At the IGTP TODAY
Two spin-off companies of the Germans Trias I Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) Biointaxis and Time is Brain have received the Seal of Excellence from the European Commission. The two companies with IGTP participation have opted for financing from the Horizon 2020 Programme and the award puts them in an advantageous position when requesting funds from other funding bodies.
A group of researchers led from the Germans Trias i Pujol Institute have conducted an in-depth in-vitro study into the DAPK1 interactome during stroke conditions. They have identified the proteins in the DAPK1 interactome and singled out LRRFIP1 as a possible therapeutic target for neuroprotection after stroke. The study is published in Antioxidants.
Members of the Kidney-affecting Diseases Research Group and the Innovation in Vesicles and Cells for Application in Therapy (REMAR-IVECAT) have recently published two studies led by Dr Francesc E. Borràs, which identify possible biomarkers of irreversible damage to transplanted kidneys; a pathology that eventually causes them to stop working. The papers have been published in the International Journal of Molecular Science and the Journal of Nephrology.
The Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) has received a total of 305,680 euros for three projects on rare diseases in which it participates or coordinates. In total the three projects have received financing of more than a million euros, to be divided between the several institutions participating. This edition of the fundraising marathon will fund a total of 41 biomedical research projects of excellence on rare diseases. The projects aim to provide better diagnosis at birth and provide more efficient and safer treatments to improve quality of life and extend the lifespans of people affected.
In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology members of the Innovation in Respiratory Infections and Tuberculosis Diagnosis Group tested a new diagnostic technique developed in Denmark. The technique performed to similar standards as the tests currently in use. Researchers are aiming to develop a better tool to detect latent cases of tuberculosis (TB).
Mireia Ramos Rodríguez is a bioinformatics post-doctoral researcher; she focusses on defining the changes in cis-regulatory elements that can lead to the development of disease and programming to provide tools for other researchers to carry out their analyses. She has been awarded the Prize for Best Research Paper in Health by a Predoctoral Researcher for her article published in Nature Genetics.
A consortium led by Dr Carmen Balaña of the Badalona Applied Research Group in Oncology (B-ARGO Group) of the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) Badalona at the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) has published two papers that indicate better ways to stratify glioblastoma patients, which could allow doctors to make predictions about prognosis and make better decisions about which treatments to apply.
The Immunology of Diabetes Group, led by Dr. Marta Vives-Pi, have published a paper in Scientific Reports on a successful combination therapy for a type 1 diabetes (T1D) model in Scientific Reports. In this study they continue their work on a drug that re-programmes pancreatic cells in mice with T1D), by combining it with an immunotherapy they have also developed.
The Centre for Comparative Medicine and Bioimage of Catalonia (CMCiB), of the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), will be the second centre in Catalonia to work on the SARS-CoV-2 virus obtained directly from patients. Until now most work has taken place with artificial viruses that can only infect once. Research staff of IrsiCaixa and the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE) have started to work on the virus in the CMCiB to study the infection of organoids; mini organs designed in the laboratory to simulate human lungs and brains. Organoids are already being used in research and their use in studies into COVID-19 will provide better understanding of infection by SARS-CoV-2 and the capacity of different drugs to eliminate it from these tissues.
Researchers from the IGTP, ICO and IDIBELL have observed that advanced prostate cancer cells that have become resistant to standard treatment have an Achilles heel that can be attacked with a combination of chemotherapies .
Validation of this cellular mechanism would permit identification of patients who have developed resistance to standard treatments and the implementation of more personalized medicine for prostate cancer.
