Engineering biomimetic lipid interfaces to form smart materials

In the past years, events occurring at the nano-bio interface, i.e. where engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) meet biological interfaces such as biomembranes, have been intensively investigated. However, probing these interfacial interactions and their underlying mechanisms remains extremely challenging due to their complex and dynamic nature. This project will focus on the rational design and subsequent preparation of advanced biomimetic lipid interfaces, capable of acting as functional, stimuli-responsive and versatile building blocks to form hybrid (synthetic/biologic) and smart nanosystems. New synthetic strategies for these nanostructured membranes will be developed employing amphiphilic lipids whose self-assembly can lead to well-defined, thermodynamically stable structures in water, e.g. liposomes, cubosomes and hexosomes. The use of photoswitchable lipids, ionizable lipids and/or targeting moieties within the lipid formulation could be of particular importance for possible applications, especially regarding medical and biological fields. These engineered biomimetic lipid interfaces will be then used to study physicochemical interactions with various materials, such as simple inorganic nanoparticles for diagnostic purposes and complex drug delivery systems. The overall aim of my PhD project is to contribute to the fundamental knowledge on the mechanisms underlying nano-bio interactions, build up novel synthetic smart hybrid materials combining lipid membranes of different compositions and structures and to predict their biological fate, hence enriching the current understanding of their behavior for biomedical applications.