PUBLICATIONS
Main theme: Development of bio- and nano- therapeutics for the treatment of brain tumors
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Current treatments against brain tumors have very low efficacy due to the incapacity of most drugs to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and to eliminate cells resilient to traditional chemotherapies. Our team aims to develop bio- and nano-therapeutics capable of overcoming the BBB and eliminating all tumor cells, in primary and metastatic brain tumors.
Distinct aspects of this ambitious project are funded by the European Research Council, "La Caixa" Foundation, the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the "Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer" (AECC), and AGAUR.
Understanding of brain transport and creation of new methods for brain delivery
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By combining synthetic biology and protein engineering, we are developing tools to study brain transport and to open new pathways for brain delivery of bio- and nano- therapeutics. Most of our current efforts are aimed at understanding how receptor-mediated transcytosis works and generating orthogonal synthetic receptors (OBGate) that mediate transcytosis across the BBB.
Development of conditionally-activate biotherapeutics
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We are engineering new strategies to render antibodies responsive to stimuli and enhance the selectivity of bio- and nano-therapeutics. We focus on combining protein engineering and chemical modification to achieve high transferability across antibodies.
Generation of protease-resistant peptide therapeutics and targeting ligands
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Our team is developing new peptidomimetics that enable the transport of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier and for cancer treatment. To this end, we combine methods based on directed evolution and rational design.
Engineering of gene delivery systems
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We are developing lipid nanoparticles modified with peptides to efficiently deliver genetic material to the brain and to modulate the immune response in brain tumors.
