The Gastrointestinal Surgery Unit of the Hospital’s General and Digestive Surgery Service has published, in the prestigious British Journal of Surgery, a randomized clinical study on the superiority of intracorporeal anastomosis in direct laparoscopic cancer collection. The study has been directed by Dr. Jesús Bollo, from the Servei de Cirurgia General de Sant Pau, in collaboration with the Institut de Recerca de l’Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau.
A group of Catalan researchers, led by the director of the Digestive Endoscopy Unit of the Digestive Pathology Service of the Hospital de Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau, Carlos Guarner Argente, have published an article in Gastroenterology which demonstrates that antibiotic prophylaxis is not necessary for ultrasound-guided endoscopic puncture of pancreatic cystic lesions.
You can read the article here
The work consisted of a clinical trial with a group of 226 patients who underwent an evaluation of cystic lesions of their pancreas and required puncture through ultrasound-guided endoscopy. The incidence of infections was shown to be less than 1% and, in addition, did not vary significantly between patients receiving a placebo and the control group, which was given ciprofloxacin prophylaxis. These results may change the established standard procedure in these cases, thus avoiding prophylactic administration of the antibiotic, possible side effects and possible resistances associated with these drugs. The multicenter study involves the Digestive Pathology Service of Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Hospital Clínic – IDIBAPS, the University of Barcelona, the Digestive Pathology Service of the Hospital Universitari Mutua de Terrassa – Terrassa Mutual Research Foundation, the Hospital Joan XXIII of Tarragona, the Hospital de Bellvitge – IDIBELL, and the Center for Networked Biomedical Research on Liver and Digestive Diseases (CIBERehd). This work has been supported by the Carlos III Health Institute, the Spanish Society of Digestive Endoscopy and the Catalan Society of Digestology.
The Sant Pau Institute for Biomedical Research (IIB Sant Pau) with the Haematological Diagnosis Research Group, coordinated by Dr. José F. Nomdedéu, is organising the seminar “Cellular Competition and Tumourogenesis”, led by Ginés Morata, researcher and research professor at the CSIC-UAM Molecular Biology Centre (Madrid) and Foreign Member of the Royal Society and Foreign Member of the US National Academy of Sciences.
On January 27th, the conference “H2020: Working Session and Workshop” will be held by Dr. Juan Riese, scientific-technical advisor specialized in H2020 Health calls from the European and International Research Projects Unit, General Sub-Directorate of International Research Programs and Institutional Relations of the ISCIII.
This conference, organized by the Research Institute Foundation of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau, is aimed at all researchers and project managers interested in applying for H2020 funding and / or need support to improve their proposals.
Attendance, in the Sala Pau Gil of the Sant Pau Modernist complex, is open to all institutions, both public and private. It will be a good opportunity to create future collaborations.
Register for the Conference here
On 27 January there will be another Monday science session, led by Dr. Jordi Surrallés, director of the Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau and professor of Genetics at the UAB. The session is entitled “Genetics and health in the 21st century” and will take place at 6.30 pm in the amphitheatre of the Residence for Researchers, CSIC-Generalitat of Catalonia.
The Catalonia 2020 Blood Donor Marathon starts on Friday 10th and will last until 17th January in the main hospitals of Catalonia (also in Sant Pau). Friday 10th and Saturday 11th it will be possible to donate blood in a big tent and two buses at Plaça Catalunya in Barcelona. The aim is to increase donations after the Christmas holidays.
On the other hand, the Catalan trap singer Lildami puts the soundtrack to the Donor Marathon, from a personal story about blood donation with a video recorded in Sant Pau: https://www.youtube.com/ watch? v = cF5ErekZVBA. The Blood and Tissue Bank, within the framework of this Donor Marathon, opens its Whatsapp channel, a mobile number (677071756) where any citizen can make queries and receive information.
10,000 donations are needed to care for the sick after the holidays
The Blood Bank activates the largest donation campaign of the year, the Catalan Blood Donor Marathon, which is held from 10th to 17th January. The aim is to get 10,000 people to donate blood during these days and to reach optimum levels of reserves after Christmas, when donations have fallen by 25%.
