Biophysics and Biochemistry

Physical and chemical methods applied to the study of biological systems and problems

L2 Biophysics

This research line gathers theoretical and experimental activity on the study of biological phenomena using methodologies and concepts from physics and chemistry. It includes the use of computational methods to describe the properties and dynamics of biomolecules, the design and synthesis of molecular systems of biological interest, as well as the development of viral sensing devices.

Specific topics

  • Protein folding and protein damage by high-valent metals and reactive oxygen and nitrogen species.
  • Plasmon-based colloidal systems for artificial photosynthesis and biosensing; plasmonic nanoparticles for liquid biopsy.
  • Interdisciplinary approach to develop new methods for viral sensing.

Related publications

  1. Scientific article 1 A deep learning method that identifies cellular heterogeneity using nanoscale nuclear features
    Davide Carnevali, Limei Zhong, Esther González-Almela, Carlotta Viana, Mikhail Rotkevich, Aiping Wang, Daniel Franco-Barranco, Aitor Gonzalez-Marfil, Maria Victoria Neguembor, Alvaro Castells-Garcia, Ignacio Arganda-Carreras, and Maria Pia Cosma
    Nat. Mach. Intell. 6, 1021 (2024).
  2. Scientific article 2 Morphological sensitivity to pH of silica and chalk nanocrystalline self-organized biomorphs
    Arianna Menichetti, Jeannette Manzi, Fermín Otálora, Marco Montalti, and Juan Manuel García-Ruiz
    Small Science 4, (2024).
  3. Scientific article 3 Current progress and challenges in large-scale 3D mitochondria instance segmentation
    D. Franco-Barranco, Z. Lin, W. -D. Jang, X. Wang, Q. Shen, W. Yin, Y. Fan, M. Li, C. Chen, Z. Xiong, R. Xin, H. Liu, H. Chen, Z. Li, J. Zhao, X. Chen, C. Pape, R. Conrad, L. Nightingale, J. de Folter, et al.
    IEEE Trans. Med. Imaging 42, 3956 (2023).
  4. Scientific article 4 Dual crosslinking of low-methoxyl pectin by calcium and europium for the simultaneous removal of pharmaceuticals and divalent heavy metals
    J. Martinez-Sabando, F. Coin, J. C. Raposo, A. Larranaga, J. H. Melillo, and S. Cerveny
    Chem. Eng. J. 475, (2023).
  5. Scientific article 5 X-Ray photon correlation spectroscopy towards measuring nanoparticle diameters in biological environments allowing for the in situ analysis of their bio-nano interface
    F. Otto, , X. Sun, F. Schulz, C. Sanchez-Cano, N. Feliu, F. Westermeier, and W. J. Parak
    Small 18, 37 (2022).
  6. Scientific article 6 Size- and ligand-dependent transport of nanoparticles in Matricariachamomilla as demonstrated by mass spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence imaging
    Y. Liu, C. Kornig, B. Qi, O. Schmutzler, T. Staufer, C. Sanchez-Cano, E. Magel, J. C. White, N. Feliu, F. Gruner, and W. J. Parak
    ACS Nano 16, 12941 (2022).
  7. Scientific article 7 Single-cell chemistry of photoactivatable platinum anticancer complexes
    E. M. Bolitho, C. Sanchez-Cano, H. Shi, P. D. Quinn, M. Harkiolaki, C. Imberti, and P. J. Sadler
    J. Am. Chem. Soc. 143, 20224 (2021).
  8. Scientific article 8 Fluorescent bicolour sensor for low-background neutrinoless double β decay experiments
    I. Rivilla, B. Aparicio, J. M. Bueno, D. Casanova, C. Tonnele, Z. Freixa, P. Herrero, C. Rogero, I. Miranda, R. M. Martinez-Ojeda, F. Monrabal, B. Olave, T. Schafer, P. Artal, D. Nygren, F. P. Cossio, and J. J. Gomez-Cadenas
    Nature 583, 48+ (2020).
  9. Scientific article 9 Flavin bioorthogonal photocatalysis toward platinum substrates
    J. Gurruchaga-Pereda, V. Martinez-Martinez, E. Rezabal, X. Lopez, C. Garino, F. Mancin, A. L. Cortajarena, and L. Salassa
    ACS Catal. 10, 187 (2020).
  10. Scientific article 10 Discovering Biomolecules with Huisgenase Activity: Designed RepeatProteins as Biocatalysts for (3+2) Cycloadditions
    I. Rivilla, M. Odriozola-Gimeno, A. Aires, A. Gimeno, J. Jimenez-Barbero, M. Torrent-Sucarrat, A. L. Cortajarena, and F. P. Cossio
    J. Am. Chem. Soc. 142, 762 (2020).