetter | PhD Student 
Now: IT consultant, Rewion (Germany) 
Adrica Kyndiah | Postdoc 
Now: Senior Scientist, Instituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italy) 
Helena Lozano | PhD Student 
Now: Project Manager, CSIC (Spain) 
Martina di Muzzio | PhD Student 
Now: Engineer PMQ, Roche (Spain) 
Jordi Otero | Postdoc 
Now: Lecturer, Universitat de Barcelona (Spain) 
Shubham Tanwar | PhD Student 
Now: Post-doc, Italian Institute of Technology (Italy) 
Romen Trujillo | PhD Student 
Now: Associate Professor, Universitat de Barcelona (Spain) 
Marc Van der Hofstadt | PhD Student 
Now: Post-doc, CNRS (France) 

• Cypher Atomic Force Microscope (Asylum Research)
• Nanowizard 4 Bio-Atomic Force Microscope (JPK)
• Cervantes Atomic Force Microscope (Nanotec Electronica)
• Easy Scan 2 Atomic Force Microscope (Nanosurf)
• AxioImager A1m Reflection Optical Microscope (Zeiss) equipped with a AxioCam ERc5s (Zeiss)
• CompactStat portable electrochemical interface and impedance analyzer (Ivium Technologies)
• Palmsens 4, 8 channel Potentiostat (Palmens)
• 2 eLockIn204 4-phase Lock-In amplifiers (Anfatec)
• Keithley 6430 sub-femtoAmp remote sourcemeter
• Keysight B2912A precision Source/Measure Unit, 2 channels
• Keysight N9310A RF Signal Generator 9 kHz to 3.0 GHz
• Computation Workstation Intel Xeon, NVIDIA RTXA5000 

• Dr. Filip Meysman 
  University of Antwerp, Belgium 
• Dra. Adrica Kyndiah 
  Italian Institute of Technology, Italy 
• Dr. Martí Checa 
  Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA 
• Dr. Jordi Borrell 
  University of Barcelona, Spain 
• Dra. Marta Mas-Torrents 
  Institut de Ciències de Materials de Barcelona, Spain 
• Dr. Eduard Torrents 
  Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya, Spain  
• Dr. Jose Antonio del Rio 
  Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya, Spain