Research

Using micelles and vesicles as models we will focus questions representing new frontiers in the study of interfacial properties using methods we have used for decades and deploying new techniques in collaboration with researchers from Brazil and abroad.

Can we design (synthesize) self-aggregating surfactants that form vesicles capable of catalyzing and self-replicate?

What is the role of lipid bilayer asymmetry in the properties and selective adsorption of ions or on the electrostatic properties of membranes?

How can this selective binding of ions influence membrane / peptide interactions?

How are ions are distributed within vesicles?

What is the mechanism of association of the triflate ion in micelles and what does this tell us about ion association to interfaces?

Using the dediazoniation reaction of substituted diazobenzenes can we design a nucleophilicity scale relevant to biological systems and determine ideality in solvent mixtures?

How do mixed polymers aggregate and catalyze?

How does human paraoxonase and asparaginase behave when interacting with membranes?

What is the mechanism of interaction of BP100, a semisynthetic undecapeptide, with membranes?

Can new imidazole derivatives and anti-inflammatory compounds be efficiently incorporated in liposomes?

The answers to these questions, which are part of a line of thought of our group, will bring fundamental and applied contributions in the area of ​​biomimetic systems.