New project to study the bactericidal effect of calcium phosphates at the ALBA Synchrotron

Jul 12, 2022

Three researchers from the BBT group and one researcher from the Scientific and Technological Centers of the UB carried out the project "Understanding the bactericidal potential of nanostructured calcium phosphates" at the ALBA Synchrotron (Cerdanyola del Vallès) on July 7th and 8th, 2022.

New project to study the bactericidal effect of calcium phosphates at the ALBA Synchrotron — Marc Iglesias acquiring tomographies of bacteria on the BL09 – MISTRAL line

On July 7th- 8th, PhD student Marc Iglesias Fernández, Professor Maria-Pau Ginebra and Dr. Montserrat Español (BBT-UPC), together with electron cryomicroscopy specialist Lidia Delgado (CCiTUB-UB), carried out a experiment at the ALBA Synchrotron, in Cerdanyola de Vallès.

The experiment "Understanding the bactericidal potential of nanostructured calcium phosphates" was carried out at the BL09 - MISTRAL soft X-ray microspectroscopy line, with the help of ALBA's local contact, Dr. Ana-Joaquina Pérez.

The main objective of this experiment was the characterization of the state of bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis) after being in contact with calcium phosphate surfaces with bactericidal topography.

The experiment is part of the doctoral project of Marc Iglesias: "Antibiotic-free strategies in calcium phosphates to fight infections", linked to the national project "ENABLE: New technologies for the development of osteoinductive and antimicrobial bone grafts with high performance", funded by AEI.