Multifunctional Nanocarriers
The general goal of this research line is the development of novel drug delivery nanocarriers for antitumoral therapy based on inorganic and organic nanomaterials. These nanodevices are engineered to be able to transport therapeutic species which exhibit different nature, from big macromolecules as proteins, enzymes or oligonucleotide strands to small drugs as cytotoxic drugs or immunostimulating agents. We are developing nanodevices able to interact with several cell populations, not only tumoral cells but also immune and supportive cells that plays a pivotal role in tumor progression. Our hypothesis is that the simultaneous and controlled elimination of tumoral and supportive cells, in combination with the activation and maturation of immune cells achieved with the administration of these nanodevices, will induce potent antitumoral responses which induce the complete tumor eradication. We are working in close collaboration with prestigeous oncologists and immunologists at different national and international institutions to find a novel way to defeat these complex diseases.
Selected Publications:
Adv. Mater. Interfaces 2023, 10, 2201356.
https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.202201356
Chem. Matter., 2018, 30, 112-120
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b03128
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2018, 10, 12518–12525.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsami.8b02398
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2017, 9, 26697–26706.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsami.7b06906
Adv. Func. Matter., 2014, 24, 4625–4633.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.201400729
Nanoassemblies for CAR T cell-based therapies
The development of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cells (CAR T) specifically engineered to localize and destroy tumoral cells have provided a valuable weapon in the fight against cancer, specially in liquid tumors. However, their performance in the treatment of solid tumors is still modest mainly due to different factors as inefficient trafficking of the CAR T to the solid malignancy and the presence of a strong immunosuppressive environment in the tumor, among others. The aim of this research line is to develop activatable nanoassemblies capable to selectively direct CAR T cells to tumoral cells enhancing their capacity to destroy the tumor, even in small metastatic lesions. These NanoBites will be engineered not only to guide CAR T cells to the tumoral cells, but also to improve the survivability and killing skills of these immune cells.
Selected Publications:
ACS Appl. Mat. Interfases 2025, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5c00633
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.5c00633
ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2025, 8, 8, 4229–4239.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsanm.5c00475
Development of Targeting Moieties
The aim of this research line is to synthesize and to evaluate novel targeting agents towards specific tumoral and immune cell lines. This research line pretends to discover completely novel targeting agents different to the previously reported in the scientific literature in order to improve the selectivity of the nanodevices against the target cells. We are using the potent and versatile solid phase synthesis methodology to construct novel libraries of peptide-based targeting moieties which are screened in 2D and 3D cell cultures to identify efficient targeting agents that present high affinity to specific cell membrane receptors located on the membrane of these cells.
Different approaches are being studied in our lab to improve even more the selectivity and targeting capacities of these agents such as the development hierarchical, activatable and encrypted targeting moieties that allow us to guide our nanocarriers to specific organelles inside the cell or to attack two different cell populations with the same nanodevice. These novel approaches would improve the effectiveness of the nanomedicines reducing their off-target accumulation.
Selected Publications:
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 3067–3072.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/anie.201811691
Chem. Eur. J. 2017, 23, 7174-7179.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/chem.201605947
J. Mat. Chem. B, 2015, 3, 4831-4842.
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2015/tb/c5tb00287g#!divAbstract