New nanomedicine technique developed for the healing of chronic ulcers
3/3/22
Scientists from the Research Chair of the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), the Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (CIEMAT, in its Spanish acronym) and the Jiménez Díaz Foundation Health Research Institute (IIS-FJD, in its Spanish acronym) have, for the first time, designed and generated a type of aptamer (single-stranded DNA molecules) capable of recognising and activating a key receptor in skin repair.
Chronic wounds and skin ulcers are a condition that affects 3.6% of people over 65, greatly weakening and reducing patients' quality of life. The increase in its occurrence is directly related to the increase in diseases such as diabetes mellitus, venous insufficiency or occlusive arterial disease, as well as the ageing of the population. Looking after these patients also has a direct and chronic impact on the increase in health expenditure.
In this work, recently published in the world's leading scientific dermatology journal, the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, researchers have, for the first time, successfully designed and generated DNA oligonucleotide aptamers with high affinity and specificity for the FPR2 receptor (Formyl Peptide Receptor 2). "The activation of this receptor has been able to effectively trigger the wound repair process in a humanized experimental model”, explains the work's main author, Dr. Marta Carretero, a CIEMAT researcher within the framework of this Chair.
The aptamers used in this study are single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides that adopt a three-dimensional structure, giving them a high affinity and specificity for the FPR2 receptor. By activating it, the researchers are also able to activate the tissue repair programme, in other words, the biological process that is severely impaired and hampered in patients with skin ulcers. "This work represents nanomedicine's success in an area in which conventional therapeutic strategies have not yet achieved expected results despite multiple attempts", says UC3M professor, Marcela del Río, director of the UC3M-CIEMAT-IIS-FJD Research Chair.
This work has been carried out by a multidisciplinary team of scientists from the UC3M-CIEMAT-IIS-FJD Research Chair, the CIBER of Rare Diseases and the Aptamer Group of the Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria [Ramón y Cajal Institute for Health Research] (IRYCIS). All of this has been carried out within the framework of NanoSmell (Artificial remote-controlled odorants), a research project funded by the European Union's H2020 Programme (GA 662629) within FET-OPEN. This type of call supports R+D+I that explores new foundations for breakthrough technologies.
Bibliographic reference:
Arriba MDC, Fernández G, Chacón-Solano E, Mataix M, Martínez-Santamaría L, Illera N, Carrión-Marchante R, Martín ME, Larcher F, González VM, Del Río M, Carretero M. FPR2 DNA Aptamers for Targeted Therapy of Wound Repair. J Invest Dermatol. 2022 Jan 1:S0022-202X(21)02688-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jid.2021.12.026. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34979109.
