Protein Engineering and Nanomedicine
Research Lines
Our research group is dedicated to protein engineering for the development of functional nanotransporters and bioinspired nanomaterials, with potential applications in nanomedicine and nanotechnology. We focus especially on the design of biocompatible nanomaterials and the study of their biological properties and interactions in clinically relevant environments.
Our main objective is to overcome the challenge of drug transport to the brain through intranasal administration, an innovative strategy that bypasses the blood-brain barrier (BBB) ¿¿and opens new therapeutic avenues. This research allows us to advance in the development of more efficient drug delivery systems, with the potential to improve the treatment of serious neurological disorders such as glioblastoma and Parkinson's disease.
Specifically, our main lines of research are:
Nanocarriers and nanomaterials
Design and validation of nanotransporters and nanomaterials for biomedical applications related to the diagnosis and treatment of brain diseases.
Drug release
Development of new drug delivery systems based on modified enzymes for application in enzyme replacement therapies.
Intranasal administration
Intranasal administration as a non-invasive strategy for targeted drug delivery to the central nervous system.
Information of interest
NanoERT: nano-delivery platform for Enzyme Replacement Therapy in Parkinson´s and Gaucher's disease. Funding: Caixa Impulse (CI24-20222). Entities: UAB, VHIR, CIPF. Execution: 01/10/2024 - 30/09/2026. PI: Julia Lorenzo
NanoERT: nano-delivery platform for Enzyme Replacement Therapy in Parkinson’s and Gaucher’s disease. Funding: AGAUR- Producte (2024 PROD 00073). Entities: UAB, VHIR. PI: Julia Lorenzo.
Development of new nanotechnological based Enzyme Replacement Therapy for Parkinsons disease: restoration of lysosomal glucocerebrosidase activity through enzyme-polymer nanoconjugation of GBA. Funding: Fundació BBVA. Entities: VHIR/UAB/ICN. Execution: 01/05/2020 - 31/04/2023. PI: Marta Martínez Vicente
EVALUACION IN VITRO E IN VIVO DE NUEVOS NANOPORTADORES PARA ADMINISTRACION INTRANASAL EN EL TRATAMIENTO Y DIAGNOSTICO DE ENFERMEDADES CEREBRALES. (PID2021-127983OB-C22). Funding: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. Entity: UAB. Execution: 01/10/2022 - 30/09//2025. PI: Julia Lorenzo Rivera
New Nanotechnological therapy for Parkinson’s disease: Nose to brain delivery of GBA-polymer nano conjugtes ref HR22-00602. Funding: Health Foundation La Caixa. Entities: UAB/VHIR/CIPF. Execution: 01/11/2022 - 31/10/2025. Coordinator: M Martínez-Vicent (VHIR), PI: J Lorenzo (UAB), MJ Vicent (CIPF)
DEMOSTRACION DE LA EFICACIA DE LA REGENERACION TISULAR EN UN MODELO PRECLINICO DE HERIDAS. Ref: PDC2022-133261-C22. Funding: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. Entity: UAB. Execution: 01/12/2022 - 30/11/2024. PI: Julia Lorenzo
N-TETRASCAN: Noves teràpies pel tractament i seguiment no invasiu de malalties cerebrals i cáncer (ref 2021SGR 00135). Funding: Ajuts per donar suport a l'activitat científica dels grups de recerca de Catalunya (SGR-Cat 2021). AGAUR. Entities: UAB. Execution: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2025. PI: Julia Lorenzo
Xarxa R+D+I en Tecnologies de la Salut (Xartec Salut) (ref: 2021 XARDI 00021). Funding: AGAUR. Entities: UAB; UPC, UB, IBEC, Hospital ClíBIB, BIB, Leitat. Execution: 01/01/2023 - 31/12/2025. PI: Per Margarida Julià (UAB)
Garcia L., Garcia-Pardo J., Tort O., Prior I., Brust M. Lorenzo J*. and Puntes V*. Trapping transmembrane cellular receptors inside the cell, avoiding receptor recycling and improving antibody therapy using gold nanoparticles. Nanoscale. 2017 May 11;9(18):6111-6121. doi: 10.1039/c7nr00947j.
Garcia-Guerrero MC, Garcia-Pardo J., Berenguer E, Fernandez-Alvarez R, Barfic GB, Lyons PJ, Aviles FX, Huber R., Lorenzo J* and Reverter D*. Crystal structure and mechanism of human carboxypeptidase O: Insights into its specific activity for acidic residues. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2018. Apr 24;115(17): E3932-E3939. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1803685115.
