Loretta L. del Mercato
EMail+390832319825 Home Page Orcid Scholar Researchgate WOS Scopus |
Loretta L.
del Mercato
Institute of Nanotechnology Senior Researcher Nutrheff Thematic Sensory and consumer sciences
Research Interest and expertise in the field of nutraceuticals
and functional food
Keywords: Nanoparticles | Delivery | Sensing | Imaging | Lysosomes |Acidosis | Hypoxia| Cell Metabolism | Cancer | Precision Medicine
Nutraceuticals and foods of interestMain research interests are in the field of smart micro- and nanomaterials (i.e., nanoparticles, nanofibers, hydrogels). Specifically, development of optical sensors for measuring concentration of pH and oxygen; development of stimuli-responsive (e.g., chemical, magnetic, light) systems for controlled delivery of molecules. Application of optical sensors (pH, oxygen) and nanostructured biomaterials (nanofiber mats, hydrogels) with live cell fluorescence microscopy and computational modeling analyses to study and to quantify, with simple and easy readouts, the activity of bioactive molecules (nutraceutics, functional foods) on cell metabolism and on cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. Fields of application Sensing | Delivery Facilities and equipments Open access facilities available at CNR-Nanotec in Lecce (IT), including: Nanomaterials synthesis facility; Biofabrication facility (equipped with 2 bioprinters and 1 electrospinning setup); Cell cultures (class I and II) facility; Characterization facility (including 2 TEM, 2 SEM, 1 super resolution fluorescence microscope, 1 CLSM for live cell imaging). |
