Luca Bertinetti

Research

From the time of my PhD, I have been interested in studying molecular structure and interactions at the interfaces of biological materials.

Biological materials are constituted by chemically fairly simple molecular/supramolecular building blocks which are assembled over several hierarchical levels. This organization across different scales, together with possible small changes in chemical composition, endow the tissues with a variety of functionalities for which, in the last decades, biological materials became source of inspiration. However, independent of their function, these materials have evolved to optimize their interactions with water and ions, as these are ubiquitous in biological tissues. In many cases, changes in water and ions concentration even induce materials’ responses that are fundamental to achieve the desired functionality. Prominent examples are passive actuation in plants, hydration dependent force generation in collagen and crystallization of amorphous calcium carbonate. One of my goals is to describe and understand, from the molecular level upward, the interplay of water structure and interactions, ions nature and properties, and the molecular/supramolecular structure of the components of natural materials. For this, I strive to describe the thermodynamic of these interactions and to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the observed responses at the materials and tissues levels. Because of the various hierarchical levels of organization of biological materials, I have been developing (in collaboration with many groups and colleagues) in-situ, multi-technique approaches, allowing to obtain information from the molecular to the macroscopic level.

Because the physical chemistry of these interaction is fundamental also to the formation of biological materials, I lately I became more and more interested in describing and understanding the processes underlying tissues deposition. To this aim, I have been working to establish FIB/SEM based volume imaging, a technique that enables the imaging of three-dimensional volumes that are larger than typical eukaryotic cells with a voxel size down to 3-4 nm and in particular, Cryo-FIB/SEM, (i.e. FIB/SEM serial surface imaging in cryogenic conditions) that represents the most advanced method for tissue imaging in the quasi-native state.

In parallel, I’m highly involved in the development of 3D image processing, AI-based segmentation techniques and volume imaging analytical tools.

Curriculum Vitae

Professional career:

Since 2020 Senior scientist at B CUBE, TUD, Germany
2017 - 2020 Group Leader of the ‘3D imaging of forming tissues’ group, Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam, Germany
2010 - 2017

Independent researcher, Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces, Germany
2006 - 2010 Research technician, Department of Inorganic Physical and Materials’ Chemistry of the University of Torino, Italy
2002 - 2006

PhD student and Postdoc, Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics (ISTEC) of the National Research Council (CNR), Faenza, Italy

Education:

2006                              PhD in Chemistry, Title: " Nanomaterials for biomedical applications: synthesis and surface characterization", Supervisor: Prof. Dr. G. Martra, University of Torino, Italy
2001

Master in Materials Science, Thesis title: " From solvated atoms to nanoparticles: a study on hydrogenation catalysts", Supervisor: Prof. S. Coluccia, University of Torino, Italy
Publications - all
113 Entries

2013

2012

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Nora Fröhlich
Last modified: Dec 15, 2020