Research area

The main aim is to develop low-molecular weight chemical tools to image, study and control biological systems through mapping and subsequently modifying interactions between biochemical targets in live cells (figure). In particular:

• Fluorescent and bioluminescent molecular probes for sensing pairs of analytes to associate biochemical changes inside cells with the development of disease (e.g. lung and prostate cancer).
• Non-genetic methods for in situ tagging of endogenous proteins to visualise endogenous proteins and study their interactions in live cells.
• Multiplexing assays (based on small molecules) for high-throughput screening to improve the identification of most promising small molecule drug candidates and deciphering their mechanism of action (also within the ERIC EU-Openscreen consortium and POL-Openscreen initiative)
• molecular tools for super-resolution new generation fluorescent nanoscopy (resolution approx.. 1 nm) in live biological models
• development of molecular tools and assays to study mechanisms of infection and searching for therapy against COVID-19

These tasks encompass, among others:

• Organic synthesis of probes (low molecular weight fluorophores and bioluminophores)
• Comprehensive spectroscopic analysis (in cuvettes and on microplates)
• Assay development and fluorescent imaging of live cells with confocal microscopy (e.g. FRET and FLIM) and super-resolution nanoscopy (e.g. STED and MINFLUX)