Eight CSIC biomedical projects receive 6.5 million euros from the CaixaResearch aid program

Eight CSIC biomedical projects receive 6.5 million euros from the CaixaResearch aid program

The program promoted by the “la Caixa” Foundation supports basic, clinical or translational research projects

Eight researches led by or with the participation of scientists from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) have been selected by the “la Caixa” Foundation among the 30 projects of the CaixaResearch call for Health Research 2021.

The funding assigned to these investigations rise to 6.5 million euros, an aid that will serve to promote the search for new treatments against cancer, neurological diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and cardiovascular diseases.

Most of the CSIC research chosen by this program is included in the area of neurosciences. This is the case of the project led by Dolores Pérez Sala, a researcher at the Margarita Salas Biological Research Center (CIB-CSIC), focused on improving understanding of Alexander's disease, a rare disorder of genetic origin that destroys the white matter of the brain and neurons. The research, which receives one million euros within the framework of this call, investigates how mutations in a protein located in astrocytes, which are essential cells in the proper functioning of the nervous system, come to cause significant neurological damage to patients with this disorder. The project, developed in collaboration with the Brain Center, the University Medical Center Utrecht (Netherlands), the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) and the Institut de Recerca Biomèdica de Lleida, also seeks to understand the mechanisms of other more frequent neurodegenerative diseases.

Searching for new strategies to treat another neurodegenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, is the aim of the research directed by Ana Martínez, a scientist at the CIB-CSIC. The project receives 500,000 euros from the CaixaResearch program to support the development of drugs that allow the recovery of the function of the TDP-43 protein in the motor neurons of patients with ALS. The research, co-financed by the Luzón Foundation, consists of studying certain kinase inhibitors that could lead to personalized therapies to treat ALS and other pathologies by regulating the physiological balance of TDP-43. The project has the participation of teams from the Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal) and the Faculty of Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM).

The project led by CSIC researcher Eloísa Herrera, from the Institute of Neurosciences (IN-CSIC-UHM), has also been selected in this call and will have funding of almost 500,000 euros. Research is focused on recovering damaged cells of the optic nerve and spinal cord after injury with the intention of reversing paralysis or blindness. Regenerative medicine promises new therapies to treat these lesions by growing and orienting neuron extensions, axons, and thus restoring damaged neuronal connectivity.

Understand how memory is built

Liset M. de la Prida's project, a researcher at the Cajal Institute of the CSIC, seeks to design strategies to fight against neurological disorders related to the construction of episodic memory, such as epilepsy, insomnia and Alzheimer's. For this, his project, financed with some 500,000 euros, aims to improve the understanding of the sequential code of the hippocampus associated with the formation of memories using artificial intelligence techniques, as well as the development of new treatments that make it possible to restore and keep the episodic memory stable in this type of pathologies.

Better understanding of the brain is also the objective of the project led by Pedro Alpuim, scientist at the Iberico International Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), in Portugal, financed with one million euros. This research, which has the participation of the CSIC researcher Carlos Briones, from the Center for Astrobiology (CAB-CSIC-INTA), seeks to develop a graphene nanodevice that helps to solve the keys to the functioning of the brain that make diagnosis and diagnosis difficult treatment of neurological diseases.

Specifically, the team led by Briones will be in charge of selecting and characterizing aptamers (single-stranded nucleic acids, DNA or RNA, which recognize a wide variety of molecules) specific to various molecules that function as neurotransmitters. For this, he will use the in vitro evolution systems of nucleic acids that he has developed in his laboratory, and that have numerous applications in biotechnology and astrobiology. The aptamers with the highest affinity and specificity obtained will be used as molecular probes in the graphene-based biosensors to be developed within the framework of this project, in which a team from the Universidade do Minho (Portugal) also participates.

Light to reduce injuries after a heart attack

The scientist Amadeu Llebaria, from the Institut de Química Avançada de Catalunya (IQAC-CSIC), leads a project focused on light-controlled drugs that can reduce cardiac injuries produced after a heart attack. The research, funded with one million euros, is aimed at designing a new therapy based on localized administration of the optimal dose of a new type of light-regulated cardioprotective drug. The new system can be activated by illuminating specific areas of the heart during the first few minutes of angioplasty, the primary treatment that dilates the blocked blood vessel. The research is carried out in consortium with the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), in Barcelona, and The Johns Hopkins University (United States).

New therapies against colorectal cancer

The project directed by Maite Huarte, a researcher at the Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) of the University of Navarra, receives close to one million euros to identify new therapeutic strategies against colorectal cancer, one of the most prevalent in the world and the second more frequent in Spain. The research, carried out in collaboration with the National Center for Oncological Research (CNIO) and the National Center for Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC), focuses on long non-coding RNAs (IncRNA), molecules that regulate the expression of the genes and that contribute to the ability of cancer cells to replicate.

Within the framework of this project, the group led by Fernando Moreno, from the CNBCSIC, will use state-of-the-art techniques for manipulating and visualizing individual molecules, such as magnetic tweezers, optical tweezers and atomic force microscopy, to structurally characterize RNA non-coding and to study its interaction with molecular motors involved in the DNA replication of colon cancer cells.

Severe forms of tuberculosis as a key

The project led by Margarida Saraiva, from the Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (Portugal), has been funded with almost one million euros to promote understanding of tuberculosis, an infectious disease caused by a bacterium that causes 10 million new cases globally and 1.4 million deaths each year. Some patients develop severe forms of the disease, while others have mild or moderate forms. Although the mechanisms underlying these differences are still unknown, the interaction between the immune system and tuberculosis bacteria during the infection process is believed to play a key role.

A team led by Iñaki Comas, CSIC researcher at the Valencia Institute of Biomedicine (IBVCSIC), participates in this research, whose main objective is to develop new immune therapies against the disease, based on the dialogue between the pathogen and the defenses of the patient, especially those that act on the lungs.

CaixaResearch grants

With these grants, “la Caixa” Foundation wants to promote research in excellent biomedical and health research projects developed in research centers and universities in Spain and Portugal. The type of aid granted includes funding of up to 500,000 euros in three years for projects presented by a single research organization, and up to one million euros in three years for projects presented by between two and five organizations.

Regarding the origin of the projects, 18 have been selected in Spain, while six are carried out in consortium with international centers in Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Thailand and the United States.

The CaixaResearch call is carried out in partnership with the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal. It is also supported by the Luzón Foundation.

Foundation “La Caixa” Communication / CSIC Communicatio