• A research team at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago de Chile is working on an ointment to combat melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer

The study led by scientists Sofía Michelson and Claudio Acuña is currently at preclinical stage (animal testing). The cream’s active compound comes from a Chilean endemic plant and it has proved to be an effective solution for melanoma. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 2 and 3 million people are diagnosed with this type of cancer every year.

"We are fighting melanoma because it is the most aggressive skin cancer. Currently, there exist other ointments to treat skin cancer but they do not specifically treat this type," Michelson said.

The main challenge the researchers face is to find a mechanism that is able to boost the body’s response in the presence of a tumor, so that it can stop the progress of the disease.

“The problem is that the human body does not react to tumours because they make the body believe that they are normal. For this reason, the idea is to achieve an immune response similar to the one that is produced in case of bacterial, viral or parasitic infection,” Acuña said.

The cream developed by the researchers is applied topically every third day for about a month. During that period, the application zone should be protected.

The cream contains an extract of an endemic bush in Chile that is found between the regions of Coquimbo and Bíobío (central Chile) which affects the viability of the tumor cells. “We have already conducted other studies on melanoma treatments, so it was during that search that we found this substance,” Michelson said.

The effectiveness of the treatment has been encouraging. After using the ointment in animals, they more than doubled their life expectancy in comparison with conventional treatments.

"The ointment gives protection against tumor growth. If life expectancy was previously seven days, now it is up to 24 days. There are even some subsequent cases that were able to successfully eradicate melanoma," she added. The medication also allows to prevent the disease from recurring.

Another advantage of this product is its low cost. Therefore, it would give the patients more access to the treatment.

“Currently, there are many products available to treat general cancer, but many of them are expensive, so people cannot have access to them,” Michelson said. This is one of the reasons that led the researchers to study melanoma.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr Silvia Matiacevich and Professor Rosa Navarro, both researchers at the Technological Faculty of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, were able to concentrate quinoa proteins in liquid emulsions to then dehydrate them into a powdered product that could be an alternative to animal products.

After two years, a team of scientists at the Technological Faculty of Universidad de Santiago de Chile found that quinoa proteins can be concentrated to generate liquid emulsions and then, after being dehydrated, transformed into a nutritious healthy powdered product.

Dr Silvia Matiacevich, professor at the Department of Food Science and Technology, and Rosa Navarro, professor the Technological Faculty, are leading this study that has already shown significant results.

“We were able to produce shelf-stable liquid emulsions based on quinoa proteins. Without any additive, these proteins and oil with active properties can be kept stable for almost 25 days, with a good appearance and without getting contaminated,” professor Navarro says.   

Based on these emulsions, then the researchers were able to make a powdered product for people who do not eat animal products.

“We dehydrated these high-protein emulsions because we wanted to offer a powdered ingredient that can be added to any type of food to enhance its properties,” professor Navarro adds. The powder includes a bioactive component which is rich in antioxidant and antihypertensive properties.

“In this way, we can offer two versions of the product as a functional and healthy food, even for people allergic to quinoa,” Dr Matiacevich says.

The product idea

In 1996, quinoa was classified by FAO as one of humanity’s most promising crops, not only for its beneficial properties and its many uses, but also considering it as an alternative to solve the problems of human nutrition.

Quinoa is mostly grown in the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes. In Chile, quinoa crops are expanding in the northern and central regions of the country.

These were the reasons why the researchers decided to carefully study the properties of this pseudo-cereal.

“Quinoa has high protein content. However, people still do not consume as much quinoa as one may expect, so we asked ourselves if quinoa’s proteins are as functional as the proteins of soya or milk,” professor Navarro says. The researchers focused their work on a product that could be put in the market as an alternative to dairy products (or even meat) for people who do not consume animal products, like vegans, for example.

Other professionals collaborating on the project are Dr Rommy Zúñiga (Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana), Dr Javier Enrione (Universidad de Los Andes), and Dr Carolina Astudillo and Dr Fanny Guzmán (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso).

The project has been funded by means of contributions and Conicyt grants.



Translated by Marcela Contreras

• For the second consecutive year, our  University was positioned in the third place of the largest national patent requests prepared by the National Industrial Property Institute (INAPI,  in Spanish). Dr. Louis Magne,  director of the Department of Technology Management, attended the awards ceremony  and he highlighted the efforts of the University to generate technological innovations.

