Senior Researcher III PhD. Corina Ciobănașu

Cell membrane biomimetics to investigate molecular mechanisms of peptide-lipid interactions. Cell membranes are reconstituted as giant unliamellar vesicles (GUVs) from lipids or cell membrane extracts. Transmembrane receptors like integrins can also be reconstituted in the biomimetic membranes. Membrane active peptides include cell penetrating peptides, antimicrobial peptides and penetrating homing peptides. Understanding their mechanism of interaction with lipid membranes and membrane receptors is fundamental for developing of new molecules with therapeutic and/or diagnostic properties.
Study of molecular interactions with advanced high resolution microscopy and single molecule imaging. Techniques: Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy (CLSM), Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy (TIRF), Fluorescence Recovery after Photobleaching (FRAP), Single Molecule Microscopy (SMM).