Debora Berti

University of Florence and Italian Center for Colloid and Surface Science · Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff"

Magnetoplasmonic NPs have shown remarkable potential in hyperthermia, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) imaging and diagnostics. However, despite their potential, effective clinical translation remains extremely limited due to a lack of fundamental knowledge about the biological response to these materia...

Although Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) is widely applied for ultrasensitive in-vitro and in-vivo diagnostics and imaging, the preparation of SERS tags – i.e. metallic nanoparticles (NPs) or NP clusters functionalized with Raman-active molecules (RRs)- typically involves very complex synthetic approaches, often leading to low colloidal st...

Communication between cells located in different parts of an organism is often mediated by membrane-enveloped nanoparticles, such as extracellular vesicles (EVs). EV binding and cell uptake mechanisms depend on the heterogeneous composition of the EV membrane. From a colloidal perspective, the EV membrane interacts with other biological interfaces...

Nanoparticles of different properties, such as size, charge, and rigidity, are used for drug delivery. Upon interaction with the cell membrane, because of their curvature, nanoparticles can bend the lipid bilayer. Recent results show that cellular proteins capable of sensing membrane curvature are involved in nanoparticle uptake; however, no inform...

The design of cellular functions in synthetic systems, inspired by the internal partitioning of living cells, is a constantly growing research field that is paving the way to a large number of new remarkable applications. Several hierarchies of internal compartments like polymersomes, liposomes, and membranes are used to control the transport, rele...

Communication between cells located in different parts of an organism is often mediated by membrane-enveloped nanoparticles, such as extracellular vesicles (EVs). EV binding and cell uptake mechanisms depend on the heterogeneous composition of the EV membrane. From a colloidal perspective, the EV membrane interacts with other biological interfaces...

Although promising for biomedicine, the clinical translation of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) is limited by low biocompatibility and stability in biological fluids. A common strategy to circumvent this drawback consists in disguising the active inorganic core with a lipid bilayer coating, reminiscent of the structure of the cell membrane to redefin...

Cellulose nanocrystal and gold nanoparticles are assembled, in a unique way, to yield a novel modular glyconanomaterial whose surface is then easily engineered with one or two different headgroups, by exploiting a robust click chemistry route. We demonstrate the potential of this approach by conjugating monosaccharide headgroups to the glyconanomat...

Although promising for biomedicine, the clinical translation of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) is limited by low biocompatibility and stability in biological fluids. A common strategy to circumvent this drawback consists in disguising the active inorganic core with a lipid bilayer coating, reminiscent of the structure of the cell membrane to redefin...

The design of drug delivery systems (DDS) for the encapsulation of therapeutic and the controlled release to the target site of the disease is one of the main goals in nanomedicine. Although already explored in an extensive number of studies over the years, lipid assemblies, and particularly liposomes, are still considered the most promising and in...

We report an analytical approach to study dye desorption and transfer processes in aqueous environment. The study was conducted simulating standard laundry washes using two different donor textiles, a polyester textile dyed with Disperse Blue 79 and a cotton textile dyed with Reactive Red 239, and two acceptor textiles, undyed cotton and polyester,...

Usually, to characterize bacterial cells' susceptibility to antimicrobials, basic microbiology techniques such as serial dilutions or disk assays are used. In this work, we present an approach focused on combining static light scattering (SLS) and ultra-/small angle X-ray scattering (USAXS/SAXS). This approach was used to support microbiology techn...

The widely overlapping physicochemical properties of lipoproteins (LPs) and extracellular vesicles (EVs) represents one of the main obstacles for the isolation and characterization of these pervasive biogenic lipid nanoparticles. We herein present the application of an atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based quantitative morphometry assay to the rapid...

The engineering of the surface of nanomaterials with bioactive molecules allows controlling their biological identity thus accessing functional materials with tuned physicochemical and biological profiles suited for specific applications. Then, the manufacturing process, by which the nanomaterial surface is grafted, has a significant impact on thei...

In recent years, many efforts have been devoted to investigating the interaction of nanoparticles (NPs) with lipid biomimetic interfaces, both from a fundamental perspective aimed at understanding relevant phenomena occurring at the nanobio interface and from an application standpoint for the design of novel lipid-nanoparticle hybrid materials. In...

In the past decades, events occurring at the nano-bio interface (i.e., where engineered nanoparticles (NPs) meet biological interfaces such as biomembranes) have been intensively investigated, to address the cytotoxicity of nanomaterials and boost their clinical translation. In this field, lamellar synthetic model membranes have been instrumental t...

The liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of amphiphilic thermoresponsive copolymers can lead to the formation of micron-sized domains, known as simple coacervates. Due to their potential to confine active principles, these copolymer-rich droplets have gained interest as encapsulating agents. Understanding and controlling the conditions inducing th...

The precise knowledge of size and shape of nanoobjects, either dispersed in a fluid phase or embedded in a solid matrix, is essential to assess structure/function relationships in all of the diverse application fields. Equally important is the characterization of the dynamical behavior in relation with the transport properties. This chapter provide...

This chapter touches on three fundamental concepts of physical chemistry, in general and of nanostructured fluids, in particular, that is diffusion, aggregation and electrokinetics. We will start from a very classical background on diffusion, introduced from a thermodynamic and a statistical point of view. We will then introduce the reader to the r...

Before exploring, in the next chapters, some specific aspects of colloid science relevant for nanoscience, it is worth to recall/delve some concepts from stoichiometry and thermodynamics. They are not novel for any scientists and usually are taken for granted, but, in our experience, the importance they have in colloid science is much larger than t...

The liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of amphiphilic thermoresponsive copolymers can lead to the formation of micron-sized domains, known as simple coacervates. Due to their potential to confine active principles, these copolymer-rich droplets have gained interest as encapsulating agents. Understanding and controlling the conditions inducing th...

The mechanical response of lipid membranes to nanoscale deformations is of fundamental importance for understanding how these interfaces behave in multiple biological processes; in particular, the nanoscale mechanics of non-lamellar membranes represents a largely unexplored research field. Among these mesophases, inverse bicontinuous cubic phase QI...

The bioactivity, biological fate and cytotoxicity of nanomaterials when they come into contact with living organisms are determined by their interaction with biomacromolecules and biological barriers. In this context, the role of symmetry/shape anisotropy of both the nanomaterials and biological interfaces in their mutual interaction, is a relative...

Citrate capping is one of the most common strategies to achieve the colloidal stability of Au nanoparticles (NPs) with diameters ranging from a few to hundreds of nanometers. Citrate-capped Au nanoparticles (CNPs) represent a step of the synthesis of Au NPs with specific functionalities, as CNPs can be further functionalized via ligand-exchange rea...

Hybrid materials composed of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) and lipid self-assemblies possess considerable applicative potential in the biomedical field, specifically, for drug/nutrient delivery. Recently, we showed that SPIONs-doped lipid cubic liquid crystals undergo a cubic-to-hexagonal phase transition under the action of t...

Hybrid materials composed of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPIONs) and lipid self-assemblies possess a considerable applicative potential in the biomedical field, specifically, for drug/nutrients delivery. In recent works we have shown that SPION-doped lipid cubic liquid crystals undergo a cubic-to-hexagonal phase transition under the...

Hybrid materials composed of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPIONs) and lipid self-assemblies possess a considerable applicative potential in the biomedical field, specifically, for drug/nutrients delivery. In recent works we have shown that SPION-doped lipid cubic liquid crystals undergo a cubic-to-hexagonal phase transition under the...

When nanomaterials are put in contact with living organisms, their interaction with biomacromolacules and biological barriers will determine their bioactivity, biological fate and cytotoxicity. In this context, the role of symmetry/shape anisotropy of both the nanomaterials and the biological interfaces on their interaction mechanism, is a relative...

When nanomaterials are put in contact with living organisms, their interaction with biomacromolacules and biological barriers will determine their bioactivity, biological fate and cytotoxicity. In this context, the role of symmetry/shape anisotropy of both the nanomaterials and the biological interfaces on their interaction mechanism, is a relative...

The recovery and conversion of Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) from sewage sludge into bio-based commodities might improve the economics and environmental sustainability of wastewater treatment. This contribution explores the application of EPS from anammox granular waste sludge as biosorbent for the removal of heavy metals, specifically l...

The mechanical properties of biogenic membranous compartments are thought to be relevant in numerous biological processes; however, their quantitative measurement remains challenging for most of the already available Force Spectroscopy (FS)-based techniques. In particular, the debate on the mechanics of lipid nanovesicles and on the interpretation...

In the past decade(s), fluorescence microscopy and laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) have been widely employed to investigate biological and biomimetic systems for pharmaceutical applications, to determine the localization of drugs in tissues or entire organisms or the extent of their cellular uptake (in vitro). However, the diffraction lim...

The custom functionalization of a graphene surface allows access to engineered nanomaterials with improved colloidal stability and tailored specific properties, which are available to be employed in a wide range of applications ranging from materials to life science. The high surface area and their intrinsic physical and biological properties make...

