Dipartimento di Chimica

Understanding the nanomaterial interaction with biomolecules, a journey from safety to applications in medicine, Prof. Marco Monopoli

For nanomedicine and nanosafety, there is a growing desire for a rational basis within which to understand nanoparticle-cell and organ level interactions. Nanoparticles in biological fluids (blood, or otherwise) generically associate with a range of biopolymers, especially proteins, organised into the ‘protein corona’ which is continuously exchanging with the proteins in the environment.  In some cases, the residence times of proteins in the corona are sufficiently long that they confer an effective biological identity onto the nanoparticle. The transport and fate of nanoparticles (from intracellular trafficking to clearance pathways) likely reflect the corona, rather than the nanomaterial itself.

It is now clear that these interactions lead to dramatic surface changes and a new identity of the NP in biological fluid and the corona can induce unpredictable immunological responses and can hamper their therapeutic efficacy.

The protein corona is derived from proteins in biological fluids, many of which are glycosylated.  We have now shown that the biomolecular corona has a strong glycosylation component that is biologically active and this class of biomolecules plays a dramatic role in the NP colloidal stability and firmly controls the NP biological fate and, if controlled, can offer new opportunities in nanomedicine.

Fluorinated nanoparticles as bioimaging tools and delivery agents, Prof.ssa Francesca Baldelli Bombelli

This work addresses the current need for novel sensitive, robust, and selective diagnostic tools for non-invasive in vivo imaging, which are able to improve the medical practice through earlier diagnosis of disease, implementation of targeted therapies, and localization of diseased tissues. Our approach is based on the development of sustainable fluorinated probes enabling ¹⁹F-MRI, as a complementary tool, to be coupled with other diagnostic imaging techniques such as ¹H-MRI, Raman and fluorescence imaging, in order to overcome their present shortcomings. This talk reports about a unique fluorinated imaging agent (PERFECTA) bearing 36 equivalent ¹⁹F atoms and therefore showing a single, intense ¹⁹F-NMR signal. Biocompatible nanoparticles loaded with PERFECTA demonstrated excellent cellular compatibility and spectral properties (relaxation times and sensitivity) adequate for in vivo ¹⁹F-MRI use [1-2]. In this presentation PERFECTA ability to work as multiscale and multimodal probe will be shown [3].

References

(1) Tirotta I., et al. Superfluorinated Molecular Probe for Highly Sensitive in vivo ¹⁹F-MRI. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136,24, 8524-27.

(2) Bona B. L., et al. Multibranched-Based Fluorinated Materials: Tailor-Made Design of ¹⁹F-MRI Probes. Acc. Mater. Res. 2023, 4, 1, 71–85.

(3) Chirizzi C., et al. A Bioorthogonal Probe for Multiscale Imaging by 19F-MRI and Raman Microscopy: From Whole Body to Single Cells.  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 31, 12253–12260. 

Engineering gold nanomaterials: from nanoclusters to supraparticles,  dott.ssa Claudia Pigliacelli

Gold nanomaterials have emerged as valuable tools in a variety of high-end applications. Proper tuning of their size and of their possible self-assembly into larger structures is essential to obtain custom morphological and functional features. In this talk, l will present the designand synthesis of differently sized and functionalized gold nanoparticles (NPs) and atomically precise nanoclusters (NC). I will then discuss how, by modulating the interparticle interactions via supramolecular design, NPs and NCs can be employed as building blocks to devise highly pure single crystals and supraparticles, and the possible application of these self-assembled systems.

References

C. Pigliacelli, A. Acocella, I. Díez, L. Moretti, V. Dichiarante, N. Demitri, H. Jiang, M. Maiuri, R. H. A. Ras, F. Baldelli Bombelli, G. Cerullo, F. Zerbetto, P. Metrangolo, G. Terraneo, High-Resolution Crystal Structure of a 20 kDa Superfluorinated Gold Nanocluster, Nature Communications, 2022, 13 (1), 1-8.

C. Pigliacelli K.B. Sanjeeva, Nonappa, A. Pizzi, A. Gori, F. Baldelli Bombelli and P. Metrangolo, In Situ Generation of Chiroptically-Active Peptide-Gold Superstructures Promoted by Iodination, ACS Nano 2019, 13, 2, 2158-2166.

C. Pigliacelli, D. Maiolo, Nonappa, J. Haataja, H. Amenitsch, C. Michelet, P. Sànchez Moreno, I. Tirotta, P. Metrangolo, F. Baldelli Bombelli, Encapsulation of Fluorinated Drugs in the Confined Space of Water-Dispersible Fluorous Gold Supraparticles, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2017, 56, 16186-16190. 

Prof. Marco Monopoli

Marco Monopoli is a Senior (tenured) Lecturer in the RCSI Chemistry Department and where he established the BioNano Research lab, a multi-disciplinary centre focused on obtaining a complete understanding of the mechanisms of interaction between nanomaterials and living systems essential for nanomedicine, nanotoxicology applications and evaluating their environmental impact. Dr Monopoli's studies have been focused on revealing the forces that govern bio-nano interactions and understanding the biological implications of the biomolecular corona, with a particular interest in the glycans. He is the author of over 70 scientific publications that have been cited over 12,000 and his H index is 35 according to scopus.