Pablo G. Argudo

Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research | MPIP · Molecular Spectroscopy Research Group

Tardigrades are unique micro‐organisms with a high tolerance to desiccation. The protection of their cells against desiccation involves tardigrade‐specific proteins, which include the so‐called cytoplasmic abundant heat soluble (CAHS) proteins. As a first step towards the design of peptides capable of mimicking the cytoprotective properties of CAHS...

Lipid membranes and proteins, which are part of us throughout our lives, have been studied for decades. However, every year, new discoveries show how little we know about them. In a reader-friendly manner for people not involved in the field, this paper tries to serve as a bridge between physicists and biologists and new young researchers diving in...

Crowding agents, such as polyethylene glycol (PEG, are often used to mimic the cellular cytoplasm in protein assembly studies. Despite the perception that crowding agents have an inert nature, recent work has shown they are not bystanders while proteins interact. Here, we explore the diverse effects of PEG on the phase separation and maturation of...

Tardigrades are unique micro-animals that withstand harsh conditions, such as extreme temperatures and desiccation. Recently, it was found that specific cytoprotective proteins are essential for ensuring this high environmental tolerance. In particular, cytoplasmic abundant heat soluble (CAHS) proteins, which are intrinsically disordered, adopt mor...

This comprehensive review aims to provide a deep insight into the fascinating field of biophysics in living organisms through the study of model fluid interfaces that mimic specific lipid-based structures with biophysical relevance. By delving into the study of these physiological fluid interfaces, we can unravel crucial aspects of their behavior,...

A common approach to enhance the stability of metal halide perovskites (MHPs) implemented in optical and optoelectronic devices is to incorporate polymer additives into the perovskite layer. A β‐(1,4) cellulose oligosaccharide (COS) synthesized by mechanocatalytic depolymerization of cellulose has been incorporated to films of the BA2MA4Pb5I16 (BA...

Nanostructured block copolymer (BCP) thin films enable the formation on-demand of a variety of periodic patterns at the nanometer scale by tuning the macromolecular BCP characteristics and annealing processes. Significant progress in the control of the self-assembly has been witnessed over the past decade with the implementation of robust directed...

The power of the H‐bonds: Supramolecular polymers were obtained at the air/liquid interface by purposefully designed H‐bonding molecules. The Langmuir technique offered a unique platform for manipulating the molecules at the water surface, with in situ experimental and computational techniques offering detailed information on the supramolecular arr...

Block copolymer (BCP) self‐assembly in thin films is an elegant method to generate nanometric features with tunable geometrical configurations. By combining directed assembly and hybridization methods, advances in nano‐manufacturing have been attested over the past decades with flagship applications in lithography and optics. Nevertheless, the rang...

Fluid interfaces provide an advanced platform for directed self‐assembly of organic composites and formation of supramolecular polymers (SPs). Intermolecular interactions govern the supramolecular polymerization processes, with hydrogen bonding (H‐bonding) as a key interaction in supramolecular chemistry and biology. Two purposefully designed supra...

The development and implementation of new amphiphiles based on natural resources rather than petrochemical precursors is an essential requirement due to their feedstock depletion and adverse environmental impacts. In addition, the use of bio-based surfactants can provide unique characteristics and improve the properties and versatility of the collo...

Sugar-based amphiphiles are a relevant natural alternative to synthetic ones due to their biodegradable properties. An understanding of their structure–assembly relationship is needed to allow the concrete synthesis of suitable derivatives. Here, four different mannose-derivative surfactants are characterized by pendant drop, dynamic light scatteri...

Polymersomes and related self-assembled nanostructures displaying Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) are highly relevant for plenty of applications in imaging, biology and functional devices. Experimentally simple, scalable and universal strategies for on-demand self-assembly of polymers rendering well-defined nanostructures are highly desirable. A...

Proteins and peptide fragments are highly relevant building blocks in self-assembly for nanostructures with plenty of applications. Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and protein regions (IDRs) are defined by the absence of well-defined secondary structure, yet IDP/IDR display a significant biological activity. Experimental techniques and com...

Amino acids including the Fmoc group (9-fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl) are bioinspired molecules that display intriguing features in self-assembly and biological applications. The influence of a delicate chemical modification between Fmoc-F and Fmoc-Y on the interaction with a phospholipid surface was analyzed. Langmuir monolayers of the 1,2-dimyristo...

Fmoc-dipeptides appear as a highly relevant building block in smart hydrogels and nanovehicles for biological applications. The interactions of the Fmoc-dipeptides with the cell membrane determine the efficiency of the nanomaterials based on the Fmoc-dipeptides, as the internalization of nanovehicles for drug delivery. Here we aim at the understand...

In this work, monodisperse agarose gel nanoparticles were prepared using a W/O microemulsion as a template to control the size of the obtained particles. The combination of this template method with a temperature-induced gelling and a solvent exchange methodology has allowed preparing stable aqueous dispersions of monodisperse agarose gel nanoparti...

Fluorescent nanoparticles, such as quantum dots, hold great potential for biomedical applications, mainly sensing and bioimaging. However, the inefficient cell uptake of some nanoparticles hampers their application in clinical practice. Here, the effect of the modification of the quantum dot surface with fluorinated ligands to increase their surfac...

Monolayers of a cytosine-based nucleolipid (1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-(cytidine diphosphate) (ammonium salt), CDP-DG) at basic subphase have been prepared at the air-water interface both in absence and presence of guanine. The formation of the complementary base pairing is demonstrated by combining surface experimental techniques, i.e., surface...

Dipeptides self-assemble onto supramolecular structures showing plenty of applications in nanotechnology and biomedical fields. A set of Fmoc-dipeptides with different aminoacid sequences has been synthesized and their self-assembly at fluid interfaces has been assessed. The relevant molecular parameters for achieving an efficient 2D self-assembly...

Highlighting research performed in the group of Dr Giner-Casares from the Physical Chemistry department, University of Córdoba (Spain), in collaboration with the group of Dr Álvarez de Cienfuegos from the Organic Chemistry department, University of Granada (Spain). Unravelling the 2D self-assembly of Fmoc-dipeptides at fluid interfaces The self-ass...

Fluorescent inorganic quantum dots are highly promising for biomedical applications as sensing and imaging agents. However, the low internalization of the quantum dots, as well as for most of the nanoparticles, by living cells is a critical issue which should be solved for success in translational research. In order to increase the internalization...