PUBLICATIONS
Main theme: Development of bio- and nano- therapeutics for the treatment of brain tumors
​
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 of eliminating all tumor cells, in primary and metastatic brain tumors. We are interested in developing ligands to target the therapeutic systems and to cross the BBB. We also aim to engineer polymeric coatings to enhance the stability of the nanocarriers for gene delivery.
Distinct aspects of this ambitious project are funded by the European Research Council, "La Caixa", the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, the Spanish Ministry of Science, the "Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer" (AECC), and AGAUR.
Understanding of brain transport and creation of new methods for brain delivery
​
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.
Development of conditionally-activated biotherapeutics
​
We are engineering new strategies to render antibodies responsive to stimuli and enhance the selectivity of bio- and nano-therapeutics.
Generation of protease-resistant peptide therapeutics and targeting ligands
​
Our team is developing new efficient peptides that enable the transport of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier. We are also working on therapeutic peptides for other applications. We combine directed evolution methods and rational design.
Engineering of peptide-based smart coatings and gene delivery systems
​
We utilize peptides to construct environmentally-sensitive nanocarriers and coatings.
