Francesco Mantegazza - Associate Professor
Department and institution: School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicoccaemail: francesco.mantegazza@unimib.it
tel. +39 02 6448 8209
institutional profile page: UNIMIB
see also: ORCID , Researcher ID J-3324-2015, PubMed, BOA
Keywords: Nanomedicine, Nanoparticles, Nanomechanics, Single Molecule Spectroscopy, DNA-Protein Interactions, Biophysics, Atomic Force Microscopy, Magnetic Tweezers.
Main topics of the group
Francesco Mantegazza is University Associate Professor of Applied Physics at School of Medicine and Surgery of the Milano-Bicocca University.
His experimental scientific research activity is devoted to the study of the nanomechanical properties of single molecules and single cells. The objective is provide quantitative information about complex and unknown relevant biophysical issues, such as DNA compaction inside nucleus, surface elasticity of cancer or healthy cells, DNA superstructures, and conformation of intrinsically disordered proteins.
The techniques employed in the Lab are Magnetic Tweezers (MT) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). MT is a single molecule technique, which allows exerting forces in the range of pN on a single biomolecule. As an example, MT allows obtaining, in the different conditions, the force and the torque necessary to promote the nanomechanical melting of DNA or the force required to unfold a single protein.
On the other hand, AFM allows acquiring topographical 3D images of the samples under investigation with nanometric resolution. In addition, AFM force spectroscopy can characterize the membrane stiffness, related for example to the neoplasticity of the cells, or the protein structure, by applying forces to proteins or polyproteins in order to unfold them.
Internal and external collaborators
- Salerno Domenico, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca
- Cassina Valeria, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca
- Claudia Marrano, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano Bicocca
Selected pubblications
Depicting Conformational Ensembles of α-Synuclein by Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy and Native Mass Spectroscopy. Roberta Corti, Claudia A Marrano, Domenico Salerno, Stefania Brocca, Antonino Natalello, Carlo Santambrogio, Giuseppe Legname, Francesco Mantegazza, Rita Grandori and Valeria Cassina. Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Oct 19;20(20):5181. doi: 10.3390/ijms20205181
Methods for Elucidation of DNA-Anticancer Drug Interactions and Their Applications in the Development of New Drugs. Majus Misiak, Francesco Mantegazza and Giovanni L Beretta. Curr Pharm Des. 2016;22(44):6596-6611. doi: 10.2174/1381612822666160831114622
Magnetic tweezers measurements of the nanomechanical stability of DNA against denaturation at various conditions of pH and ionic strength. Alessia Tempestini, Valeria Cassina, Doriano Brogioli, Roberto Ziano, Simona Erba, Roberto Giovannoni, Maria G. Cerrito, Domenico Salerno and Francesco Mantegazza. Nucleic Acids Research, Volume 41, Issue 3, 1 February 2013, Pages 2009–2019, https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gks1206