Selected publications:

• “Porphyrin Binding and Irradiation Promote G‑Quadruplex DNA Dimeric Structure” V Libera, E A Andreeva, A Martel, A Thureau, M Longo, C Petrillo, A Paciaroni, G Schiro,̀* and L Comez* J. Phys. Chem. Letters 12, 8096–8102 (2021).

• “Dimer-monomer equilibrium of SARS-CoV-2 main protease as affected by small molecule inhibitors: a biophysical investigation” L Silvestrini, N Belhaj, L Comez, Y Gerelli, A Lauria, V Libera, P Mariani, P Marzullo, M G Ortore, A Palumbo Piccionello, C Petrillo, L Savini, A Paciaroni, and F Spinozzi Sci. Rep. 11:9283 (2021).

• “Heat-induced self-assembling of BSA at the isoelectric point” Lucia Comez, Pier Luigi Gentili, Marco Paolantoni, Alessandro Paciaroni, Paola Sassi, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 177, 40–47 (2021).

• “Thermoresponsivity of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels in water-trehalose solution and its relation to protein behavior” Benedetta Petra Rosi, Letizia Tavagnacco, Lucia Comez, Paola Sassi, Maria Ricci, Elena Buratti, Monica Bertoldo, Caterina Petrillo, Emanuela Zaccarelli, Ester Chiessi, Silvia Corezzi J Colloid Interface Sci, 604, 705-718 (2021) .

• “Amyloid Self-Assembly of Lysozyme in Self-Crowded Conditions: The Formation of a Protein Oligomer Hydrogel” Sara Catalini, Diego R Perinelli, Paola Sassi, Lucia Comez, Giovanni F Palmieri, Assunta Morresi, Giulia Bonacucina, Paolo Foggi, Stefania Pucciarelli, Marco Paolantoni Biomacromolecules, 22, 1147–1158 (2021).

• “Terahertz collective dynamics of DNA as affected by hydration and counterions” A Paciaroni, L Comez, M Longo, F Sebastiani, F Bianchi, A Orecchini, M Zanatta, R Verbeni, A A Bosak, F Sacchetti, C Petrillo J. Mol. Liq., 318, 113956, (2020).

• “Polymorphism of human telomeric quadruplexes with drugs: a multi-technique biophysical study” L Comez^*, F Bianchi, V Libera, M Longo, C Petrillo, F Sacchetti, F Sebastiani, F D'Amico, B Rossi, A Gessini, C Masciovecchio, H Amenitsch, C Sissi, A Paciaroni Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 22, 11583 - 11592 (2020).

• “Trehalose-induced slowdown of lysozyme hydration dynamics probed by EDLS spectroscopy” S Corezzi, P Sassi, A Morresi, M Paolantoni, D Fioretto & L Comez* J. Chem. Phys. 151, 015101 (2019).

• “All-DNA System Close to the Percolation Threshold” J Fernandez-Castanon, M Zanatta, L Comez, A Paciaroni, A Radulescu, F Sciortino ACS Macro Letters 8, 84 (2019).

• “Structure of human telomere G-quadruplex in the presence of a model drug along the thermal unfolding pathway” F Bianchi, L Comez*, R Biehl, F D’Amico, A Gessini, M Longo, C Masciovecchio, C Petrillo, A Radulescu, B Rossi, F Sacchetti, F Sebastiani, N Violini, A Paciaroni* Nucleic Acids Research 26, 11927 (2018).

• “Water-like Behavior of Formamide: Jump Reorientation Probed by Extended Depolarized Light Scattering” S Perticaroli, L Comez, P Sassi, A Morresi, D Fioretto, M Paolantoni J. Phys. Chem. Letters 9 (1), 120-125 (2018).

• “High-Performance Versatile Setup for Simultaneous Brillouin-Raman Microspectroscopy” F Scarponi, S Mattana, S Corezzi, S Caponi, L Comez, P Sassi, A Morresi, M Paolantoni, L Urbanelli, C Emiliani, L Roscini, L Corte, G Cardinali, F Palombo, JR Sandercock, D Fioretto Physical Review X 7, 031015 (2017).

• “Small-angle neutron scattering and molecular dynamics structural study of gelling DNA nanostars” J Fernandez-Castanon, F Bomboi, L Rovigatti, M Zanatta, A Paciaroni, L Comez, L Porcar, C J Jafta, G C Fadda, T Bellini, and F Sciortino J. Chem. Phys. 145, 084910 (2016).

• “Molecular properties of aqueous solutions: a focus on the collective dynamics of hydration water” L Comez, M Paolantoni, P Sassi, S Corezzi, A Morresi, D Fioretto Soft Matter 12, 5501-5514, review article (2016).

• “More Is Different: Experimental Results on the Effect of Biomolecules on the Dynamics of Hydration Water” L Comez, L Lupi, A Morresi, M Paolantoni, P Sassi, D Fioretto J. Phys. Chem. Letters 4 (7), 1188-1192 (2013).

