iBB

A Wednesday afternoon spent learning about cutting-edge science while enjoying a beer with friends in a "Hygge" setting is undoubtedly appealing. This is the value proposition from the “PubHD” initiative. In this week’s edition, the IBB/IST will be represented by Rui Oliveira-Silva.

To enhance the performance of (bio)sensors and obtain information about a given system at a specific time, Rui concentrated on the development of nanomaterials during his doctoral studies. The availability of these (bio)sensors, enable early detection, process control of pharmaceuticals, or assess the effectiveness therapies and to follow-up patients. These (bio)sensors render information that was previously impossible, and are increasingly crucial in contemporary precision medicine.

Proteases play a pivotal role in biological processes, from digestion, cell proliferation and differentiation to fertility. Deregulation of protease metabolism can result in several pathological conditions (i.e., cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, etc). Monitoring proteolytic activity in real-time can ultimately help us understand the role of such enzymes within a certain condition. This may contribute to an early diagnosis, the follow-up of disease progression or the development of protease-targetted treatments (e.g. the current HIV treatment). In a recent paper published in Trends in Biochemical Sciences, Rui Oliveira-Silva and colleagues from BERG, CQE and University of Aveiro review the main approaches used to develop biosensors for monitoring proteolytic activity. A comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of each approach is provided along with a discussion of their importance and promising opportunities for the integration of such sensors into Personalized Medicine.

The Biomolecular Big Brother can be described as the ability to control and monitorize biological processes, increasing the potential of Personalized Medicine. Rui Silva from BERG-iBB and co-authors from the University of Aveiro have developed a system capable of recording temperature fluctuations above a defined threshold, which can answer with Yes/No to the question “did the system locally exceed 42 ˚C degrees?”. Nanoplatelets were applied in a cellular hyperthermia assays using prostate cancer cells (PC-3 line) and different thermal doses were tested. For lower thermal doses where the threshold was not crossed and most cells appeared to be viable, whilst in high termal doses assays a loss in cellular viability was evident. The work was published in the journal Materials Horizons.

Many metal nanoparticles exhibit plasmonic properties that can be explored in different applications. The synthesis of these nanoparticles often leads to a heterogeneous mixture in terms of sizes and shapes that needs to be fractionated to yield samples with narrow plasmon resonances. A simple method based on sucrose density gradient centrifugation has been proposed by BERG-iBB researchers and colleagues from Centro de Química Estrutural and Universidade de Aveiro for the fractionation of colloidal silver nanotriangles. The method affords particle fractions with surface plasmon resonances spanning from red to infrared spectral ranges that could be used to tune optical properties for plasmonic applications. The work is part of the PhD thesis of Rui Oliveira Silva and was published in Nanomaterials.