Our University has managed to gradually increase the protection of intellectual property of the technologies  generated through its research and development. In 2011 it presented a total of 28 requests  at national and  international levels and through the Cooperation Treaty about Patenting Matters (PCT, in Spanish).

The number of nine national patent records required in 2011, helped to put the University in third place, according to the "INAPI Report 2012". The leader of this ranking was Universidad de  Concepción and P. Pontificia Universidad Católica, with a total number of thirteen requests for inventions each.

The award ceremony for this important achievement was held last Thursday in the new premises of INAPI and was chaired by Tomás Flores the Vice Secretary of Economics, and Maximiliano Santa Cruz, INAPI director.  Dr. Louis Magne, director of the Department of Technology Management from the office of Research and Development attended the ceremony and  represented our University. He  noted that patenting is a priority for the institution.

"The University has an important increase of the research that has  potential for new businesses, and this has allowed  the  identification of the results that might get a patent and which are the basis of innovative technologies that could be transferred to the productive sector," he said.

Throughout its history, the  Universidad de Santiago de Chile has presented 63 requests  for national patents. At the international level, it has presented 50 requests  in various countries, mostly in the United States. Of the total applications, 28 patents have been given, eleven  in Chilean territory, three in the U.S. and the rest in other countries.

"We are currently working to achieve that these patents generate licenses and then royalties, meeting  the challenge that Chile has about becoming a generator of technology," Magne explained.

What is the meaning of patenting?

A patent is an exclusive right granted by the State for the protection of an invention, so it recognizes and guarantees the exclusive commercial exploitation for the holder of the invention, thus preventing others from appropriating the benefits involved in its exploitation.

Obtaining these patents in the University is paramount as it demonstrates the ability to generate appropriable knowledge, and states the basis of technological products that have a future to contribute to the country and become  part of  the national and international markets.

To achieve this, the Technology Management Department is responsible for encouraging researchers to conduct applied research projects whose results are evaluated in its appropriability and evaluated for their further development, until the patent is generated.

The patents that are requested belong to the University, with the recognition of the authorship  for the inventors. If the invention is commercialized, 50 percent is for the group of researchers that  generates the patent and the remaining 50 percent for the University.

• Patricio Flores, PhD in Biotechnology, and Yu-Wen Tang, student at the Master´s program in Technology Management- Major in Biotechnology, both from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, were awarded a grant to develop a strategy for marketing an enzyme that has multiple benefits for diagnosing diseases.

As a result of the work they did for a doctoral dissertation and after being granted funds through the “Go To Market, de la Idea al Mercado” Contest organized by Corfo (the Chilean Economic Development Agency), the researchers will get trained in Silicon Valley, in the context of the third stage of the project “Developing a strategy for marketing a highly stable glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) enzyme.”

The project, which was developed under the guidance of Dr. Jenny Blamey, associate professor at Universidad de Santiago, proposes replacing the bovine GLDH enzyme with one from an Antarctic extremophilic microorganism (capable of resisting extreme conditions of temperature, pH, pressure, salinity, among others), which does not have the deficiencies of its predecessor. Its most common application is in the area of clinical laboratories where it is used for diagnosing hepatic and renal diseases

According to researcher Patricio Flores, “having discovered this new enzyme, glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH), improves the half-life of five different types of diagnostic kits, as its thermal stability is higher than the one of the enzyme used today.” The academic stresses that “what is most important is that it also solves the problem of low half-life of the “old” diagnostic kits, preventing from discarding expired kits that have not been used, improving result reliability, lowering costs, reducing losses for companies and enabling a stock available to give a quick answer to market requirements.”

“The new enzyme is much more stable. It can be stored at room temperature, keeping more than 85% of its activity for 50 days. On the other hand, the bovine enzyme completely loses its activity under the same conditions,” Dr. Flores explains, regarding the results of this project that involves Universidad de Santiago and Fundación Científica y Cultural Biocencia.

Go To Market

“Go To Market, de la Idea al Mercado” is an initiative that seeks to identify research studies conducted at universities, technological centers and Chilean companies that have generated technologies that could potentially benefit the global market.

“The application process for the Corfo’s Go to Market Contest coincided with the last steps to finish my doctoral dissertation in which I developed the product prototype, that is to say, the GLDH enzyme from an Antarctic thermophilic microorganism,” Dr, Flores says.

