18/01/2016 - Press release
Researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) in collaboration with scientists from Pompeu Fabra University, the Pasteur Institute andPierre and Marie Curie University, have discovered a crucial neural mechanism that explains the process of nicotine reward and addiction. Nicotine, the principal psychoactive component of tobacco, is quickly absorbed through the nasal, oral and respiratory membranes and takes 7 seconds to reach the brain where the receptors are located. It is there where it acts on the central nervous system as well as the autonomic nervous system. This almost immediate relationship between the inhalation of the smoke and its effect at a cerebral level is one of the factors contributing to the highly addictive nature of nicotine. This is explained by the fact that the nicotine exerts its psychopharmacological effects by activating receptors that are very abundant in several specific regions of the brain, the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR).
Més informació "A novel brain mechanism for nicotine addiction"
11/01/2016 - Press release
Research just published in the journal Plos Genetics has found that gaining new genes during evolution is a much more frequent event than previously thought. It has been seen that there are hundreds of genes that might be unique to humans, and something similar occurs in chimpanzees. Some of these genes will be useful for the organism in question and the rest will disappear in time. The work was led by Mar Albà, an ICREA researcher at the Mar Institute of Medical Research (IMIM) and Jorge Ruiz-Orera, from the same group, together with researchers from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG). For some time it was thought that all new genes originated from other genes, for example, from duplications of already existing genes. But recently it has been seen that some, the so-called de novo genes, originate in genomic regions that previously contained none. According to Mar Albà “This work shows that the formation of DNA motifs, through the accumulation of random mutations, would have been a determining factor in the emergence of new genes.” DNA motifs are elements that activate gene expression.
22/12/2015 - Press release
A study by the Cardiology Service's Heart Failure Unit at the Hospital del Mar and IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) has demonstrated that patients with chronic heart failure (HF) who are telephonically monitored have better results with regard to relapse and rehospitalisation than patients that receive conventional on-site follow-up. For six months the researchers used an electronic platform to analyse the evolution of a group of telephonically monitored patients, who used videoconferencing to communicate with the healthcare team. According to the study published in the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, the group being monitored using telemedicine also involved a 3,546 euro reduction in average cost per patient compared to the control group, over the six months of follow-up.
01/12/2015 - General information
The co-existence of mental illness and psychoactive drug or other substance use problems — otherwise known as ‘comorbidity’ or ‘dual diagnosis’ — is an issue which has been on the radar of the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) for over a decade. This agency aims to provide objective and reliable information concernint drugs and their consequences.
Més informació "New EMCDDA report explores combined mental health and substance use disorders"
03/11/2015 - Press release
A new integrated computational method helps predicting adverse drug reaction—which are often lethal—more reliably than with traditional computing methods. This improved ability to foresee the possible adverse effects of drugs may entail saving many lives in the future. The study that is being conducted by researchers from IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Pompeu Fabra University, and the company Chemotargets, within the framework of the European eTOX project, was chosen for the cover of the journalChemical Research in Toxicology. Most computer tools employed today to detect possible adverse effects of compounds that are candidates for new medicines are based on detecting labile fragments in the drug's structure. These fragments can potentially transform to form reactive metabolites, which can have toxic properties. This is what is known as idiosyncratic toxicity and is a big headache for the pharmaceutical industry, as it tends to be detected in late development stages of the drug and even when it is already on the market, often causing the drug to be withdrawn.
23/10/2014 - Press release
Researchers at the Hospital del Mar have discovered one of the key mechanisms in the development and progression of mycosis fungoide, a type of cancer originating in the lymphoid cells that develops initially on the skin. The study, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, was co-led by Fernando Gallardo, a dermatologist at the Hospital del Mar and a researcher in the translational research group on haematopoietic malignancies at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM); Luis Espinosa and Anna Bigas from the IMIM Cancer Stem Cells Laboratory; Juan Sandoval, researcher at the La Fe Research Institute (IISlaFe); and Ángel Diaz, researcher at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL). The project was conducted with a series of skin samples from patients with mycosis fungoide in tumour phase and led to the identification of the miR-200C molecule as a possible therapeutic target for designing future treatments for this disease.
Més informació "A new therapeutic target identified for the most widespread cutaneous lymphoma"
14/10/2015 - Press release
An international study led by researchers from IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) published in the journal Nature Communications has revealed that the intensity or efficiency of the activation of a protein called Notch, which is involved in the different phases of embryonic development, determines the fate of cells, i.e. if cells will form the aorta artery or blood (hematopoietic) stem cells. For artery cells, many Notch molecules need to be activated, whereas for hematopoietic cells many fewer are needed. According to Dr. Anna Bigas, the coordinator of the group on stem cells and cancer at IMIM “to reach these levels of activation, we have proven that there is a competition between two proteins that activate the Notch molecule, i.e. between two ligands, in a way that one limits the activation generated by the other to form hematopoietic stem cells”. Until now it was known, thanks to the studies conducted by this same group and others, that the Notch activation was essential to form arteries and hematopoietic stem cells. It was also known that the proteins responsible for this activation were ligands Delta4 and Jagged1, respectively. With this study, researchers have shown how this signal works to reach a certain level of activation and form the two different types of cells.
Més informació "A step forward in obtaining blood stem cells in laboratory"
09/10/2015 - Institutional news
In its mission to protect and promote clean athletes, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is financing and backing seven innovative research projects in the fight against doping, which include a project by Dr Jordi Segura, coordinator of the research group on bioanalysis and analytic services at IMIM. The project is entitled ‘Developments for improving compliance with blood testing, a fundamental but minimally implemented tool in doping control (EASY BLOOD)’ and its purpose is to explore and validate the applicability of the use of new matrices (dried blood spot and capillary sampling) to replace the blood sample collection methods that are currently used to control doping (which are whole blood, plasma and serum). The seven projects funded are from Australia, Spain and the United Kingdom and were selected from among the applications received from throughout the world in the two calls opened by the IOC.
Més informació "IMIM receives funding from the IOC to conduct innovative anti-doping research"
21/09/2015 - Press release
An uncommon variant of the gene EN1 contributes to bone mineral density and osteoporotic fractures, according to a study recently published in the journal Nature. Daniel Grinberg, expert in the Department of Genetics of the University of Barcelona (UB) and member of the Institute of Biomedicine of the UB (IBUB), has participated in the study. Xavier Nogués and Natàlia Garcia Giralt, experts at the Service of Internal Medicine of the Hospital del Mar and the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) also participate in the study, which is led by Brent Richards, professor at McGill University (Montreal, Canada). The study is also part of a research line on bone pathologies developed by the Centre for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER), led by professors Daniel Grinberg and Susana Balcells (Department of Genetics of the UB and IBUB) with the collaboration of experts on internal medicine from the Hospital del Mar and the IMIM.
18/09/2015 - General information
Some time ago it was believed that new genes originated, at least partially, from other genes; for instance, from the duplication of existing genes. But recently it has been seen that there are certain genes, those called de novo genes, that originate in genomic regions that didn’t contain any genes previously. A study published in arXiv.org, led by Mar Albà, the coordinator of the Group on Evolutionary Genomics from the Research Programme on Biomedical Informatics (GRIB) from IMIM and the UPF and an ICREA Professor, and with the collaboration of scientists from different centres at the PRBB (Barcelona Biomedical Research Park), has revealed there are hundreds of de novo genes originated in humans, many of which where unknown until now. Some of these genes are coded through small proteins that are expressed in the brain or in germinal cells.
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