Research center
The School of Bio and Nanotechnology (EByN) of the National University of San Martín (UNSAM) was created in 2021 to promote the teaching of biological, physical and chemical sciences at the University and to promote basic research and the development and transfer of new technologies. The EByN is composed of the Biotechnology Research Institute (IIB), the Nanosystems Institute (INS) and the Center for Protein Redesign and Engineering (CRIP) located on the Miguelete Campus in the San Martín District, Buenos Aires, as well as by the INTECH institute located in Chascomús, Province of Buenos Aires. The EByN offers the Bachelor's degrees in Biotechnology and Agrobiotechnology Engineering, a Diploma in Nanotechnology, a Laboratory Technician degree, Masters degrees in Molecular Microbiology and Agrobiotechnology and a PhD program in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (25 graduates per year, 197 graduates). 50 research groups work at EByN focusing on areas such as cellular, molecular and plant biology, microbiology, infectious diseases, immunology, vaccines and virology, design of new nanomaterials, nano-optics and bionanotechnology and recombinant protein production for academia and industry. The research is funded through national and international grants and collaborations.
Research lines
The node is formed by three young research groups belonging to the EByN: The Protein Structure, Function and Plasticity group (IIB) led by Lucía Chemes, the Photobiology and Optogenetics group (INS) led by Jimena Rinaldi, the Nanobioengineering group, led by Damián Álvarez Paggi (CRIP) and. The Protein Structure, Function and Plasticity group studies structure-function relationships and evolution of disordered proteins (IDPs) with a focus on: i) viral and bacterial pathogenesis mechanisms, ii) cell cycle regulation mediated by IDPs and iii) development of IDP-based inhibitors. The Photobiology and Optogenetics group focuses on i) the study of the molecular mechanisms of photoactivation of photoreceptor proteins and ii) on their applications in Nano and Biotechnology. The Nanobioengineering group aims to i) study the host-pathogen interaction in respiratory viruses and ii) develop self-assembling platforms for the generation of nanobiodevices with biotechnological applications.
The node has experience in i) protein production techniques, including cloning and genetic engineering, site-directed mutagenesis, protein redesign and engineering and recombinant protein expression and purification, ii) techniques for the characterization of proteins or other macromolecular complexes, such as UV-VIS spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, circular dichroism, fluorescence including fluorescence anisotropy, size exclusion chromatography, stopped flow kinetics, isothermal titration calorimetry, static and dynamic light scattering, and X-ray crystallography, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and iii) in silico analysis of atomic coordinates and prediction of protein structure, protein-protein interactions and protein evolution.
Instrumentation
- General equipment for cloning and recombinant protein expression and purification (shakers, refrigerated centrífuge, cell disruptor, DNA and protein electrophoresis, nanodrop)
- AKTA Go FPLC for protein purification
- Thermo Dionex ULTIMATE 3000 HPLC-FPLC
- Gilson Minipulse 3 FPLC
- Agilent Cary 60 UV Spectrophotometer with Peltier temperature control
- Shimadzu UV-3600 Plus UV-VIS-NIR Spectrophotometer
- Beckman DU-650 UV-VIS Spectrophotometer
- Enterprise MDP 2100 Series, Precision Detectors Static Light Scattering (SEC-SLS) for protein molecular weight determination.
- Brookhaven NanoBrook Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS): particle size and z potential analyzer
- TECAN Spark plate fluorímeter and luminómeter with polarization filters
- Perkin Elmer Victor Nivo 3 S multimodal fluorescence, luminescence and absorbance microplate reader
- Ultra fast UV-VIS spectroscopy. Contact: gcorthey@unsam.edu.ar
- Raman spectroscopy. Contact: fcardinal@unsam.edu.ar
- Nano-bio interphase molecular modeling. Contact: egonzalezsolveyra@unsam.edu.ar
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- FPLC Akta Go Purificación
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- HPLC DIONEX Ultimate Purificacion
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- Light Scattering Dinámico_DLS
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- Light Scattering Estático_SEC-SLS
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- Espectrofotómetro UV CARY
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- Espectroscopia Ultra Rápida y Raman
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- Fluoírmetro Aminco Bowman
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- Fluorimetro en Placa SPARK Tecan
- Escuela de Bio y Nanotecnologías, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Campus Miguelete Av. 25 de Mayo 1169, B1650 Villa Lynch, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina
- (+54) 11 4006-1500
- lchemes@iib.unsam.edu.ar
- https://unsam.edu.ar/escuelas/ebyn/
