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Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology - FABIT

Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine Research Group. Coordinator: Blasi

Development of targeted nanocarriers for anticancer drugs and contrast agents (i.e., theranostics) through nanoencapsulation of anticancer therapeutics (e.g., small molecules, monoclonal antibodies, and oligonucleotides) in biocompatible materials endowed with specific affinity for tumor cells. The research is also focused on nanocarriers able to deliver their payload through the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) to improve the efficacy of chemotherapeutics already employed for cancer treatment. To this aim, the group is also studying and developing different advanced in vitro models (e.g., biomaterials embedded tumor spheroids/organoids) to characterize the developed nanocarriers.

Areas: Drug discovery and development Neuroscience Nutrition and health

Research Themes

  • Development of nanosystems for theranostics.
  • Increase of the therapeutic efficacy of naturally occurring compounds and biologicals through delivery and targeting with nanoformulations.
  • Cell encapsulation for in vitro advanced 3D cellular models.
  • Technology-tailored commercialization of drug development for Alzheimer's disease.

Lab Members

Paolo Blasi,  Associate professor

Isabella Orienti, Full Professor 

Lucrezia Galassi,  PhD Student (Topic: Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology)

Marion Le Meur, PhD Student (Topic: Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology)

Xue Wu, PhD Student (Topic: Health Economics)

Internship Projects (number)

  • Development of nanosystems for theranostics (1)

  • Cell encapsulation for in vitro advanced 3D cellular models (1)

Main Publications

  • Spinozzi, P. Moretti, D.R. Perinelli, G. Corucci, P. Piergiovanni, H. Amenitsch, G.A. Sancini, G. Franzese, P. Blasi. (2024) “Small-angle X-ray scattering unveils the internal structure of lipid nanoparticles.” J. Colloid Interface Sci. 662: 446-459. 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.02.076
  • Farruggia, L. Anconelli, L. Galassi, M. Voltattorni, M. Rossi, P. Lodeserto, P. Blasi, I. Orienti. (2024) “Nano-fenretinide demonstrates remarkable activity in acute promyeloid leukemia cells” Sci. Rep. 14: article 13737. 10.1038/s41598-024-64629-w
  • Galassi, M. Rossi, P. Lodeserto, M. Lenzi, F. Borsetti, M. Voltattorni, G. Farruggia, P. Blasi, I. Orienti. (2023) “Naxitamab activity in neuroblastoma cells is enhanced by nanofenretinide and nanospermidine.” Pharmaceutics 15: article 648. 10.3390/pharmaceutics15020648
  • Albertini, V. Mathieu, N. Iraci, M. Van Woensel, A. Schoubben, A. Donnadio, S.M.L. Greco, M. Ricci, A. Temperini, P. Blasi, N. Wauthoz. (2019) “Tumor targeting by peptide decorated gold nanoparticles.” Mol. Pharm. 16: 2430-2444. 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.9b00047
  • Orienti, F. Francescangeli, ML. De Angelis, K. Fecchi, L. Bongiorno-Borbone, M. Signore, A. Peschiaroli, A. Boe, A. Bruselles, A. Costantino, A. Eramo, V. Salvati, G. Sette, P. Contavalli, L. Zolla, T. Oki, T. Kitamura, M. Spada, A. Giuliani, M. Baiocchi, F. La Torre, G. Melino, M. Tartaglia, R. De Maria, A. Zeuner A. (2019) “A new bioavailable fenretinide formulation with antiproliferative, antimetabolic, and cytotoxic effects on solid tumors.” Cell Death Dis. 10(7): 529. 10.1038/s41419-019-1775-y

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