Group leader: Umberto Anselmi Tamburini

Group member: Mauro Coduri

The interaction of biological systems with nanoparticles (NPs) has dramatically increased in the last decades due to the introduction of NPs in a large number of industrial products, in medical procedures (for diagnostics, drug delivery, or as by-products of surgical implants), and in the environment as a pollutant. NPs can reach body organs by traveling within the host's circulatory system after crossing the body’s physiological barriers (dermal, blood-brain, respiratory, and digestive barriers). For this reason, the interactions between biological systems and NPs have been the object of considerable interest in the last two decades, but many aspects of this interaction are still unclear. NPs biological activity cannot be defined by a “one fits all” criteria, as in the case of molecules. The interaction is much more complex, as many physicochemical parameters, besides their chemical nature, influence it. Our research aims to unveil the basic mechanism controlling the NP incorporation and the NP-induced cell transformation to optimize nanoparticles’ role in drug delivery and tumor treatment. We are involved in all the aspects of this investigation, from the synthesis of engineered nanoparticles to their characterization from the biological and the physico-chemical point of view, including advanced diagnostic techniques based on synchrotron radiation.

  • Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare, Università di Pavia
  • Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Pavia
  • Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pavia
  • European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France
  • Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division, King Adullah University of Science and Technology, 23955-6900 Thuwal, Saudi Arabia

Sommi, Patrizia, Agostina Vitali, Stefania Coniglio, Daniele Callegari, Sofia Barbieri, Alberto Casu, Andrea Falqui et al.
"Microvilli Adhesion: An Alternative Route for Nanoparticle Cell Internalization." 
ACS nano 15, no. 10 (2021): 15803-15814.

Ferraro, Daniela, Ilenia G. Tredici, Paolo Ghigna, Hiram Castillio-Michel, Andrea Falqui, Cristiano Di Benedetto, Giancarla Alberti, Vittorio Ricci, Umberto Anselmi-Tamburini, and Patrizia Sommi.
"Dependence of the Ce (III)/Ce (IV) ratio on intracellular localization in ceria nanoparticles internalized by human cells." 
Nanoscale 9, no. 4 (2017): 1527-1538.

Ferraro, Daniela, Umberto Anselmi-Tamburini, Ilenia Giuseppina Tredici, Vittorio Ricci, and Patrizia Sommi.
"Overestimation of nanoparticles-induced DNA damage determined by the comet assay." 
Nanotoxicology 10, no. 7 (2016): 861-870