During these days it will be possible to donate blood in the main Catalan hospitals and on 10 and 11 January in a large donation tent in Plaza Cataluña in Barcelona, where there will also be two buses to receive more donors.
In addition, during the Marathon they will organize about forty donation campaigns in different towns and cities, such as those that will be held by the city councils of Tarragona and Girona.
From the website www.maratodonants.cat donors can sign up to give blood these days in Plaza Cataluña and the main hospitals. Registration is not essential, just a way to facilitate the donation and make a reminder by email the day before to the donors.
Whatsang, the new Whatsapp service of the Blood Bank
One of the main novelties of the Blood Bank this 2020 will be launched on the occasion of the Marathon. It is the Whatsapp service of blood donation that has been renamed as Whatsang.
The Blood Bank will be the first organism of the Generalitat with an official account of service to the citizen through Whatsapp. Through the telephone number 677071756, any person will be able to make queries to the Blood Bank and have a fast and close communication channel. Whatsapp conversations with the Blood Bank are individual, in the same way that communications can be made by email or telephone.
Lildami and the Blood Donation Trap
The other great novelty that comes with the Blood Donation Marathon is the new ‘soundtrack’. The popular Catalan trap singer Lildami has composed a song about blood donation with lyrics that explain the experience of the singer’s brother, who needed blood and a bone marrow transplant.
The song will be released on 7 January to coincide with the presentation of the Marathon in the city councils of Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida and Girona, and will be available on the main digital platforms. In addition, in the video clip of the song Lildami is accompanied by a dozen blood recipients who have participated in the recording, made outside the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona.
Friday and Saturday, donation and special activities in Plaza Cataluña
The special donation campaign in Plaza Cataluña on January 10 and 11 will include other special activities for all audiences.
Support from entities
The Catalan Blood Donor Marathon is also possible thanks to the involvement of the main Catalan City Councils, the Catalan Federation of Blood Donors and the Red Cross, among other entities.
Related information:
What is blood used for? www.bancsang.net/blog/que-servir-sang
Testimonies of people who have needed blood:
www.bancsang.net/blog/blog-recull-agraiments-dels-receptors-sang-posa-cara-destinacio-donacions
Researchers from Sant Pau, CIBER (CIBER-BBN) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (IBB-UAB) have developed a new type of protein biomaterial that allows for the continuous release in time of therapeutic proteins when administered subcutaneously. in laboratory animals.
Precision medicine is gaining prominence today, delivering more effective personalized therapies for each patient and innovative pharmacological developments. In the field of oncology, for example, different approaches to the directed and controlled release of drugs are being developed, reducing their toxicity to the body.
“These structures, measuring just a few microns in diameter, contain functional proteins that are released in a manner similar to the release of human hormones in the endocrine system,” says Antonio Villaverde, a researcher at CIBER-BBN / IIB-UAB and one of the work coordinators.
The work is the result of stable scientific collaboration between Antonio Villaverde’s group and the Oncogenesis and Antitumor Research Group, led by Dr. Ramon Mangues at the Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau and has had the participation of the Institute for Biological and Technological Research of the National University of Córdoba -CONICET, in Argentina .
Dr. Mangues, also a CIBER-BBN researcher and co-author of the work, explains that “the new biomaterial mimics a common bacterial product in biotechnological processes called ‘inclusion bodies’, of pharmacological interest, which in this artificial version offers a wide range of therapeutic possibilities in the field of oncology and in any other clinical setting that requires sustained release over time. ”
Researchers have used common enzymes in biotechnology as a model and a nanostructured bacterial toxin targeted at metastatic human colorectal cancer cells, which has been tested in animal models. “In this way we have been able to generate both immobilized catalysts and a new long-acting antitumor drug,” said those responsible for the research.
Huge potential in the clinic
Developed artificial protein granules, previously proposed as ‘nanopills’ (tablets of therapeutic material on a nanoscopic scale), mimic bacterial inclusion bodies and offer enormous potential in the field of vaccology and as a clinic controlled drug release systems.
Developed artificial protein granules, previously proposed as ‘nanopills’ (tablets of therapeutic material on a nanoscopic scale), mimic bacterial inclusion bodies and offer enormous potential in the field of vaccology and as a clinic controlled drug release systems.
