Mónica Cicuéndez

• PhD
• PostDoc Position at Complutense University of Madrid

Background/Objectives: Bone infection is one of the most prevalent complications in orthopedic surgery. This pathology is mostly due to bacterial pathogens, among which S. aureus stands out. The formation of a bacterial biofilm makes systemic treatment with antibiotics ineffective. Herein we propose a nanosystem composed of mesoporous bioactive gla...

Background Recently, magnetic composite biomaterials have raised attention in bone tissue engineering as the application of dynamic magnetic fields proved to modulate the proliferation and differentiation of several cell types. Methods This study presents a novel method to fabricate biofunctional magnetic scaffolds by the deposition of superparama...

Despite the immense need for effective treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI), no successful repair strategy has yet been clinically implemented. Multifunctional biomaterials, based on porcine adipose tissue-derived extracellular matrix (adECM) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO), were recently shown to stimulate in vitro neural stem cell growth and di...

Graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) have been widely used in the field of tissue regeneration and various biomedical applications. In order to use these nanomaterials in organisms, it is imperative to possess an understanding of their impact on different cell types. Due to the potential of these nanomaterials to enter the bloodstre...

Bioactive mesoporous glass nanospheres (nanoMBGs) charged with antiosteoporotic drugs have great potential for the treatment of osteoporosis and fracture prevention. In this scenario, cells of the immune system are essential both in the development of disease and in their potential to stimulate therapeutic effects. In the present work, we hypothesi...

Despite the large number of synthesis methodologies described for superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs), the search for their large-scale production for their widespread use in biomedical applications remains a mayor challenge. Flame Spray Pyrolysis (FSP) could be the solution to solve this limitation, since it allows the fabrication...

Safety assessment of carbon nanomaterials is of paramount importance since they are on the frontline for applications in sensing, bioimaging and drug delivery. The biocompatibility and safety of functionalized nanodiamonds (NDs) are here addressed through the study of the pro-inflammatory response of RAW-264.7 macrophages exposed to new nanodiamond...

The activation of T helper (Th) lymphocytes is necessary for the adaptive immune response as they contribute to the stimulation of B cells (for the secretion of antibodies) and macrophages (for phagocytosis and destruction of pathogens) and are necessary for cytotoxic T-cell activation to kill infected target cells. For these issues, Th lymphocytes...

Simple Summary A topic of great relevance is the design of new biocompatible materials for their application in tissue engineering. The preparation of new polycaprolactone (PCL)/poly (ethylene carbonate) (PEC) blends has resulted in a series of new biomaterials obtained in a simple manner, which favor cell proliferation and subsequent differentiati...

In search of new approaches to treat bone infection and prevent drug resistance development, a nanosystem based on hollow bioactive glass nanoparticles (HBGN) of composition 79.5SiO2-(18-x)CaO-2.5P2O5-xCuO (x = 0, 2.5 or 5 mol-% CuO) was developed. The objective of the study was to evaluate the capacity of the HBGN to be used as a nanocarrier of th...

Spinal cord injury (SCI), with either traumatic or non-traumatic aetiology, brings lifetime health, economic and social consequences to thousands of people worldwide. Tragically, there are no available therapies capable of reversing the condition of SCI patients, who experience their daily routines becoming nearly impossible tasks due to the abrupt...

Graphene and its derivatives are very promising nanomaterials for biomedical applications and are proving to be very useful for the preparation of scaffolds for tissue repair. The response of immune cells to these graphene-based materials (GBM) appears to be critical in promoting regeneration, thus, the study of this response is essential before th...

Macrophages, cells effective in sensing, internalizing and killing Candida albicans, are intertwined with the extracellular matrix (ECM) through different signals, which include the release of specific cytokines. Due to the importance of these interactions, the employment of in vitro models mimicking a fungal infection scenario is essential to eval...

Multifunctional-therapeutic 3D scaffolds have been prepared. These biomaterials are able to destroy the S. aureus bacteria biofilm and to allow bone regeneration at the same time. The present study is focused on the design of pH sensitive 3D hierarchical meso-macroporous scaffolds based on MGHA nanocomposite formed by a mesostructured glassy networ...

The decellularized extracellular matrix (ECM) obtained from human and porcine adipose tissue (AT) is currently used to prepare regenerative medicine bio-scaffolds. However, the influence of these natural biomaterials on host immune response is not yet deeply understood. Since macrophages play a key role in the inflammation/healing processes due to...

Nanographene oxide (nGO)-mediated hyperthermia has been increasingly investigated as a localised, minimally invasive anticancer therapeutic approach. Near InfraRed (NIR) light irradiation for inducing hyperthermia is particularly attractive, because biological systems mostly lack chromophores that absorb in this spectral window, facilitating the se...

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), such as MoS 2 and WS 2 , have recently emerged as nanomaterials with potential use in biomedicine. An attractive means to favor their interaction with biological media is the use of proper biomolecules as exfoliating/dispersing agents. Here, MoS 2 flakes were stabilized with different small...

Macrophages play a key role in nanoparticle removal and are primarily responsible for their uptake and trafficking in vivo. Due to their functional plasticity, macrophages display a spectrum of phenotypes between two extremes indentified as pro-inflammatory M1 and reparative M2 macrophages, characterized by the expression of specific cell surface ma...