At present, the project is at its third stage, which involves getting training at the Standford Research Institute (SRI), scheduling meetings with investors and interested clients and developing a marketing strategy to position the product in the market. These will be the activities that the two researchers will have while they stay in USA.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• By means of a Regular Fondecyt Project, a research team at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology led by Dr. Manuel Azócar is currently working on the optimization of compounds derived from silver, by adding them anti-inflammatory properties and higher thermal stability and durability for their future use as antibacterial agents.

Besides being a metal used in jewelry, silver has varied applications and properties. One of them is its high electrical conductivity. Another distinctive feature of this element is that its particles are used in creams to treat burns and warts; water purification systems; anti-microbial paints and anti-bacterial compounds.

Regarding this last application, Dr. Manuel Azócar, researcher at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, is developing new silver-based anti-bacterial agents with anti-inflammatory properties, by means of a Regular Fondecyt Project.

The main objective of this research is to understand and enhance the essential features of these compounds for their future use as broad-spectrum bactericidal agents, with more air and light stability.

“We are interested in optimizing these metallo pharmaceutical agents by adding them higher anti-inflammatory properties, higher thermal stability under light conditions and also in identifying the elements that may have toxic effects on cells,” the researcher said.

Besides, one of the most novel aspects of this study is that it seeks to optimize these compounds to use them in lower doses and give them more air and light stability, because silver is a sensitive metal and gets oxidized easily, getting darker in a short period of time.

At a first stage, the work team has been able to prepare several compounds that have made possible to understand the conditions that allow obtaining more stable and durable products. They have also been able to evaluate these compounds as anti-bacterial agents.

“As of 2015, we have planned to assess the cytotoxicity of these compounds, verify our hypotheses regarding the reduction of toxic effects and make a more detailed analysis of their structural features,” the researcher finally said.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

·         The drugs we use are delivered into our bodies in a short time because they are designed to be adsorbed at the intake and to lose effect some time later. In this field, the first results of a study at Universidad de Santiago are very valuable. The research team looked for an “intelligent” drug-delivery system; i.e. a system for a sustained release of the required dose to increase the drug efficacy. 

To understand the mechanisms that would allow in the future releasing drugs in the best place and at the best time, was one of the goals of the study led by Dr Eduardo Lissi, professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology.

Nowadays, the drugs we use are delivered into our bodies in a short time; i.e., they are designed to be adsorbed at the intake and to lose effect some time later.

The purpose of the study was to understand the factors and cellular processes involved in this type of mechanism and Dr Eduardo Lissi, researcher at Universidad de Santiago, together with the Protein Research Group of the Faculty of Biology of Universidad de la Habana (Cuba) and researchers Alexis Aspee (Universidad de Santiago) and Marco Antonio Soto (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), undertook the project.

“I think this is very interesting: designing “intelligent” systems for a particular effect, placing the carrier in the right place to control there the delivery of the bio-active species,” he says.

He adds that he is very “impressed for the magnitude of the problem and for having the possibility of connecting basic biophysics with its applications, particularly with those related to the potential for elaborating specific drugs especially for a given system.”

According to Dr Lissi, these “intelligent” systems would offer advantages in their application, like designing drugs that are released, “for example, when the host reaches a given temperature and/or a given osmotic gradient.” This would assure a sustained delivery of the dose of the required drug and increase its efficacy.

Another aspect of the study, which is still being worked on, is related to the ability of haemolytic toxins to generate channels that contribute to control cell damage. “This involves and interesting potential to selectively kill cell groups that you want to eradicate,” Dr Lissi says. The name of the project was Fondecyt 1130867, “Studies on the diffusion of small solutes through lipids bilayers in unilamellar liposomes."

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Researchers at CECTA and DECYTAL at Universidad de Santiago successfully participated in two important scientific gatherings. They were the only Chileans participating in the 27^th International Conference on Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology and the 02^nd International Specialized Symposium of Yeasts, held in the Italian cities of Levico and Perugia, respectively. Dr Verónica García Mena, Dr Claire Brice, Dr Claudio Martínez Fernández and Dr Francisco Cubillos Riffo presented their works at these conferences.