“We have seen that natural inclusion bodies, administered as medicines, can generate unwanted immune responses due to inevitable contamination with bacterial materials,” say researchers. However, in the new work, the development of secretion-capable artificial inclusion bodies “avoids many of the regulatory problems associated with the potential development of bacterial ‘nanopills’, and offers a cross-platform for component production. in cosmetics and in clinics. ”
This work points to artificial inclusion bodies as a new exploitable category of biomaterials for biotechnological applications, as a result of simple fabrication and forecasting of clinical applications.
Reference article
Julieta M. Sánchez, Hèctor López‐Laguna, Patricia Álamo, Naroa Serna, Alejandro Sánchez‐Chardi, Verónica Nolan, Olivia Cano‐Garrido, Isolda Casanova, Ugutz Unzueta, Esther Vazquez, Ramon Mangues, Antonio Villaverde. Artificial Inclusion Bodies for Clinical Development
Dr. Susan Webb, senior consultant at the Endocrinology Service of Sant Pau has recently received the Rolf Gaillard Award from the European NeuroEndocrine Association, for her contribution and trajectory in the field of Neuroendocrinology.
Prof. Laurent Duca’s seminar, scheduled for next Wednesday 11 December, is cancelled due to the general transport strike in France. As soon as we know the next date from the seminar we will communicate it to you.
The Sant Pau Biomedical Research Institute (IIB Sant Pau) with the Lipids and Cardiovascular Pathology Research Group, led by Dr. Vicenta Llorente-Cortes, organized the seminar “elastan modification during vascular aging and pathophysiological consequences” by Prof. Laurent Duca, from the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne. The conference will take place on 11 December at 3 p.m. in the multipurpose rooms.
Researchers at CIBER Cardiovascular Diseases (CIBERCV), including members of the Research Group Regulatory Mechanisms of Cardiovascular Remodeling at the Research Institute of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau, have made progress in identifying the involvement of the connective protein 43 (Cx43) that could be key to understanding the mechanisms by which cardiac fibrosis occurs, as they are currently not fully known and there are no effective therapies to reverse it.
In a research published in the journal Cells, led by Antonio Rodríguez Sinovas of the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute in Barcelona, and in which the group of Ph. José Martínez González from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and researchers from the Grupo de Investigación mecanismos Reguladores del Remodelado Cardiovascular del Instituto de Investigación del Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau – IIB Sant Pau, all of them belonging to the ‘CIBERCV, have studied the mechanisms through which this protein regulates the appearance of fibrosis after pressure overload using a murine transgenic model.
The connections are a family of membrane proteins with a characteristic structure, which form intercellular channels that contact the cytoplasms of neighbouring cells. In the heart, they form plates called “gap junctions” that constitute low resistance pathways that are essential to allow the flow of electric current between the cells. Cx43 is widely distributed in most tissues, including cardiac cells (cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial and smooth muscle cells).
Pressure overload leads rapidly to hypertrophy, cell death and fibrosis.
During a pressure overload, such as that occurring in patients with hypertension or obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract, there is increased resistance to blood leaving the heart. This leads, as a compensatory mechanism, to the development of cardiac dilatation and hypertrophy. But although cardiac hypertrophy is initially an adaptive process necessary to maintain cardiac output, it rapidly progresses to a pathological situation, resulting in cardiac cell death and fibrosis. The appearance of fibrosis is especially relevant, as it reduces contractility and causes diastolic dysfunction.
“Cx43 is an essential protein in cardiac function. It plays a key role in the propagation of the electrical impulse, and therefore in the appearance of ventricular arrhythmias”, says CIBERCV researcher Antonio Rodríguez Sinovas, responsible for this work, who explains that “in addition, it participates in the extension of myocardial damage by ischemia-reperfusion during myocardial infarction”. He adds that “until now there were contradictory data on its possible influence on cardiac scarring. Our work has shown that modulating Cx43 expression is associated with changes in collagen deposition after treatment with angiotensin II. Thus, a marked reduction in Cx43 expression causes a decrease in collagen accumulation with respect to its control group, thus improving ventricular remodeling. These data suggest, therefore, that this protein would be involved in the process of cardiac scarring.
