Seven leading biomedical research institutes in Catalonia have teamed up to create a new state-of-the-art infrastructure for the study and analysis of proteins. The newly acquired high-tech equipment will help meet the increasing demand for protein analysis by Catalan research and innovation institutions.

The infrastructure is co-funded by the participating institutes and the European Union’s Regional Development Funds. The project is managed by the Secretary of Universities and Research of the Catalan Government.

The equipment will be physically located at the Centre for Genomic Regulation’s (CRG)- UPF Proteomics Unit, which is located at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB). The CRG-UPF Proteomics Unit is a nationally recognised research infrastructure of excellence in Spain and further afield.

In recent years, technological advances have led to a wide range of new proteomics and protein analysis techniques that are a key tool for understanding the mechanism of action of human diseases.

According to Eduard Sabidó, Head of the CRG-UPF Proteomics Unit, the new infrastructure will help create new knowledge and enable future exciting discoveries. “Having shared access to high-level technology will provide new analysis tools for the characterization of proteins in biomedical samples and translational projects, especially in the field of biomedicine and personalized medicine,” he says.

“There are many potential applications for this new equipment. For example, we can use it to study and validate biological markers for the diagnosis or prognosis for various conditions. It can also help us determine how proteins bind to genetic material, evaluate the molecular effects of pharmacological treatments, or deduce how cancer signalling works inside cells. The new equipment will also facilitate the characterization of protein-protein interactions, and the quantification of proteins in paraffin-embedded tissues, liquid biopsies, and tissues.”

The seven institutions that form part of the infrastructure are:

• Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG)
• Vall d’Hebron Oncology Research Institute (VHIO)
• Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL)
• Germans Trias i Pujol Health Sciences Research Institute (IGTP)
• University of Barcelona (UB) / Barcelona Science Park (PCB)
• Sant Joan de Déu Foundation (FSJD)
• Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital Research Institute Foundation (FIRHSCSP).