Honorable Mention for the NEXSKIN project at the Animal Rights Awards for its innovation in alternative experimentation

Jesús Ciriza Astrain, professor at the Faculty of Medicine and researcher at the I3A-Unizar and the IIS Aragón, directs this work

The “Latest generation Skin on chip” project integrating microbiota, melanocytes and Langerhans cells (NEXSKIN)”, directed by the professor and researcher at the University of Zaragoza, Jesús Ciriza Astrain, has been recognized with an honorable mention for the project most innovative alternative experimentation 2023 within the Animal Rights Awards, awarded by the Spanish Network for the Development of Alternative Methods (REMA).The project, which has been worthy of this honorable mention for its “uniqueness and innovative character” seeks "develop a new generation of skin models for applications pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, reducing dependence on animal testing, and complying with European regulations that prohibit the use of animals in cosmetic trials,” according to explains Jesús Ciriza, contract professor at the Department of Human Anatomy and Histology of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Zaragoza and researcher in the TME Lab group of the Engineering Research Institute of Aragon (I3A-UNIZAR) and at the Aragon Health Research Institute ( IIS Aragon). Because drug development faces significant challenges, with an expensive and lengthy process and a low success rate, organ-on-chip systems (OoC) offer a solution by mimicking human tissues in vitro, providing reliable data faster and more economically. However, advances are required in the robustness and automation of these systems. The project led by Dr. Ciriza seeks to improve in vitro skin models by incorporating the microbiome, melanocytes and Langerhans cells within the skin epidermis, cultured on a human dermal extracellular matrix, within a microfluidic system that simulates the dermal vasculature. The start of this project has been possible thanks to the financing granted by the Government of Aragon (LMP233_21), using the microfluidic models developed by the Aragonese company BEOnChip, as well as participation in the COST action Netskinmodels (CA21108) and Improve (CA21139). With the matrices obtained in this project, new opportunities have opened in fields such as neuronal regeneration, in collaboration with Dr Luisa Muratori from the University of Turin, through the Unita Alliance. In parallel with the development of this latest generation leather model, Dr. Ciriza is developing together with Dr. Laura Ordovás, ARAID researcher, a microfluidic heart model for the study of nanotargeted drug delivery in pathologies, and cardiac ischemia and cardiotoxicity induced by chemotherapeutic agents, funded by a Knowledge Generation, 2022 project of the Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2022-139859OB-I00), entitled “Translational cardioselective RNAi therapies and predictive heart-on-chip to address cardiac clinical challenges (ADVANCE) ”.

Source: University of Zaragoza