Furthermore, using molecular and cellular biology techniques, the authors have been able to determine that Cx43 can exert its effects on cardiac scarring by modulating the activity of metalloproteins, as well as the inflammatory response and the activity of fibroblasts.
Link to the reference article:
Opposite Effects of Moderate and Extreme Cx43 Deficiency in Conditional Cx43-Deficient Mice on Angiotensin II-Induced Cardiac Fibrosi
Valls-Lacalle, Negre-Pujol, Rodríguez, Varona, Valera-Cañellas, Consegal, Martínez-González, Rodríguez-Sinovas.
On Monday 9 December, a new Monday science session will be held by Dr. Josep M. Guerra, coordinator of the Cardiovascular, Cardiology and Translational Clinical Diseases group at the Sant Pau San Pablo-IIB Research Institute with the title “Arrhythmias and sudden death in the 21st century”. The appointment is at 6.30 pm in the amphitheatre of the Residence for Researchers, CSIC-Generalitat of Catalonia.
The Sant Pau Research Institute participates with three projects at #GivingTuesday, a global movement that wants to encourage and multiply the good actions of people. The goal is to dedicate a day around the world, today, December 3, to celebrate the action of giving, whether food, money, time (volunteering) … Joining is very simple: we just need to make A better world, take a look at the causes of #GivingTuesday and decide what you will do or who you will give. See more you will find the Sant Pau Research projects to participate.
Next Monday, December 2, a new Monday science session will be held by Dr. José Julve, from the group of Metabolic Bases of Cardiovascular Risk of the Research Institute of Sant Pau-IIB Sant Pau with the title “Vitamin B3: anti-obesity effect of a minority nutrient”. The appointment is at 6.30 pm in the amphitheatre of the Residence for Researchers, CSIC-Generalitat of Catalonia.
Catalan researchers have demonstrated a new molecular mechanism involved in the regulation of cholesterol movement within the cell, a process essential for proper cell function. The study, in which the Lipids and Cardiovascular Pathology Group of the Biomedical Research Institute of the Hospital de Sant Pau participates, was published in the journal Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. This work also identifies Annex A6 protein (AnxA6) as a key factor in this regulation and a potential therapeutic target against disorders caused by the cellular accumulation of cholesterol and other lipids in endosomes. A type of disorder found in Niemann-Pick disease type C1, a rare genetic pathology without care that causes liver damage and finally a type of dementia.
The research is led by Carles Enrich and Carlos Rentero, professors of the Cellular Biology Unit of the Department of Biomedicine of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the UB and the Center for Biomedical Research CELLEX (IDIBAPS-UB). It is the culmination of six years of research and close collaboration with Thomas Grewal (University of Sydney) and Elina Ikonen (University of Helsinki), and with the Lipids and Cardiovascular Pathology Group of the Biomedical Research Institute of the Hospital de Sant Pau.
Study with the technique of genetic editing CRISPR / CAS9
Cholesterol is fundamental for the organization of membranes and also modulates vesicular transport, basic mechanisms for cell function. To coordinate and regulate the balance -or homeostasis- of cholesterol, cells have developed sophisticated molecular machinery that is not yet fully understood. “Understanding these mechanisms is also very important to address diseases in which the accumulation of cholesterol and other lipids causes serious physiological alterations in the liver, spleen, and especially the nervous system,” explain Carles Enrich and Carlos Rentero.
One of these diseases is the Niemann-Pick C1 type, caused by a mutation in the NPC1 gene that causes the accumulation of cholesterol inside cells, in vesicles called endosomes. To study this mechanism, the researchers have used the CRISPR / CAS9 genetic editing technique, which allows blocking a molecule – the AnxA6 protein – in cells with the phenotype of the disease. The effect of this blockade was the release of cholesterol from endosomes, which demonstrates the essential role of this protein in regulating the transport of cholesterol in the cell.
Increased membrane contacts
The results of the work also show that this release occurred thanks to the significant increase in membrane contact sites (MCS), nanometric structures that can only be seen by electron microscopy. According to the authors, these membrane contacts are scarce within the cells of affected patients: thus, the silencing of the AnxA6 protein serves to induce the formation of MCS, cancel out the effects of the genetic mutation in the NPC1 gene and redirect cholesterol to other cell compartments, which restores cell normality.