Suarez-Garcia S., Arias-Ramos N., Frias C., Candiota A., Arús C., Lorenzo, J.*; Ruiz-Molina D.; Novio, F. Dual T1/T2 Nanoscale Coordination Polymers as Novel Contrast Agents for MRI: a Preclinical Study for Brain Tumor. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 2018, 10, 45, 38819-38832. DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b15594.
Marcelo G. A, Lodeiro C, Capelo J. L, Lorenzo J, Oliveira E. Magneto-fluorescent nanoparticles: from synthesis to application in Biosystems. Materials Science & Engineering C. 2020. 116: 10.1016/j.msec.2019.110104.
Marcelo GA., Montpeyó D., Ruiz-Molina D., Novio F., Lorenzo J.*, Oliveira E.*. Luminescent Silicon-based Nanocarrier for Drug Delivery in Colorectal Cancer Cells. Dyes and Pigents. 2020. 181: 108393. DOI: 10.1016/j.dyepig.2020.108393.
Djafari J, Fernández-Lodeiro J, Santos HM, Lorenzo J*, Rodriguez-Calado S, Bértolo E, Capelo-Martínez JL, Lodeiro C. Study and Preparation of multifunctional Poly(L-Lysine)@Hyaluronic acid nanopolyplexes for the effective delivery of tumor suppressive MiR-34a into triple negative breast cancer cells. Materials. 2020. 20(23): 5309. DOI: 10.3390/ma13235309.
García-Pardo J, Novio F, Nador F, Cavaliere I, Suárez-García S, Lope-Piedrafita S, Candiota AP, Romero-Gimenez J, Rodríguez-Galván B, Bové J, Vila M, Lorenzo J*, Ruiz-Molina D. Bioinspired Theranostic Coordination Polymer Nanoparticles for Intranasal Dopamine Replacement in Parkinson’s Disease. ACS Nano. 2021.15(5):8592-8609. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.1c00453.
Mao, X.; Calero-Pérez, P.; Montpeyó, D.; Bruna, J.; Yuste, V.J.; Candiota, A.P.; Lorenzo, J*; Novio, F.; Ruiz-Molina, D. Intranasal Administration of Catechol-Based Pt(IV) Coordination Polymer Nanoparticles for Glioblastoma Therapy. Nanomaterials. 2022, 12, 1221. DOI: 10.3390/nano12071221.
Garcia-Pardo, J.; Montané, S.; Avilés, F.X.; Tanco, S.; Lorenzo, J*. Enhanced Production of ECM Proteins for Pharmaceutical Applications Using Mammalian Cells and Sodium Heparin Supplementation. Pharmaceutics 2022, 14, 2138. DOI:10.3390/pharmaceutics14102138.
Peña, Q., Simaan, A. J., Capdevila, M., Bayón, P., Palacios, O., Lorenzo, J*., & Iranzo, O. (2022). Cell-penetrating peptide-conjugated copper complexes for redox-mediated anticancer therapy. Frontiers in Pharmacology. 2022 Nov 15;13:1060827. Doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.1060827. eCollection 2022.
Rodriguez-Calado S, Van Damme P, Avilés FX, Candiota AP, Tanco S, Lorenzo J*. Proximity Mapping of CCP6 Reveals Its Association with Centrosome Organization and Cilium Assembly. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jan 9;24(2):1273. doi: 10.3390/ijms24021273.
Fonseca J, Cano-Sarabia M, Cortés P, Saldo J, Montpeyó D, Lorenzo J, Llagostera M, Imaz I, Maspoch D. Metal-Organic Framework-Based Antimicrobial Touch Surfaces to Prevent Cross-Contamination. Adv Mater. 2024:e2403813. Doi: 10.1002/adma.202403813.
Gómez-Herrera, R., Alfonso-Triguero, P., Mao, X., Mancebo-Aracil, J., Novio, F., Lorenzo, J*., Ruiz-Molina, D. Bioinspired neuromelanin-like Pt(IV) polymeric nanoparticles for cancer treatment. Nanotechnology Reviews. 2024.
Jiménez, R., Constantinescu, A., Yazir, M., Alfonso-Triguero, P., Pequerul, R., Parés, X., Pérez-Alea, M., Candiota, A. P., Farrés, J., Lorenzo, J*. Targeting retinaldehyde dehydrogenases in combined therapy against glioblastoma. Int J Mol Sci 2024. 25(21), 11512. Doi: 10.3390/ijms252111512.
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