Bio-Nanomaterials

Nanomedicine “the application of nanotechnology to health” has been growing exponentially in the last two decades. In this regard, multifunctional nano-scaled materials have been developed for applications in fields such as drug delivery, diagnostics, biosensing and bioengineering. Our group is mainly interested in developing innovative functional nano-scaled systems that can be used both for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Particularly, given our expertise in Fluorine Chemistry, one of our main objectives is developing innovative fluorinated nanomaterials for application as contrast agents in ¹⁹F-MRI. We are also interested in the fundamental understanding of the interaction between nanomaterials and biological matter in the perspective to improve the design of such systems. Moreover, another area of intense research in our group is the study of how selective halogenation of biomolecules (e.g., proteins, peptides, etc.) can change their structure, self-assembly behavior, and function and be then involved or contribute in/to the mechanism and progression of many diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, etc.).

Selected recent publications:

• Ayaz N., Dichiarante V., Pigliacelli C., Repossi J., Gazzera L., Boreggio M., Maiolo D., Chirizzi C., Bergamaschi G., Chaabane L., Fasoli E., Metrangolo P., Baldelli Bombelli F., Hydrophobin-Coated Solid Fluorinated Nanoparticles for ¹⁹F-MRI, Adv. Mater. Interfaces 2022, 2101677.
• Chirizzi C., Morasso C., Caldarone A.A., Tommasini M., Corsi F., Chaabane L., Vanna R., Baldelli Bombelli F., Metrangolo P., A bioorthogonal probe for multiscale imaging by ¹⁹F-MRI and Raman Microscopy: From whole body to single cells, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 12253-12260.
• Neri G., Mion G., Pizzi A., Celentano W., Chaabane L., Chierotti M.R., Gobetto R., Li M., Messa P., De Campo F., Cellesi F., Metrangolo P., Baldelli Bombelli F., Fluorinated PLGA Nanoparticles for Enhanced Drug Encapsulation and ¹⁹F NMR Detection, Chem. Eur. J. 2020, 26, 10057-10063.