MEDNIGHT 2025
Join us at the Mediterranean Night of Researchers at the University of Messina on September 26th! Don’t miss the chance to meet us and discover our exciting projects!
22/09/2025 – 26/09/2025 111° National Congress of the Italian Society of Physics
We will participate in the 111th Congress of the Italian Society of Physics (SIF), which will be held in Palermo from September 22 to 26, 2025 (https://2025.congresso.sif.it/) with the following oral contributions:
- Valeria Conti Nibali et al., “Hydration water softens propagating collective modes in proteins”
- Andrea Ciccolo et al., “Exploring the free energy landscape of amyloid-beta peptides: A molecular dynamics study”
- Elisa Bonaccorso et al., “FLIM analysis reveals lipid-driven membrane dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease models”
26/7/2025 Andrea speaker at the CCP5 SummerSchool 2025 @University of Newcastle!
Andrea presented his latest research results in a talk titled “Exploring the Free Energy Landscape of Amyloid-Beta Peptides: A Molecular Dynamics Study” at the CCP5 SummerSchool 2025@University of Newcastle https://www.ccp5.ac.uk
30/06/2025 15° Congress of the European Biophysics Society Association
We participated in the 15th Congress of the European Biophysical Societies’ Association (EBSA), held in Rome from June 30 to July 4, with the following posters:
- Andrea et al., “Exploring the Free Energy Landscape of Amyloid-Beta Peptide by using Metadynamics”
- Elisa et al., “Unveiling lipid phase separation in healthy and diseased model neuronal membranes“
Attended the research workshop “Extracellular Vesicles and Particles (EVPs): Bridging the Gap Between Computational and Experimental Research.”
We will take part to the workshop “Extracellular vesicles and particles (EVPs): bridging the gap between computational and experimental research’’, that will be held in Genoa, Italyhttps://www.nanobiocomp.com/evps-workshop in September 2025, with the contribution :
Caterina Branca et al., “TBA”
1/1/2025 LipidRafts in Signalling, Diseases, and Infections: What Can Be Learned from Fluorescence Techniques?
In this Review Elisa, Valeria and Giovanna, together with collaborators of the University of Palermo, synthesize the latest insights in to the role of lipid rafts in biological and pathological processes and underscore how fluorescence techniques have advanced our understanding of these critical microdomains.
Link of the Review: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/15/1/6
Mednight 2024
Within the Mednightproject, we met with children and teenagers to present the topic “Microplastic pollution and the search for solutions” and to conduct physics experiments together.
28/9/2023 The NeuRaftAmyl PRIN project has been funded !
With this project, funded within the PRIN action by Italian Ministry of University and Research, thanks to a combined computational/experimental approach, which includes the development of an ad-hoc coarse-grained computational model and state-of-the-art experiments on realistic model neuronal membranes,we will investigate the role of lipids in the peptide aggregation and the membrane damage caused by amyloid peptides.
28/10/2023 Intra-protein interacting collective modes in the terahertz frequency region
In this article published on the Journal of Physical Chemistry ,Valeria and Giovanna, together with collaborators of the University of Perugia (Italy) and Nancy (France), analyzing the results of MD simulations, unveil the vibrational landscape of proteins, providing a perspective for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the energy redistribution processes in the interior of protein.
28/09/2023 The PLANT PRIN project has been funded !
With this project, funded within the PRIN action by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, we propose to use a novel type of extracellular vesicles (EVs), nanoalgosomes, recently identified from microalgae, a sustainable and green natural source suitable for a scale-up production and for harmless manipulation and engineering. We aim to understand the basic features of protein encapsulation into EVs in order to properly operate the camouflage of allergens, thus addressing an unmet need in the treatment of allergies, that is the possibility to present allergens in a controlled manner and without side effects.
Responsible of the Unime Research Unit: Caterina Branca
Principal Investigator: Mauro Manno (Cell-Tech HUB and Institute of Biophysics (IBF), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Palermo, Italy)