NanoInspired biomedicine lab focuses on:

• study of the genetic and molecular characterization of cancer with a concentration on the genetic pathway involved in the progression and outcome of colon cancer as well as drug delivery system modulation;
• discovery of new molecular markers for the non-invasive (liquid biopsies) early detection of cancer, and identifying the roles of circulating molecular markers in pathologic tumor responses and rectal cancer patient outcome after receiving preoperative chemoradiotherapy (i.e. circulating cell free DNA (cfDNA), circulating miRNA, proteins, metabolites, circulating cell free RNA);
• decellularized colorectal cancer matrix as bioactive microenvironment for in vitro 3D cancer research. Aims: i) to standardize a decellularization protocol for the healthy colonic ECM and CRC counterpart, able to eliminate the cellular component but simultaneously maintains its structure, biochemical composition and biological properties; ii) to characterize the decellularized healthy colonic mucosa and CRC ECM by analyzing the main structural components, its three-dimensional organization and the proteome and secretome composition; iii) to verify whether the CRC ECM possesses different biological properties compared with healthy colonic mucosa by means of recellularization experiments with stabilized CRC cell lines;
• application of biomimetic proteolipid vesicles, called Leukosomes, for targeting inflamed tissues. Explored the application of these biomimetic particles to several diseases that share an inflammatory background, such as inflamed bowel disease, atherosclerosis, primary and metastatic cancer, and autoimmune diseases;
• study of the interaction between 5 fluorouracil and catechins (epicatechin, epicatechin 3-gallate, epigallocatechin and epigallocatechin gallate) present in green tea extracts (GTEs) by mass spectrometry to identify possible natural substances as adjuvants to classic chemotherapy treatments in CRC patients;
• bio-analytical methods development and validation following FDA/EMA guidelines for targeted analysis of lipids, proteins/peptides, drugs (PK and TDM), and metabolites by mass spectrometry.