08/10/2019 - Press release
Based on a study of 566 drugs that interact with 129 different proteins, researchers from the Systems Pharmacology research group, part of the GRIB Research Programme on Biomedical Informatics, a joint programme between the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), in collaboration with researchers from the University of New Mexico, in the United States, realised that 71% of drugs have stronger affinities for their target proteins than those of the small internal molecules responsible for regulating their functions. Surprisingly, this is the first time that the affinities of endogenous ligands and drugs for the same proteins have been quantified. Humans have thousands of proteins, each with a specific function that is often regulated by thousands of small molecules synthesised by our bodies. This set of small molecules, also known as "endogenous metabolites", is known as the "human metabolome". Each one interacts with its native protein with a certain affinity that has been carefully optimised, in a natural way, throughout the long process of evolution, and this can vary between species and even in some instances, more subtly, between individuals.
Més informació "Our own bodies hold the key to designing safer drugs"
23/08/2019 - Press release
Researchers from the Molecular Cancer group at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and doctors from Hospital del Mar, have demonstrated the effectiveness of a drug for treating metastatic bladder cancer in patients who did not respond to the usual treatment. The preliminary results of an ongoing clinical trial show that TAK-228, a mTORC1/2 protein inhibitor, can stop the progression of the disease. Four of the seven patients in the trial showed positive results. The trial also involved Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in Barcelona, Hospital Universitari Parc Taulí in Sabadell, Clínica Universitaria in Navarre, and Hospital General Universitario in Elche.
Més informació "Effectiveness of a new bladder cancer treatment demonstrated"
10/07/2019 - Press release
A study led by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), has determined, for the first time, the importance of a cell mechanism that may be key to treating metastatic tumours. The work has demonstrated the role a protein, kinase IKKα, plays in the ability of tumour cells to repair themselves. This is a key factor in treatment resistance and tumour spread. The research has been published in the journal Molecular Cell. The researchers analysed the role of this protein, activated by mutations of the BRAF and KRAS oncogenes, present in the majority of the most aggressive tumours. The function of this protein is to facilitate DNA-repair in tumour cells after they have been damaged by chemotherapy, making them more resistant to the action of these drugs. This is key for the treatment approach, since this new study demonstrates, conclusively, that combining a BRAF oncogene inhibitor with chemotherapy deactivates and kills the tumour.
Més informació "Mechanism determined for treating the most aggressive tumours"
28/06/2019 - Press release
The ageing of NK lymphocytes circulating in the blood of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer is a marker that can predict the success or failure of monoclonal antibody therapies, which act on a specific factor in tumour cells. This is the conclusion of a study led by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and the Pompeu Fabra University, and doctors from the Hospital del Mar, published in the journal Cancer Immunology Research. The study also involved staff from the Medical Oncology Service at Hospital Clínic in Valencia, the Pathological Anatomy Services at Hospital del Mar, Fundación Jiménez Díaz in Madrid, and the Immunogenetics Service at Puerta de Hierro University Institute, also in Madrid. It involved analysing blood samples from 66 patients, immunogenetic and functional studies of the NK lymphocytes of these patients, as well as analysing tumour biopsies. The ageing of these cells was measured by quantifying the NK lymphocytes in the blood that express the CD57 molecule. The results show that patients with high blood counts at the time of diagnosis are more likely to be resistant to chemotherapy and anti-HER2 antibody treatment.
Més informació "Possible marker of treatment resistance in HER2 breast cancer identified"
19/06/2019 - Press release
Researchers from the UAB and the IMIM published in Scientific Reports the first evidence in a non-human species, the domestic dog, of a relation between joint hypermobility and excitability: dogs with more joint mobility and flexibility tend to have more anxiety problems. The relation between collagen laxity and anxiety in humans is widely known, but this relation has never been observed before in other species. A team of researchers led by professors Jaume Fatjó and Antoni Bulbena from the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine at the UAB, the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and the UAB Affinity Foundation Chair in Animals and Health, analysed a set of 13 animal behaviour characteristics and hip joint mobility in a total of 5575 domestic dogs. The results point to an association between hip joint hypermobility and a brain activation linked to emotions in dogs, with similar results as to those observed in people.
Més informació "Joint Hypermobility Related to Anxiety, Also in Animals"
13/05/2019 - Events
BSC, UPC and IMIM organize the first Advances in Computational Biology conference will bring together researchers working on systems biology, omics technologies, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) with applications to biology from both the public and the private sectors. The conference will be held November 28-29 in La Pedrera (Barcelona). Maria Jose Rementeria, Social Link Analytics group leader at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) and one of the organizers, states: "One of the main purposes of the conference is to visualize and promote the research done by women scientists and for this reason all presenters will be women, although the conference is open to everyone. We want to create a space to foster collaborations between scientists, providing a unique opportunity to share ideas and build research networks".
Més informació "A conference to promote women's research in computational biology"
09/05/2019 - General information
The GRIB Integrative Biomedical Informatics group (IMIM-UPF) has launched a new version of DisGeNET, a public knowledge management platform on the genomics of disease, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. DisGeNET offers information on genes and genomic variants associated with human diseases, which is obtained by integrating more than a dozen public resources and the scientific literature. DisGeNET contains one of the most comprehensive collections of genes and variants associated with human diseases that is currently available. The new version of DisGeNET (6.0) contains approximately 600,000 associations between more than 17,000 genes and 24,000 human diseases, focusing particularly on genetic alterations associated with disease: this version includes more than 117,000 genomic variants associated with 10,000 diseases. In addition, the phenotypic landscape covered by DisGeNET has been expanded to include the genomic basis of clinical manifestations of diseases, both signs and symptoms, as well as laboratory tests results.
Més informació "New version of DisGeNET 6.0 and ELIXIR recognition"
10/04/2019 - General information
The project EOSC-Life aims to create an open collaborative digital space for life science in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). EOSC-Life brings together the 13 european research infrastructures in the Health and Food domain of the ESFRI Roadmap and is funded by H2020 for the period 2019-2023. The project involves research groups from 46 European academic institutions. These include the GRIB Systems Pharmacology research group (IMIM-UPF) led by Jordi Mestres, which is helping develop collaborative tools for integrating and analysing all kinds of data in the field of life sciences.
05/04/2019 - Institutional news
Provisional relationship of advice and excluded aspirant persons that have been submitted to the external call for the merits competition, for the provision of a job of HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR Mar Institute of Medical Research Foundation Managing body of the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) (Call FIMIM_01/2019).
04/04/2019 - Press release
Doctors and researchers at Hospital del Mar and the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) have shown, for the first time, that osteoporosis and bone fractures in HIV sufferers is caused by the body's response to the presence of the virus, in the form of inflammatory processes, and not only the antiretroviral treatment, as was previously believed. The study, published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, used a bone-quality measuring technique designed in the United States in collaboration with staff from Hospital del Mar, together with a protocol developed by the same people, which shows that the risk of fractures is related to the inflammation caused by the chronic infection. This represents a change in how this problem is conceived, as well as how it is approached. The study involved staff from the Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine services at Hospital del Mar, as well as members of the IMIM's Musculoskeletal Research Group. Dr. Todd T. Brown, from Johns Hopkins University, in the United States, also participated.
Més informació "Paradigm shift in how bone fractures are avoided in HIV patients"
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