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Andrea Fin

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Curriculum vitae

  • Curriculum Vitae (0.1 MB)

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    Insegnamenti

    Temi di ricerca

    Project 20227ZXT4Z (PRIN2022) - Synthetically Engineered EMissive PNA for Medical Diagnostics based on Optical and Surface-Enhanced Raman Techniques (SEMPER)

    upload_IT_Finanziato_dallUnione_europea_PANTONE.jpg

    Period: 16/10/2023-28/02/2026

    Role: Principal investigator (PI)

    Funding: Unione Europea–Next Generation EU, Missione 4 Componente 1 (CUP: D53D23010250006). Eur 244619

    Academic partners

    Operational Unit 1: UNITO. Associated Investigator: Andrea Fin – Associate Professor – Università degli Studi di Torino, Department of Chemistry, Torino

    Operational Unit 2: POLITO. Associated Investigator: Fabrizio Giorgis– Full Professor – Politecnico di Torino, Department of Applied Science and Technology, Torino

    Operational Unit 3: CNR. Associated Investigator: Antonino Foti – Researcher – CNR IPCF Istituto per i Processi Chimico-Fisici, Messina.

    Aim of the project

    Peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) are outstanding tools in chemical biology for DNA and RNA recognition forming heteroduplexes with higher stability in comparison to the canonical ones. Their properties can be modulated by chemical modifications to improve target affinity/selectivity and to introduce reporters or functionalities to synthesize sensors useful in ultra-sensitive detection techniques. SEMPER merged the state of the art from organic chemistry, chemical biology and nanophysics to develop innovative dual probes, for fluorescence and Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) based assays to quantify microRNAs (miRs) down to fM concentration. PNAs’ higher robustness and straightforward preparation compared to DNA/RNA can better tolerate both the functionalization along the sequence and the presence of small functional molecules working as fluorescent and Raman reporters for SERS investigation.

    SEMPER consists of two synthetic orthogonal yet complementary strategies: a) complete emissive isomorphic genetic alphabet for PNAs, based on thieno[3,4-d]pyrimidine core; b)  functionalization of novel environmentally sensitive and intercalating naphthalenediimides (NDI) fluorophores as PNAs tags to produce suitable PNAs able to provide emission and Raman signal without lowering their high affinity and selectivity towards the target miRs. The intrinsically emissive PNAs and the NDI-tagged PNAs should be employed to detect short miRs by user-friendly cost-effective fluorescence assays and by the ultra-sensitive SERS-based techniques. SERS microfluidic sensing platforms integrating plasmonic nanostructures represent SEMPER outcome, with a customization devoted to multiplexed analysis. The detection strategy could be also implemented with optical tweezing, enabling the chemical-free creation and control of SERS-active sites in-liquid. SEMPER portability and moderate cost of the managed equipment envision to make these amplified spectroscopic analyses competitive with more complex tools such as real-time PCR and microarray technologies.

    Results obtained

    UNITO unit is focussed on the synthesis-characterization of either emissive-SERS responsive units: a) isomorphic nucleobases based on thieno[3,4-d]pyrimidine b) environmentally sensitive and intercalating NDI. Herein, the isomorphic analog of Uracil and a suitable NDI for PNA functionalization have been successfully synthesized and incorporated in PNA standard or short sequences for preliminary fundamental responsivity understanding as well as in miR targeted sequences (miR-222) along with the relative control sequences missing of the emissive subunits.


    POLITO Team are mainly related to: a) the synthesis and optimization of Nanoparticles (NPs) and plasmonic noble-metal nanostructures (NSs) integrated in a microfluidic Lab-on-chip (LOC); b) the SERS characterization of PNA and custom chromophores; c) the development of an advanced SERS biosensor for the selective detection of miRs.


    CNR Team is mainly address at a) the Raman and SERS characterization of PNA/NDI molecules and synthetic dyes synthesized by the UniTO unit, and b) the development of a strategy for specific in-liquid SERS detection of miRs within microfluidic chips by exploiting optical forces. After identifying the optimal experimental conditions, the most promising molecules to serve as Raman/fluorescence reporters were tested for in-liquid SERS detection assisted by optical tweezers. In particular, colloidal plasmonic nanoparticles were manipulated through optical pushing to create SERS-active clusters on demand directly in liquid.

