The main focus of the research carried out by the Galdiero group is the study of membrane proteins at different levels, with the aim of providing new information of relevance to biomedicine. The major goals are to illustrate the principles that govern the protein/membrane interactions and understanding the molecular forces underlying peptide-peptide interactions within the lipid environment of the cell membrane.
Using a multidisciplinary approach, which includes bioinformatics, peptide design, peptide chemistry, molecular and cell biology and biophysics, the group is working on membrane proteins involved in infectious diseases, with the goal of finding general rules that characterize most type of interactions involved between proteins and membranes.
The group has extensive experience in the various aspects of synthesis and structural characterization of peptides and peptidomimetics as well as in investigating their potential applications ranging from antimicrobials, anticancer, drug delivery and vaccines. Over the past ten years, the group has published many papers on nanoformulations functionalized with peptides for targeting and delivery.
The Galdiero group has the following major research interests:
Understanding the penetration mechanism of enveloped viruses
Design of novel molecules that may be used as antivirals
Design of novel molecules that may be used as antibacterials