   

  Researchers at the Food Science and Technology Research Center (CECTA, in Spanish) and the Department of Food Science and Technology (DECYTAL, in Spanish) of Universidad de Santiago were the only Chilean representatives in two important scientific activities held in September, in Italy.

  The team led by Dr Claudio Martínez Fernández and made up of Dr Francisco Cubillos Riffo, Dr Verónica García Mena, and Dr Claire Brice presented the results of different studies conducted at the Applied Biotechnology and Microbiology Laboratory.

  The researchers participated in the 27^th International Conference on Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology, held between September 06^th and 12^th, in Levico, and the 02^nd International Specialized Symposium of Yeasts, held between September 13^th and 17^th in Perugia, Italy.

  Strengthening links

  The director of CECTA, Dr Claudio Martínez, who is currently on a scientific-cultural exchange at the Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (IATA, in Spanish) in Valencia, Spain, explained that the importance of these conferences lies on the possibility of “Strengthening links with the best researchers in this field worldwide, strengthening joint projects and opening opportunities to new collaborations and projects, as well as evaluating the level and the significance of what we are doing in Chile, that it is certainly very good at an international level.”

  For example, the team of CECTA is working on an international collaboration project with researchers at the IATA that also involves Argentinean researchers. And there is another international project with a French team that also participated in these conferences. This team is collaborating with a Fondecyt postdoctoral project and Dr Claire Brice is in charge of the last phase of this study.

  It is worth to mention that CECTA researchers were the only Chilean representatives in both conferences. According to professor Martínez, this was a surprise. And they were more surprised when they realized that, at a Latin American level, there were a few researchers from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. “This places us in a leading position at a national level and allows us to strengthen links with Latin American experts in this field to promote local and regional development,” he said.

  Leaders in yeast studies

  Yeasts were the common denominator in the conferences in which Universidad de Santiago researchers participated. Our university is leader in the area of yeast biotechnology in the country. “In this regard, the contributions made by our institution have turned into products (some of them have already been transferred to the productive sector in Chile and abroad) and specialized human resource training and have generated a worldwide renowned group of experts,” he concluded.

   

  Translated by Marcela Contreras

• With the funding of a Fondecyt Postdoctoral Project 2016, Dr Baptiste Darbois, professor at the Faculty of Science of Universidad de Santiago, will be able to accurately determine how lizards move in granular soils in order to produce results that allow to create a robot able to move easily in different types of soil.

With the funding of a Fondecyt Postdoctoral Project 2016, Dr Baptiste Darbois, professor at the Faculty of Science of Universidad de Santiago, will be able to accurately determine how lizards move in granular soils in order to produce results that allow to create a robot able to move easily in different types of soil. This would mean a significant contribution to robotics.

Based on previous research that found that once lizards dive in the sand, they move by wriggling their bodies and not by using their legs, Dr Darbois will study the interaction between a vibrating elastic structure and the granular environment.

The Fondecyt Postdoctoral project (3160167) is called “Locomoción ondulatoria de nadadores suaves dentro de los medios granulares.”

Experimental challenge

The experimental challenge of the study is to control the movement of grains and the forces they undergo when lizards move. This would help to establish guidelines for developing robots able to adapt themselves to different environments. The way of moving of different animals has inspired engineers in this field.

“We expect the compression produced by lizards’ undulating movements in the desert’s sub-surface to help us to develop efficient robots by incorporating this mechanism,” Dr Darbois explained.

Likewise, professor Darbois intends to develop, in the long term, a robot based on the best features lizards show when moving in a granular environment.

“Through this project, we expect to define the optimal conditions: the dimensions, elasticity, frequency and amplitude of vibrations to move forward in waves through a granular environment,” the researcher said.

The relationship between lizards and the development of robots is not odd; on the contrary, it can benefit technological development and improve people´s quality of life. For example, it can be used in critical situations.

“With regard to its applications, developing robots able to efficiently move in granular environments could help to detect anti-personnel mines in the deserts and find people trapped under avalanches,” Dr Darbois concluded.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• A research team at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology led by Dr Claudia Ortiz Calderón developed a device based on Chilean brown algae and pumice stone, which is able to adsorb copper from copper-bearing solutions produced by mining industry.

A research team at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology led by Dr Claudia Ortiz Calderón developed a device based on Chilean brown algae and pumice stone, which is able to adsorb copper from copper-bearing solutions produced by mining industry.

