Staff directory Sonia García Jimeno

Publications

2020

• LipoBots: Using Liposomal Vesicles as Protective Shell of Urease-Based Nanomotors

  Hortelão A.C., García-Jimeno S., Cano-Sarabia M., Patiño T., Maspoch D., Sanchez S. Advanced Functional Materials; 30 (42, 2002767) 2020. 10.1002/adfm.202002767. IF: 16.836

  Developing self-powered nanomotors made of biocompatible and functional components is of paramount importance in future biomedical applications. Herein, the functional features of LipoBots (LBs) composed of a liposomal carrier containing urease enzymes for propulsion, including their protective properties against acidic conditions and their on-demand triggered activation, are reported. Given the functional nature of liposomes, enzymes can be either encapsulated or coated on the surface of the vesicles. The influence of the location of urease on motion dynamics is first studied, finding that the surface-urease LBs undergo self-propulsion whereas the encapsulated-urease LBs do not. However, adding a percolating agent present in the bile salts to the encapsulated-urease LBs triggers active motion. Moreover, it is found that when both types of nanomotors are exposed to a medium of similar pH found in the stomach, the surface-urease LBs lose activity and motion capabilities, while the encapsulated-urease LBs retain activity and mobility. The results for the protection enzyme activity through encapsulation within liposomes and in situ triggering of the motion of LBs upon exposure to bile salts may open new avenues for the use of liposome-based nanomotors in drug delivery, for example, in the gastrointestinal tract, where bile salts are naturally present in the intestine. © 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH

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2019

• Development and Validation of a New High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Method for the Simultaneous Quantification of Coenzyme Q10, Phosphatidylserine, and Vitamin C from a Cutting-Edge Liposomal Vehiculization

  Ruiz-Garcia M., Pérez-Lozano P., Mercadé-Frutós D., Nardi-Ricart A., Suñé-Pou M., Cano-Sarabia M., Garcia-Jimeno S., Suñé-Negre J.M., Maspoch D., García-Montoya E. ACS Omega; 4 (22): 19710 - 19715. 2019. 10.1021/acsomega.9b02456. IF: 2.584

  A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed to simultaneously quantify three widely used active substances such as coenzyme Q10, phosphatidylserine, and vitamin C. This new method optimizes current timing and costs in the analyses of these three active substances. Additionally, since the analyzed compounds were encapsulated on a cutting-edge liposomal formulation, further processing was necessary to be developed prior to HPLC analyses. The technique was studied and adequately validated in accordance with the guidelines of the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) regarding selectivity, linearity, accuracy, precision, and robustness. After data treatment of results, linear regressions for all active substances showed an optimal linearity with a correlation coefficient of >0.999 in the concentration range between 70 to 130% of the liposomal formulation and less than a 3% relative standard deviation (RSD) in accuracy and precision. Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society.

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2018

• Phosphatidylserine-liposomes promote tolerogenic features on dendritic cells in human type 1 diabetes by apoptotic mimicry

  Rodriguez-Fernandez S., Pujol-Autonell I., Brianso F., Perna-Barrull D., Cano-Sarabia M., Garcia-Jimeno S., Villalba A., Sanchez A., Aguilera E., Vazquez F., Verdaguer J., Maspoch D., Vives-Pi M. Frontiers in Immunology; 9 (FEB, 253) 2018. 10.3389/fimmu.2018.00253. IF: 5.511

  Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a metabolic disease caused by the autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing β-cells. With its incidence increasing worldwide, to find a safe approach to permanently cease autoimmunity and allow β-cell recovery has become vital. Relying on the inherent ability of apoptotic cells to induce immunological tolerance, we demonstrated that liposomes mimicking apoptotic β-cells arrested autoimmunity to β-cells and prevented experimental T1D through tolerogenic dendritic cell (DC) generation. These liposomes contained phosphatidylserine (PS)-the main signal of the apoptotic cell membrane-and β-cell autoantigens. To move toward a clinical application, PS-liposomes with optimum size and composition for phagocytosis were loaded with human insulin peptides and tested on DCs from patients with T1D and control age-related subjects. PS accelerated phagocytosis of liposomes with a dynamic typical of apoptotic cell clearance, preserving DCs viability. After PS-liposomes phagocytosis, the expression pattern of molecules involved in efferocytosis, antigen presentation, immunoregulation, and activation in DCs concurred with a tolerogenic functionality, both in patients and control subjects. Furthermore, DCs exposed to PS-liposomes displayed decreased ability to stimulate autologous T cell proliferation. Moreover, transcriptional changes in DCs from patients with T1D after PS-liposomes phagocytosis pointed to an immunoregulatory prolife. Bioinformatics analysis showed 233 differentially expressed genes. Genes involved in antigen presentation were downregulated, whereas genes pertaining to tolerogenic/anti-inflammatory pathways were mostly upregulated. In conclusion, PS-liposomes phagocytosis mimics efferocytosis and leads to phenotypic and functional changes in human DCs, which are accountable for tolerance induction. The herein reported results reinforce the potential of this novel immunotherapy to re-establish immunological tolerance, opening the door to new therapeutic approaches in the field of autoimmunity. © 2018 Rodriguez-Fernandez, Pujol-Autonell, Brianso, Perna-Barrull, Cano-Sarabia, Garcia-Jimeno, Villalba, Sanchez, Aguilera, Vazquez, Verdaguer, Maspoch and Vives-Pi.

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