Graphene oxide (GO) is a new nanomaterial with different potential biomedical applications due to its excellent physicochemical properties and ease of surface functionalization. Macrophages play key roles in the control of fungal infections preventing invasive candidiasis by both limiting the growth of the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albi...

Nanographene oxide (nGO)-mediated hyperthermia has been increasingly investigated as a localized, minimally invasive anticancer therapeutic approach. Near InfraRed (NIR) light irradiation for inducing hyperthermia is particularly attractive, because biological systems mostly lack chromophores that absorb in this spectral window, facilitating the se...

The major limitation in the development of hybrids based on graphene oxide (GO) and porphyrins is their dispersibility and stability in aqueous systems due to the hydrophobic character induced by porphyrins. Most of the previous approaches reported the direct functionalization of GO with polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains followed by the self-assembl...

Statement of significance: Multifunctional 3D nanocomposite scaffolds with the ability for loading and sustained delivery of an antimicrobial agent, to eliminate and prevent bone infection and at the same time to contribute to bone regeneration process without cytotoxic effects on the surrounding tissue has been proposed. These 3D scaffolds exhibi...

Macrophages, as effector cells involved in the innate and adaptive immunity, play a key role in the response to nanomaterials as graphene oxide (GO) and in their cellular uptake. The interactions at the interface of GO nanosheets, macrophages and microbial pathogens need to be assessed to determine the possible impairment of the immune system induc...

Nano-graphene oxide (GO) and its functionalized derivatives have aroused a great interest for drug delivery, tissue engineering and photothermal cancer therapy, but their biocompatibility has not yet been fully assessed. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the proliferation and differentiation of MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts after the uptake o...

The exfoliation and colloidal stabilization of layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) in aqueous medium using functional biomolecules as dispersing agents have a number of potential benefits towards the production and practical use of the corresponding two-dimensional materials, but such a strategy has so far remained underexplored. Here,...

The nanocarbon allotropes constitute valid alternatives when designing control and actuation devices for electrically-assisted tissue regeneration purposes, gathering among them important characteristics such as chemical inertness, biocompatibility, extreme mechanical properties and, importantly, low and tailorable electrical resistivity. In this w...

A novel nanosystem based on mesoporous silica nanoparticles covered with carbosilane dendrons grafted on the external surface of the nanoparticles is reported. This system is able to transport single-stranded oligonucleotide into cells, avoiding an electrostatic repulsion between the cell membrane and the negatively charged nucleic acids thanks to...

The interaction of new nanocomposite mesoporous glass/hydroxyapatite (MGHA) scaffolds with immune cells involved in both innate and acquired immunity has been studied in vitro as an essential aspect of their biocompatibility assessment. Since the immune response can be affected by the degradation products of bioresorbable scaffolds and scaffold sur...

Bone tissue regeneration requires the use of 3D scaffolds which mimic the architecture of the natural extracellular matrix, creating an adequate microenvironment for bone cell growth. Such 3D scaffolds need surface properties suitable for biological recognition in the early stage of cell adhesion, necessary to ensure complete cell colonization, ret...

The development of smart materials as bone implants is nowadays a challenging task to optimize their fast osteointegration. Nevertheless, no attempts have been done in joining the possibility of using electrical stimulation and drug delivery together in a material intended for bone tissue engineering. Moreover, the use of this synergy to induce bon...

A comparative study of mesoporous matrices designed for both drug loading methods, impregnation (IP) and surfactant assisted drug loading (also denoted as one-pot, OP), has been carried out evaluating their physicochemical characteristics, cell response, drug delivery profiles and antibacterial activity. Surfactant-free (calcined) and surfactant-te...

Crystalline nanoparticles are very attractive building blocks for the preparation of nanostructured materials. These particles can be dispersed in different noncrystalline mesostructured matrixes in order to obtain nanocomposite systems which combine the properties of both components broadening their functionality. In the present study, a novel nan...

Uncoated and biopolymer-coated nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite (HA) macroporous foams are presented as promising candidates as scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration. To this end, foam degradability, the cytotoxic effects on osteoblast-like cells of foam degradation by-products and biocompatibility with osteoblast-like cells were assayed on the thre...

3D-macroporous biopolymer-coated hydroxyapatite (HA) foams have been developed as potential devices for the treatment of lead, cadmium and copper contamination of consumable waters. These foams have exhibited a fast and effective ion metal immobilization into the HA structure after an in vitro treatment mimicking a serious water contamination case....

Novel 3D-macroporous biopolymer-coated hydroxyapatite foams are potential devices for the treatment of heavy-metal intoxication by ingestion. These foams are designed to exhibit a fast and efficient metal ion immobilization into the HA structure in acidic media. The capture process of metal ions is stable, not releasing any metal ion when the foams...

Mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs) with a compoisition of 85SiO2−10CaO−5P2O5 (mol %) have been prepared through the evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) method, using P123 as a structure directing agent. For the first time, SiO2−CaO−P2O5 MBGs with identical composition and textural properties, but exhibiting different bicontinuous 3D-cubic and...