Dr Ortiz, who is in charge of the Laboratory of Vegetable Biochemistry and Phytoremediation of the university, says that this study is part of the research that they usually conduct on the use of plants for environmental remediation.

Using this new device, it is possible to adsorb copper from copper-bearing streams to recover ions and send them back to the mining process, and clean the waters to use them again. Dr Ortiz says that they are already studying the effectiveness of the bio-filter with other metals, what could attract the interest of different companies.

Basically, the bio-filter is a vertical-flow column that contains three types of brown algae – which are very common in the Chilean coast- and pumice stone arranged in a way that is able to capture copper.

“First, we collect the algae and then, after washing, drying, chopping and screening them to a specific size, we package them together with pumicite or pumice stone that prevents the algae from getting compressed,” Dr Ortiz says.

She emphasizes that, in order no produce the bio-filter, they do not require to collect living biomass or to harvest algae. As they use waste algae and do not pre-treat the biomass, the bio-filter has a low cost of production. 

Patent request

The project started in 2012 and was funded by Corfo (the Chilean Economic Development Agent). It is currently at a protection stage after filing a patent request for the packaging system.

The next step is to continue with the analyses to determine the effectiveness of the bio-filter with other metals.

“We know that the bio-filter works very well for copper and we have also tested other equivalent cations, like zinc, cobalt and cadmium, and they have usually worked quite well too,” Dr Ortiz says.

“Thus, companies or industrial processes generating these elements which are interested in removing or recycling them could also be interested in the filter.”

In this context, the Canadian company Good Harbor that supported the project by conducting the hydraulic study of the columns has already expressed its interest in acquiring the rights of this new product.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• In this way, Dr. Rodolfo Madrid, from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, refers to the Conicyt  funds granted for implementing a research ring that will join top scientists. The challenge is to study the physiological role of the TRP ion channels involved in detecting thermal and pain stimuli, among many other physiological processes. Knowing how these channels work may allow the development of treatments for attacking diseases related to the their malfunction.

Three research groups and a common commitment -understanding the role of TRP channels in heat sensitivity, pain and synaptic plasticity-  define the project led by Dr. Rodolfo Madrid researcher at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology. His initiative has recently received funds from the "2011 Fourth Contest of Research Rings in Science and Technology" organized by the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research, CONICYT. (See related article).

"Study of the Physiological role of TRP Channels in Thermotransduction and Synaptic Plasticity" is an associative research project that joins three research groups: two correspond to the University’s laboratory of neurosciences at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology -one led by Dr. Rodolfo Madrid and the other by Dr. Bernardo Morales-  the third is the Interdisciplinary Center for Neuroscience from Valparaiso, led by Dr. Patricio Orio. The joint challenge is to study the physiological role of various members of a group of membrane proteins: polymodal ion channels of the TRP (Transient Receptor Potential) superfamily in diverse physiological processes. For this purpose, they will have the annual funds of 150 million pesos, for three years.

"We want to study the role of various TRP channels in the electrical response of thermoreceptors of cold and nociceptors against various physiological and pathophysiological situations, in order to develop a mathematical model that could serve as a tool for predicting the electrical behavior of these neurons against modifications -that could be the result, for example, of an inflammatory process or an injury-  and  determining  the role of ion channels in regulating neuronal communication in particular regions of the central nervous system," Dr. Rodolfo Madrid explains.

"TRP channels are part of a large group of proteins involved in the detection of thermal stimuli and nociception, among many other physiological processes, and have recently been associated with learning and memory processes," the specialist says.
 

Advanced human capital

This associative research, will attract and train new high-level human capital. It will also  incorporate doctoral and postdoctoral students and, in this way, the group of neuroscientists at the University’s Faculty of Chemistry and Biology will become stronger.

"Besides, we will work with the collaboration of laboratories that belong to some of the world's best centers in the field, such as the Institute of Neuroscience in Alicante, Cambridge University and John Hopkins University, worldwide reference points in the study of neuroscience. This will not only help the growth and consolidation of  our group, but it will also allow our students go directly to stay in those centers,” the researcher says.

Besides, Dr. Madrid values ​​the grant of this ring project "as a recognition that should extend not only to the members of our group, but to all the neuroscientists at the University. From our point of view, this is the most important project of neuroscience that our institution has received and it means that our work has not been the result of improvisation, " he finally  points out.