“The results could significantly help treat the clinical impact of the accumulation of cholesterol from Niemann-Pick disease and at least a dozen other diseases in which lipid metabolism plays a fundamental role, among which different types of cancer (pancreas, prostate, breast),” explain the researchers.
A new paradigm in the study of the cellular transport of cholesterol
The discovery of the involvement of membrane contacts in the transport of cholesterol is a pioneering result in this field, since until now it was thought that the transport of lipids was carried out by means of vesicles and specialised proteins. “Although very little is known about the functioning and dynamics of membrane contacts, this study joins other very recent studies and shows that MCS are a new paradigm for understanding the regulation, transport and homeostasis of lipids, cholesterol and calcium,” conclude the researchers.
Article reference:
Meneses-Salas, E.; García-Melero, A. ; Kanerva, K. ; Blanco-Muñoz, P. ; Morales-Paytuvi, F.; Bonjoch, J.; Casas, J.; Egert, A.; Beevi, S. S.; Jose, J.; Llorente-Cortésn V.; Ryen K-A.Heerenn J.; Lun A.; Poln A.; Tebanr F.; Ikonenn E.; Grewaln T.; Enrichn C. i Rentero, C. “Annexin A6 modulates TBC1D15/Rab7/StARD3 axis to control endosomal cholesterol export in NPC1 cells”. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, November 2019. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-019-03330-y
Dr. Luis Querol Gutiérrez, neurologist of the Neuromuscular Unit of the Neurology Service of Sant Pau and of the Research Group on Neuromuscular Diseases of the Research Institute of Sant Pau- IIB Sant Pau, has been awarded by the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN) with the SEN neuromuscular diseases prize, in recognition of his extensive scientific work and dedication to the research of these diseases.
The building of the Sant Pau Research Institute wins the first prize in the architecture category of the 18th edition of the Ceramic Awards given by the Ascer patron saint. The work of PICHarchitects and 2BMFG Arquitectos has been awarded for the permeable ceramic roof formed by pieces of a colour similar to the walls of the Modernist Precinct of Sant Pau, on the outside, and glazed with colours similar to their roofs, on the inside. These pieces also have a fold towards the outside that allows them to also act as protective slats against solar radiation.
The Research building is adjacent to the Hospital de Sant Pau. This location facilitates the continuous relationship between the researchers at IR Sant Pau and the Hospital’s healthcare professionals and gives more impetus to translational research projects.
The new construction, financed by the Private Foundation with a minimum contribution of 12 M €, has a subsidy of up to 5 M € from European FEDER funds, managed by the Department of Enterprise and Knowledge of the Generalitat de Catalunya.
Dr. Pablo Alonso Coello, head of the Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research Group in the Area of Epidemiology, Public Health and Health Services at the Sant Pau Research Institute – IIb Sant Pau, is one of the 38 researchers from Catalan research centres and universities on the list of the most cited in the world. The “Highly Cited Researchers” list is published every year by the Web of Science Group.
In total, the “Highly Cited Researchers” list includes 6,216 researchers from all over the world. They are the ones who have published articles that have been widely cited by their colleagues and, therefore, are the most influential. The highly cited researchers work in 60 different countries, but 85% are concentrated in institutions in 10 countries and 72% in the top five. This reveals a high concentration of talent in a few countries. The United States is the most represented – 44% of the total. It is followed by China and the United Kingdom. The rest of the top ten are Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. Spain is represented on the list with 116 researchers, representing 1.9% of the world total. Researchers from Catalan centres account for approximately a third of the total number of centres in Spain.
The Genomic Research Group of Complex Diseases of the Sant Pau Research Institute- IIB Sant Pau, led by Dr. José Manuel Soria, and the Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Biomedical Signals (B2SLab), led by Dr. Alexandre Perera of the UPC, have created the Health x Code project with the aim of transferring the results of research to the biomedical market. This project has obtained the First Prize Creatic 2019 of the TecnoCampus Foundation of the City Council of Mataró.
