Luis Moreno, researcher at the University of Zaragoza and the IIS Aragón, participates in an important Nutrition congress in Brazil
September 14, 2023
The Molecular Oncology Laboratory of the IIS Aragón receives a donation of €1.562 from the Cariñena City Council
September 18, 2023
The IIS Aragón participates in this project that seeks the development of advanced technology to enhance cardiac regeneration using DNA nanotechnology and gene therapy. Silvia Hernández Ainsa, ARAID researcher at the University of Zaragoza at the Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragon, INMA, a joint institute of the CSIC and the University of Zaragoza, coordinates this collaborative project, in which Laura Ordovás, ARAID researcher at the Institute of Aragón Health Research (IIS Aragón).
The DNABEATS project research work what is he looking for development of advanced technology to enhance cardiac regeneration using DNA nanotechnology and gene therapy. The project is endowed with 700.000 euros and has a duration of 3 years. DNABEATS is led by Silvia Hernández Ainsa, researcher ARAID at the University of Zaragoza at the Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragon, INMA, a joint institute of the CSIC and the University of Zaragoza. In addition, the project also involves the IIS Aragón together with entities from 4 countries Europeans.
La heart disease, particularly myocardial infarction and its evolution towards heart failure, is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. In Spain, the prevalence of heart failure is around 2% of the adult population (age 18 years), affecting around 8% of people over 80 years of age. It is a health problem associated with aging. Current treatments are insufficient to address this problem, and heart transplant remains the only solution for heart failure.. DNABEATS aims to develop advanced materials to promote post-infarction cardiac regeneration through gene therapy, a form of treatment that seeks to reactivate myocardial proliferation and repair programs that are naturally inactivated after birth, thus preventing progression towards insufficiency. Various microRNA molecules (miRs) have demonstrated this capacity in vivo in preclinical studies with large animal infarction models. However, advanced miRs delivery strategies are required to overcome their biological instability, achieve their selective transport to cardiac cells, and facilitate their translation into clinical medicine.
The primary goal of DNABEATS is to create functionalized nanocarriers that selectively deliver cardio-regenerative miRs to damaged areas of the heart. Specifically, it is proposed to use DNA nanotechnology to construct DNA nanocarriers (DNCs) that surpass other nanosystems used in gene therapy in terms of reproducible production, biodegradability and simplicity to house a large amount of miRs. DNCs will be functionalized to achieve selective cardiac targeting and increase intracellular miR delivery.
The DNABEATS project consortium brings together established researchers from four European countries (Spain, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland) experts in complementary and synergistic scientific fields, including: DNA nanotechnology, nucleic acid delivery, cell signaling, proteomics, cardiac research, molecular and cellular biology and nanotoxicity. The team also has an interdisciplinary and transnational advisory board that will be key to expanding the impact of DNABEATS. In addition to Silvia Hernández Ainsa, ARAID researcher at the University of Zaragoza at INMA (CSIC-UNIZAR), who coordinates DNABEATS, the project has the following European partners: Laura Ordovás, ARAID researcher at the Aragón Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón), Margus Pooga from the University of Tartu (Estonia), Mindaugas Valius from Vilnius University (Lithuania) and Monika Bzowska from Jagiellonian University (Poland).
This news is part of the action PCI2023-143390 financed by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and co-financed by the European Union, with PCI2023-143390 being the reference that appears in the granting resolution; MCIN the acronym of the Ministry of Science and Innovation; AEI, the acronym for the State Investigation Agency; 10.13039/501100011033 the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) of the Agency.” DNBEATDS was one of the projects selected in the 2022 Joint Call of the M-ERA.NET initiative, an international network co-financed by the European Commission through its Research and Development Framework Program (Horizon 2020, GA 958174) to support European research programs in materials science and engineering.
