NANOCHEMBIO

NanoChemBio lab has a solid scientific, technical and transfer experience in the field of Nanomedicine, having actively participated in previous developments of scientific-technical projects, proofs of concept and prototypes. It is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary team that has been working together on issues related to experimental oncology, applied nanotechnology for the targeted treatment of cancer and other diseases of high social impact, the determination of new early biomarkers of disease progression, cell therapy and the development and validation of new anti-tumour drugs.

The activities carried out by the NanoChemBio research group, encompassed in the research lines developed by the group, are perfectly in line with two of the strategic lines of the GENYO Strategic Plan.

L1. Diagnostic probes for the detection of nucleic acids. This line is developing new tools to perform diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of cancer treatment efficacy using liquid biopsy. This research line offers unique reagents and protocols for the direct detection and quantification of circulating nucleic acids (cNA) and their mutations without enzymatic amplification. Within this line we are currently focused on the development of an innovative chemical platform that will allow the direct detection of miRNAs and SNPs using various innovative techniques such as mass cytometry. Thus, this line of research fits perfectly with the challenges described in the line – DEVELOPMENT OF NEW DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS focused on the development of tools and devices for the efficient clinical validation of disease biomarkers, evaluating new disease biomarkers through new strategies and devices. It also offers a response to the challenge of this strategic line of GENYO by providing a platform for the simultaneous detection of extracellular vesicles and point genetic mutations.

L2. Development of nanotechnological tools for detection based on ligand affinity. This line offers different nanotechnological procedures and developments for the detection of disease-specific biomarkers, evaluating and validating new biomarkers, in clear consonance with the descriptor of the strategic line – DEVELOPMENT OF NEW DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS. For this purpose, we use multifunctionalised nanoparticles as a solid multifunctionalised support with detection labels and affinity ligands for the capture and detection of biomarkers in biological samples. This line brings clear added value to this network by providing the development of nanoantibodies with increased selectivity for their specific ligand, robustness and reliability, facilitating a rapid response to the presence of a biomarker. This development, having been transferred to the industry through the spin off Nanogetics SL, would provide the network with the transferability of the results obtained. Additionally, this line provides nanotechnological tools for the detection of pharmacological targets as biomarkers for use in personalised cancer medicine 84 STRATEGIC PLAN 2024-2027 and the use of peptides as affinity ligands in the detection of extracellular vesicles, two applications that reinforce GENYO’s strategic plan, the latter recently protected by patent and in a clear line of expansion towards the development of «Point-of- Care (PoC)» devices by amperometric detection.

L3. Development of barcode marking tools for mass cytometry. This transversal line, created through the different projects associated with the previous lines, clearly responds to the objectives of the DEVELOPMENT OF NEW DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS line. Through the use of metal tags, our devices offer tools for clinical diagnosis including patient stratification, prognosis and follow-up (L1, L2). As a most promising value, these tools allow the simultaneous detection of multiple biomarkers in a single step and in a single tube for the simultaneous analysis of biomarkers of different chemical nature (proteins, peptides, nucleic acids, small molecules) even in different concentration ranges. The mass cytometry technique, with a clear innovative component, allows the development of robust and reliable devices due to its superiority over fluorescence, which facilitates a rapid response to the presence of a given biomarker with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity, as it can detect up to 35 biomarkers without spectral overlap.

L4. Nanotechnology-based targeted anti-tumour therapy. This line fits perfectly with the guiding principles of the strategic line DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED THERAPEUTIC TOOLS: The theranostic nanodevices developed offer new pharmacological therapies based on the intelligent design of nanosystems directed by targeting molecules such as peptides or antibodies for local and controlled release of drugs, which allow directing the treatment to the area of action, trying to achieve perfect control of the therapy, and avoiding the action of the drug or the therapeutic particle in areas that could imply a potential risk for the patient. The valorisation and technological development of this nanosystem, Nano3device; up to TRL6, is being carried out through the optimisation and scaling of the formulation, as well as the evaluation of its versatility together with the preclinical characterisation of the nanosystems, which will allow us to bring this prototype closer to clinical evaluation in phase I/II and advance towards its transfer.

Within this line we intend to implement in the coming years these technological developments:

• (1) Development of a multimodal approach for the use of mRNAfunctionalised theranostic nanoparticles in the fight against glioblastoma.
• (2) Development of selectively targeted polymeric nanosystems for the chemophotothermal treatment of cancer.

L5. New tools based on peptide nucleic acids for gene editing. This line is aligned with both the DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED THERAPEUTIC TOOLS strategic line: This line will implement gene therapy in the NanoChemBio group through the development and application of innovative, effective, highly specific methods for gene editing, improving the limitation of current systems by avoiding unspecific genome cuts through the use of nanotechnology. The added value of this line is to be found in its implementation by incorporating gene therapy as another treatment 85 STRATEGIC PLAN 2024-2027 route and in the transfer relationships established between NanoChemBio and the biotechnology company Destina Genomics S.L.

L6. Preclinical evaluation of nanomaterials. This transversal line arises from the projects awarded in research lines 4 and 5. With this line of action, the group provides experience in preclinical characterisation in vitro and in vivo using the «standard operating procedures» (SOPs) developed by the Nanomedicine Characterisation Laboratory (NCL) of the NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) (https://www.cancer.gov/nano/research/ncl), for the evaluation of nanoparticles with medical applications. The added value that we intend to provide is to establish a preclinical evaluation unit of nanomaterials available to the entire scientific and business community not only at local and regional level but also at national and international level, being this a POTENTIAL SUPPORT SERVICE offered from our research centre.