News
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April 15th, 2025 - Press notes
Study published in PNAS
A study by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, IIBB-CSIC-IDIBAPS, Mayo Clinic, IBYME (CONICET), and CaixaResearch Institute demonstrates the role of the Galectin-1 protein in the nucleus of the cells surrounding the tumor-fibroblasts-contributing to their activation.
Activated fibroblasts promote tumor growth and spread, while also conferring resistance to treatments. This may be one of the reasons behind the high aggressiveness of pancreatic cancer, which has a five-year survival rate of only 10%.
The study's findings open the door to new therapeutic strategies against this type of cancer, focusing on the possibility of inhibiting this protein within the cells that surround and protect the tumor.
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April 9th, 2025 - Press notes
A study involving more than 1,700 people from five hospitals in Barcelona, Sweden and Italy has validated the usefulness of a biomarker in blood to detect Alzheimer's disease in the clinical setting. The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, demonstrates that this test can be a useful and applicable tool in routine medical practice.
The automated analysis of this biomarker is more than 90% effective in identifying patients with Alzheimer's disease. It is an easy-to-use tool that can partly replace other, more complex diagnostic tests, such as lumbar puncture or positron emission tomography (PET).
The study has established cut-off points from which the patient's symptoms can be considered to be caused by Alzheimer's, if Alzheimer's disease can be ruled out, or if further tests are needed to determine the cause of the disease.
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27 March 2025 - Press notes
Previously unknown access points in cell membrane proteins have been discovered, enabling laboratory-developed drugs to modify cell function.
The discovery was made possible through computer simulations with an unprecedented level of detail. The results are available online to support the development of new, targeted drugs for a wide range of diseases.
Research centers from thirteen countries collaborated on the study, which has been published in Nature Communications.
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March 24th, 2025 - Press notes
A new study led by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and the Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), the research centre of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, has made significant strides in the search for effective blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease early detection. The research, published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia, provides a comprehensive comparison of various plasma biomarkers and their accuracy in detecting Alzheimer's disease in a memory clinic setting.
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March 24th, 2025 - Press notes
The genetic modification of the Natural Killer (NK) cells, lymphocytes forming part of the body's immune system, would make it possible to retain their capacity of eliminating tumour cells in solid tumours.
Some types of tumours secrete two molecules, TGF-β and Activin A, which supress the capacity of NK cells to attack them.
A team of researchers from the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Pompeu Fabra University has developed a new tool that allows modifying these NK cells to make them immune to the tumour's defense mechanism.
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March 13, 2025 - Press notes
A study led by the Hospital del Mar Research Institute has established the importance of immunoglobulin A, an antibody that is part of the immune system, in generating a response to pneumonia vaccines.
Researchers have found that the absence of this antibody leads to an overgrowth of gut microbiota, triggering an excessive and sustained immune system response, which ultimately becomes exhausted and fails to respond effectively to vaccines.
The study, published in Science Advances, opens the door to exploring the possibility of early immunoglobulin therapy administration to prevent this process and reduce the risk of potentially dangerous infections, even in at-risk individuals without a diagnosed immunodeficiency.
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March 6th, 2025 - Press notes
A study led by Dr. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga has demonstrated how neurons in the human brain generate memories and establish narratives. The research is published in the journal Cell Reports.
For the first time, it has been confirmed that, contrary to previous beliefs, individual neurons represent the concepts we learn, regardless of the context in which we encounter them.
This allows humans, unlike other animals, to establish higher and more abstract relationships, which lays the foundation of human intelligence.
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February 20th, 2025 - Press release
Researchers identify predictive markers of response to immunotherapy treatment in a study involving data from over 700 patients across six different cohorts, published in Nature Communications.
The study has significant relevance, impacting the management of bladder cancer patients. Machine learning tools enabled the identification of key variables for the success of immunotherapy treatment.
This innovative methodology has allowed researchers to pinpoint which tumor subtypes respond best to immunotherapy.
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February 6th, 2025 - Press notes
The Micro Immune Response On chip (MIRO) allows tumours and their environment to be replicated in order to understand their response to treatment. The device, which has already been successfully tested on breast cancer samples, could be key to developing new treatments and determining the most appropriate therapy for each patient in a personalized way. The work, published in Nature Communications, is the result of a collaboration between the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia and the Research Institute of the Hospital del Mar.
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December 17th, 2024 - Press notes
Phase 1/2 of the clinical trial shows that the administration of the AEF0217 molecule developed by the biotech Aelis Farma, is safe and can improve key skills such as communication, social interactions and daily living for people with Down syndrome.
These results reinforce the start of the phase 2 clinical trial, through an international multicenter study with people with Down syndrome, focused on the dose necessary to achieve the treatment goal.
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