Two projects, one to develop nanobots designed to combat bladder cancer, and the other to develop new drugs to treat brain metastasis caused by certain breast cancers have won the CaixaResearch competitive call in Health Research. CIC biomaGUNE is working on the two projects that will receive about one and a half million euros in total to go on advancing innovative solutions for health problems.
The BLADDEBOTS project (“bladder robots”) is a pioneering project in the field of self-propelled nanobots aiming to advance towards solutions to combat one of the forms of cancer that is the most common, recurrent and expensive to treat. In this context, the use of so-called "nanorobots" or "nanobots", tiny objects made in the laboratory, opens the door to new, more efficient and more cost-effective solutions.
"Nanobots are nanomachines capable of "swimming" on their own and delivering drugs in a targeted manner to cancer cells, by accumulating at specific locations and thus reducing side effects. In this project, the BLADDEBOTS, one million times smaller than a human hair, are multifunctional nanobots propelled by urea," explained CIC biomaGUNE researcher Jordi Llop.
"Thanks to this innovative approach, the BLADDEBOTS will establish a new benchmark in nanomedicine and in the smart, personalized delivery of drugs to treat cancer, by providing enhanced tumor penetration and personalized design for patient-derived samples," added Llop. "To monitor the movement and location of the nanobots as well as the progression of the disease in vivo, we will be using high-end, molecular imaging tools and state-of-the-art techniques, such as positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging," added the CIC biomaGUNE researcher.
The project, led by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) with the participation of the Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica, CIC biomaGUNE and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), will receive funding of almost one million euros from the "la Caixa" Foundation.
In order to make progress in another area of oncology as well, the BREAST-BRAIN-N-BBB project is developing new drugs to treat brain metastasis caused by certain breast cancers. In these cases, life expectancy is very short, the treatment is very complicated and has many side effects.
"The new drug is based on a modified antibody fragment. Antibodies, in general, have a high affinity for a certain target, are very specific and are capable of accumulating in certain types of tumors. This particular drug is made up of four components integrated into a single sequence of amino acids, each with a distinct function: one helps the drug to enter the brain, another is responsible for getting it attached to the cancer cells once it has entered the brain, the third component is responsible for getting the drug released, and finally there is the therapeutic component or the drug itself," explained Jordi Llop.
"Our work will involve radiolabeling the drugs and injecting them into the animal models to see if the drug actually reaches both the primary tumor and the brain metastases. Once we have demonstrated that the drug reaches the tumor, we will carry out therapy trials to see if we can slow down or completely inhibit tumor growth," said Jordi Llop.
The project led by the Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM, Lisbon) and which has the collaboration of the Research Institute for Medicines (iMED.ULisboa) of Portugal, the Biodonostia Health Research Institute, and CIC biomaGUNE, will receive funding of just over half a million euros from the "la Caixa" Foundation.
CaixaResearch Health Research Program
The "la Caixa" Foundation has selected 30 new cutting-edge biomedical research projects in Spain and Portugal as part of the CaixaResearch call for Health Research 2021, which aims to boost the best initiatives to address health challenges in the fields of cardiovascular, infectious and oncological diseases, and in the neurosciences. The call supports a variety of basic, clinical or translational research projects, with grants of up to one million euros.
About CIC biomaGUNE
The Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials CIC biomaGUNE, member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), conducts state-of-the-art research at the interface between Chemistry, Biology and Physics, devoting particular attention to studying the properties of biological nanostructures on a molecular scale and their biomedical applications. It was recognized in 2018 as a “María de Maeztu” Unit of Excellence for meeting requirements of excellence, which are characterized by a high impact and level of competitiveness in its field of activity on the global scientific stage.