Nanosized lipid vesicles are ubiquitous in living systems (e.g. cellular compartments or extracellular vesicles, EVs) and in formulations for nanomedicine (e.g. liposomes for RNA vaccine formulations). The mechanical properties of such vesicles are crucial in several physicochemical and biological processes, ranging from cellular uptake to stabilit...

Inverse bicontinuous cubic phase membranes are ubiquitous in nature but their properties and functions are still not fully understood. To shed light on this topic, we herein realize thin supported cubic phase lipid films, characterize their structure and provide the first study of the mechanical properties of these non-lamellar architectures.

In the present study, we investigated lipid membrane interactions of silica nanoparticles as carriers for the antimicrobial peptide LL-37 (LLGDFFRKSKEKIGKEFKRIVQRIKDFLRNLVPRTES). In doing so, smooth mesoporous nanoparticles were compared to virus-like mesoporous nanoparticles, characterized by a "spiky" external surface, as well as to nonporous sil...

p> Membrane-delimited compartments, as lipid vesicles, are ubiquitous in natural and synthetic systems. The mechanical properties of such vesicles are crucial for several physical, chemical, and biological processes. However, their accurate determination is still challenging and requires sophisticated instruments and data analysis. Here we report t...

In the last few years, hybrid lipid-copolymer assemblies have attracted increasing attention as possible 2D membrane platforms combining the bio-relevance of the lipid building blocks with the stability and chemical tunability of copolymers. The relevance of these systems varies from fundamental studies on biological membrane-related phenomena to t...

Lipid liquid crystalline mesophases, resulting from the self-assembly of polymorphic lipids in water, have been widely explored as biocompatible drug delivery systems. In this respect, non-lamellar structures are particularly attractive: they are characterized by complex 3D architectures, with the coexistence of hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions...

The mechanical properties of extracellular vesicles (EVs) are known to influence their biological function, in terms of e.g. cellular adhesion, endo/exocytosis, cellular uptake and mechanosensing. EVs have a characteristic nanomechanical response which can be probed via Force Spectroscopy (FS) and exploited to single them out from non-vesicular con...

The development of new therapeutic strategies against multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria is a major challenge for pharmaceutical research. In this respect, it is increasingly recognized that an efficient treatment for resistant bacterial infections should combine antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects. Here, we explore the multifunctio...

Inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) represent promising examples of engineered nanomaterials, providing interesting biomedical solutions in several fields, like therapeutics and diagnostics. Despite the extensive number of investigations motivated by their remarkable potential for nanomedicinal applications, the interactions of NPs with biological interf...

en Inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) represent promising examples of engineered nanomaterials, providing interesting biomedical solutions in several fields, like therapeutics and diagnostics. Despite the extensive number of investigations motivated by their remarkable potential for nanomedicinal applications, the interactions of NPs with biological int...

The mechanic properties of cell membranes control many biological processes. The complexity of natural membranes is often dealt with by building synthetic vesicles (Giant Unilamellar Vesicles, GUVs), which can be thought as micron-sized minimal cells. Micropipette aspiration technique is the gold standard to characterize membrane mechanics, but it...

Abstract Aged pressure sensitive tapes (PSTs) can compromise the integrity and readability of drawings and paper artworks. Typically, PSTs on contemporary artifacts are difficult to remove owing to degradation processes and to the intrinsic sensitiveness of paper, inks and dyes to the solvents and tools used in the traditional conservation practice...

The use of inorganic nanoparticles in biomedical and biotechnological applications requires a molecular-level understanding of interactions at nano-bio interfaces, such as cell membranes. Several recent reports have shown that gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), in the presence of fluid lipid bilayers, aggregate at the lipid/aqueous interface, but the prec...

Hypothesis Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) are natural nanosized lipid vesicles involved in most intercellular communication pathways. Given their nature, they represent natural cell membrane models, with intermediate complexity between real and synthetic lipid membranes. Here we compare EVs-derived (EVSLB) and synthetic Supported Lipid Bilayers (SLBs...

We herein describe an Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)-based experimental procedure which allows the simultaneous mechanical and morphological characterization of several hundred individual nanosized vesicles within the hour timescale. When deposited on a flat rigid surface from aqueous solution, vesicles are deformed by adhesion forces into oblate sp...

This contribution reviews the state of art on hybrid soft matter assemblies composed of inorganic nanoparticles (NP) and lamellar or non-lamellar lipid bilayers. After a short outline of the relevant energetic contributions, we address the interaction of NPs with synthetic lamellar bilayers, meant as cell membrane mimics. We then review the design...

