Mercedes Novo and Wajih Al-Soufi lead the research unit Single Molecule Fluorescence located at the Faculty of Science in the Campus of Lugo of the USC.
Our main objective is to enhance our understanding of the dynamics of supramolecular association and biomolecular recognition processes at the level of single molecules. To address this task and building on our expertise in single-molecule fluorescence of freely diffusing molecules, we put in place a set of techniques and methods that will allow us to monitor supramolecular dynamics and to obtain kinetic and structural information, not easily accessible by other methodologies.
We have pioneered the application of Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) and Single-Molecule Multi-parametric Fluorescence Detection (SMD-MFD) for the study of supramolecular systems with fast dynamics.
At the present time our research interests are:
- To study the formation of early aggregates of beta-amyloids as toxic agents in Alzheimer's disease.
- To develop fluorescent markers for the quantitative detection of beta-amyloid aggregates.
- To investigate the application of our concentration model for surfactant aggregation to other self-assembly processes of biological interest.
- To search for general mechanisms underlying the binding of small molecules to double-stranded DNA.
- To study the photophysical properties of DNA binders in order to find out the processes responsible for the brightness change upon binding to DNA and improve their properties as markers.
- To colaborate with industry partners in the development of low-cost devices integrating sensors for the detection of environmental variables, optical detection of molecular probes and microcontrollers for the control and readout of experimental data.
- To develop experimentation kits for the XuvenCiencia outreach program.
Former projects:
- Derivation of a concentration model for surfactant aggregation around the cmc.
- Application of this concentration model for the analysis of different physical properties of the surfactant solution and the interaction of fluorescent dyes with the surfactant monomers and micelles.
- Studies on the exchange dynamics of fluorescent probes in micellar systems: our studies of the exchange dynamics of dyes with surfactant micelles using FCS confirmed that micelles act as soft-cages with a diffusion-controlled rate constant of the dye-micelle association.
- Dynamics and photophysics of cyclodextrin host-guest systems: our group has pioneered the use of FCS for the study of the stability and the association dynamics of these systems.
- Determination of the binding affinity and dynamics of sequence-specific DNA-binding ligands for biomedical applications (collaboration with Prof. José Luis Mascareñas and Prof. Eugenio Vázquez, Organic Chemistry Department of the USC).
- Development and characterization of Gadolinium-doped liposomes as MRI contrast agents for the treatment of stroke (collaboration with Prof. José Castillo and Dr. Pedro Cabrer, LINC, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago).
- Studies on the self-assembly of natural and synthetic polypeptides into complex structures (capsules, nanotubes) with potential biotechnological applications (collaboration with Prof. Juan Granja, Organic Chemistry Department of the USC).
We invite you to join our group for Master and Doctoral thesis, as well as Post-Doc. See our page “Theses” or contact us for more information.
Ata logo,
Mercedes Novo y Wajih Al-Soufi