Events

-Pan-European Hackathon: EU Vs Virus Challenge 24-26 April, 2020 (COVIDase)

-Frontiers in Water Biophysics 21-26 July, 2019, Erice (IT) Directors: Attilio Cesàro (Trieste, Italy), Lucia Comez (Perugia, Italy), Giancarlo Franzese (Barcelona, Spain) in the ETTORE MAJORANA FOUNDATION AND CENTRE FOR SCIENTIFIC CULTURE (EMFCSC, http://www.ccsem.infn.it/)

-Advances in Brillouin Light Scattering & BioBrillouin Meeting 12-14 September 2018, Perugia (IT).

Active projects

-STM Program Interaction of cationic porphyrins and G-quadruplex DNA. A time-resolved (TR) study.

(IOM-CNR, Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, ILL&IBS) in coll. with Dr. Giorgio Schirò (IBS) and Prof. Alessandro Paciaroni

-CellulOse Nanofiber hydrogels for Protein Therapeutics (CONcePT) Structure and thermodynamics of model proteins loaded in cellulose nano-fiber hydrogels.

(Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, IOM-CNR, Elettra, Politecnico Milano & INSTM) in coll. with Prof. Alessandro Paciaroni, Dr. Silvia Corezzi, Prof Carlo Punta, Prof Lucio Melone, Dr. Andrea Fiorati (POLIMI), Dr. Barbara Rossi (Elettra)

-LoGiC - Light-switchable G-quadruplex Conformation by interaction with photosensitive ligands

(Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, IOM-CNR, Elettra, Politecnico Milano & INSTM) in coll. with Dr. Claudia Fasolato, Prof. Alessandro Paciaroni, Dr. Giorgio Schirò (IBS)

-Selezione di inibitori della proteasi principale di Sars-CoV-2 per farmaci antivirali contro il Covid-19 (Protect)

(Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, IOM-CNR, Scienze Farmaceutiche, Medicina e Chirurgia, Malattie Infettive ) in coll. with Prof. Alessandro Paciaroni, Prof. Antonio Macchiarulo, Dr. Elisabetta Schiaroli

Recent Theses

-Gabriele Bartolini "Studio dei processi di ristrutturazione delle molecole di acqua nella shell di idratazione di elettroliti con spettroscopia vibrazionale: il ruolo di anioni e cationi" - Tutors: Prof. Paola Sassi, Prof. Marco Paolantoni (Dipartimento di chimica, biologia e biotecnologie, UNIPG), Tutor esterno: Dr. Lucia Comez (IOM-CNR)

-Sofia Secci "Stabilità di sequenze del telomero umano ricche in guanina: relazione con la concentrazione ionica" - Tutors: Prof. Alessandro Paciaroni (Dipartimento di fisica e geologia, UNIPG), Dr. Lucia Comez (IOM-CNR)

-Federico Bianchi "Structural thermal stability of human telomeric Quadruplexes complexed with anticancer drugs" Dottorato di ricerca in Scienza e Tecnologia per la Fisica XXX Ciclo - Tutors: Prof. Alessandro Paciaroni (Dipartimento di fisica e geologia, UNIPG), Dr. Lucia Comez (IOM-CNR)

-Valeria Libera "Dynamics of proteins in glassy matrices along the path toward unfolding" - Tutors: Prof. Alessandro Paciaroni (Dipartimento di fisica e geologia, UNIPG), Dr. Lucia Comez (IOM-CNR)

-Tommaso Righetti "G-quadruplex del telomero umano in condizioni di alta concentrazione. uno studio mediante scattering di raggi-X a basso angolo" - Tutors: Prof. Alessandro Paciaroni (Dipartimento di fisica e geologia, UNIPG), Dr. Lucia Comez (IOM-CNR)

-Luca Bertini "Nanosecond dynamics of G-quadruplex DNA in the presence of anticancer drugs" - Tutors: Prof. Alessandro Paciaroni (Dipartimento di fisica e geologia, UNIPG), Dr. Lucia Comez (IOM-CNR)

-Riccardo Morbidini "Porphyrin-induced stabilization and conformational switching in human telomeric G-quadruplexes" - Tutors: Prof. Alessandro Paciaroni (Dipartimento di fisica e geologia, UNIPG), Dr. Lucia Comez (IOM-CNR)

-Ilaria Mosca "Nanosecond timescale confined dynamics of G-quadruplex DNA as affected by anticancer drugs" - Tutors: Prof. Alessandro Paciaroni (Dipartimento di fisica e geologia, UNIPG), Dr. Lucia Comez (IOM-CNR)

-Pamela Cinfrignini "Structural study of interaction between non canonical DNA sequences and antitumor drug BRACO-19" - Tutors: Prof. Alessandro Paciaroni (Dipartimento di fisica e geologia, UNIPG), Dr. Lucia Comez (IOM-CNR)

-Valeria Libera "Photoinduced conformational changes in DNA G-quadruplex complexed with photosensitive ligands" Dottorato di ricerca in Scienza e Tecnologia per la Fisica XXXV Ciclo - Tutors:Dr. Lucia Comez (IOM-CNR), Prof. Alessandro Paciaroni (Dipartimento di fisica e geologia, UNIPG), Prof. Lise Arleth (NIB, Copenaghen). Coll. con Dr. Giorgio Schirò (IBS-Grenoble) CURRENT!