The recovery of biopolymers from the waste sludge produced in wastewater treatments and their application in other industrial sectors, would substantially increase the environmental and economical sustainability of the process, promoting the development of a circular economy. In this study, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) extracted from an...

Hypothesis: Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) can provide micron-sized liquid compartments dispersed in an aqueous medium. This phenomenon is increasingly appreciated in natural systems, e.g., in the formation of intracellular membraneless organelles, as well as in synthetic counterparts, such as complex coacervates and vesicles. However, the...

The removal of hydrophobic polymer coatings from artistic surfaces is a ubiquitous challenge in art restoration. Over the years, nanostructured fluids (NSFs), aqueous surfactant solutions containing a good solvent for the polymer, have been successfully applied in polymer removal interventions; however, the precise role of the surfactant in promoti...

The inclusion of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) within organized lipid assemblies combines the rich polymorphism of lipid phases with advanced functional properties provided by the NPs, expanding the applicative spectrum of these materials. In spite of the relevance of these hybrid systems, fundamental knowledge on the effects of NPs on the structur...

We demonstrate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)contrast enhancement and ac-field induced heating abilities of tetramethylammoniumhydroxide (TMAH)coated nickel ferrite (NiFe 2 O 4 )nanoparticles and discuss the underlying physical mechanisms. The structural characterization revealed that the NiFe 2 O 4 particles synthesized with a modified co-precip...

The poor understanding of the interaction of nanomaterials with biologically relevant interfaces is recognized as one of the major issues currently limiting the development of nanomedicine. The central purpose of this study is to compare experimental (Confocal Microscopy, Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy, X-ray Reflectivity) and computational...

We describe a simple method to prepare water dispersible core-shell CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) 1 capping QDs with the new thiol-containing heterobifunctional dicarboxylic ligand 4 (DHLA-EDADA). This ligand, obtained in gram scale through few synthetic steps, provides a compact layer on the QDs, whose hydrodynamic size in H2O is 15 nm ± 3 nm. The c...

Upon irradiation, the photosensitizer pheophorbide a causes dramatic morphological transitions in giant unilamellar lipid vesicles. The endocytosis-like process occurs only when the photoactive specie is encapsulated in a copolymer nanocarrier...

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains has fostered fundamental research to develop alternative antimicrobial strategies. Among the several systems proposed so far, the association complexes (nanoplexes) formed by transcription factor decoys (TFD), i.e. short oligonucleotides targeting a crucial bacterial transcription factor, and...

Significance From Dead Sea Scrolls to Federico Fellini and Lucio Fontana drawings, pressure-sensitive tapes (PSTs) have been used as adhesive fasteners or as part of temporary conservation treatments that frequently became permanent. Their safe and efficient removal poses ethical and aesthetic questions: Adhesive tape residues damage the paper subs...

Fabrication of synthetic surfaces that reproduce structure and function of biological membranes is an open challenge. This work reports the first example of supported lipid bilayers obtained from extracellular vesicles (EVSLBs). EVSLBs harness and pattern in two dimensions key properties of extracellular vesicle (EV) membranes, which present interm...

Polyion complex (PIC) micelles formed from the electrostatic interaction between oppositely charged polymers have been studied for their promising applications in the biomedical field as drug carriers or vectors for gene delivery. In spite of their asset of possible high drug loading, their formation process remains poorly studied. In this work, we...

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the formation of copolymers-lipids hybrid self-assemblies, which allow combining and improving the main features of pure lipids-based and copolymer-based systems known for their potential applications in the biomedical field. In this contribution we investigate the self-assembly behavior of dipa...

The inclusion of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) in lipid mesophases is a promising strategy for drug-delivery applications, combining the innate biocompatibility of lipid architectures with SPIONs response to external magnetic fields. Moreover, the organization of SPIONs within the lipid scaffold can lead to locally enhanced SP...

Understanding the interaction between nanomaterials and biological interfaces is a key unmet goal that still hampers clinical translation of nanomedicine. Here we investigate and compare non-specific interaction of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with synthetic lipid and wild type macrophage membranes. A comprehensive data set was generated by systemati...

Aqueous nanostructured fluids (NSFs) have been proposed in the recent past to remove polymer coatings from the surfaces of works of art; this process usually involves film dewetting. Here we report on a major advancement in the study of NSFs cleaning mechanisms using several complementary techniques that are employed to get a mechanistic insight on...