What small little therapies

Three revolutionary medical therapies, that act on a nanometer scale, a billionth of a meter, are explained. Self-propelled and dirigible nanorobots designed to transport drugs to target cells and greatly increase pharmacological efficiency. Peptide launchers, small molecules capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier and improve the treatment of diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, or brain tumors. And oncoplasmonic a discipline of physics that takes advantage of the optical properties of gold nanoparticles to develop less invasive cancer therapies.
Speakers Samuel Sánchez, ICREA, Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia, Meritxell Teixidó, Institute of Biomedical Research – IRB Barcelona, ​​Lluís Torner, director Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), Romain Quidant, ICREA, Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) and Oriol Casanovas, IDIBELL and the Catalan Institute of Oncology.

The specialist in chemistry and molecular pharmacology Meritxell Teixidó of the Institute of Biomedical Research, IRB Barcelona, has discovered and patented a shuttle peptide, a small protein molecule capable of binding to a drug and dragging it through the blood-brain barrier. When this technique works in humans, it will be possible to expand the use of medications for diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s or brain tumors. Teixidó explains to the reporter Pere Renom how they have designed the peptide to prevent it from being degraded by the enzymes of the bloodstream, conserving the ability to reach the brain.