    Publications

    A Foti, S Venkatesan, B Lebental, G Zucchi, R Ossikovski "Nanoscale characterization of polymer-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy" Smart Materials for Opto-Electronic Applications 2025 13528, 31

    S Ferretti, S Marrara, D Bronte Ciriza, A Magazzù, A Foti, PG Gucciardi, A Musolino, L Folco, V Della Corte, A Rotundi, R Saija, A Mandanici, OM Maragò, MG Donato "Contactless manipulation and raman analysis of cometary analogs and micrometeorites by acoustic levitation" The Astrophysical Journal 2024, 974, 287

    D. Montesi, S. Bertone, P. Rivolo, F. Geobaldo, F. Giorgis, C. Novara, A. Chiadò "Towards a portable setup for the on-site SERS detection of miRNAs" Journal of the European Optical Society-Rapid Publications 2024, 20, 28

    Dissemination

    The results obtained during the development of the SEMPER project were also presented as invited talk (IT) oral (OC) and poster (PC) communications at the following national and international conferences and workshops:

    A.Fin, F. Cardano "Intrinsically emissive short peptide nucleic acids" Nucleomics, Napoli, 2024 (IT)

    A.Fin "From membranes bilayers to nucleic acid analogs: a short emissive journey" The 5th International Conference on Fluorescence Biomolecules and Their Building Blocks (FB3), Hong Kong, 2024 (IT)

    P. Bonino, F. Cardano, A. Ruffinatti, E-K. Bang, A. Fin "Functional nucleobases and monomers in PNA chemistry" The 6th International Conference on Fluorescence Biomolecules and Their Building Blocks (FB3), Torino, 2026 (PC)

    D. Montesi, S. Bertone, P. Rivolo, F.Geobaldo, F. Giorgis, C. Novara, and A. Chiadò "Optimization of a microfluidic assay for the SERS detection of miR-320a" Plasmonica 2024, Messina, 2024 (OC)

    C. Novara, A. Chiadò, D. Montesi, S. Bertone, P. Rivolo, F. Geobaldo, F. Giorgis "On-site Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering detection of miRNAs by an automatized platform." XXVIII ICORS, Roma, 2024 (OC)

    A. Foti, G. Zambito, K. Abid, M. C. Giordano, F. Buatier de Mongeot, P. G. Gucciardi, “Nano-imaging of 2D MOS2 on gold nanostripes by tip-enhanced photo-luminescence”, PLASMONICA 2025, June 25 – 27 Modena, Italy. (PC)


    A. Foti, S. Bernatova, M. Kizovsky, R. Zribi, M. G. Donato, A. Magazzù, P. Zemanek, O. Samek, O. M. Maragò, J. Jezek, P. G. Gucciardi, Optically Controlled Aggregation of Gold Nanorods for Ultrasensitive In-Liquid Sers Sensing: from Biomolecules to Nano-Plastics, OPTICA Biophotonics Congress, Optical Manipulation and Its Applications (OMA), 2025, April 21 – 24, San Diego, USA. (IT)


    A. Foti, S. Venkatesan, B. Lebental, G. Zucchi, R. Ossikovski, Nanoscale characterization of polymer-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, SPIE Optics + Optoelectronics, 2025, April 07 – 10, Prague, Czech Republic. (IT)


    A. Foti, S. Bernatova, K. Abid, R. Zribi, M. G. Donato, O. M. Maragò, P. G. Gucciardi, “Boosting Raman and Photoluminescence by plasmon-enhanced spectroscopies: ultrasensitive detection and characterization of biomolecules and 2D materials” IPCF Meeting 2025, 18 – 20 March 2025, Pisa, Italy. (PC)


    A. Foti, S. Venkatesan, B. Lebental, G. Zucchi, R. Ossikovski, Polymer-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes characterized by tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, ICORS 2024, July 28 – August 02, 2024 Rome, Italy. (OC)


    K Abid, N. H. Belkhir, S. B. Jaber, R. Zribi, M. G. Donato, G. Di Marco, A. Foti, P. G. Gucciardi, G. Neri, and R Maalej, “Photo-Induced Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Beyond Two-Dimensional Materials” PLASMONICA 2024, 10 – 12 July 2024, Messina, Italy. (OC)


    S. Bernatova, M. Kizovsky, A. Foti, M. G. Donato, O. M. Maragò, O. Samek, P. Zemanek, A. Magazzù, P. G. Gucciardi, “The optical manipulation of plasmonic particles as a promising approach for the detection of nanoplastics” PLASMONICA 2024, 10 – 12 July 2024, Messina, Italy. (OC)


    R. Zribi, R. Wali, A. Foti, P. G. Gucciardi, R. Maalej, G. Neri, “2D-MoS2-chitosan nanocomposite as a novel electrochemical platform for highly selective and sensitive urinary dopamine detection” GRAPHENE 2024, June 24 – 29, 2024, Madrid, Spain. (OC)

     

     

     

     

     

     

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