Congratulations to our PhD student Patrizia Mazzeo for her publication entitled "Fast Method for Excited-State Dynamics in Complex Systems and Its Application to the Photoactivation of a Blue Light Using Flavin Photoreceptor". The excited-state dynamics of molecules embedded in complex (bio)matrices is still a challenging goal for quantum chemical models. Hybrid QM/MM models have proven to be an effective strategy, but an optimal combination of accuracy and computational cost still has to be found.
Congratulations to our Ph.D. students Ester Giorgi and Francesca Binacchi for their scientific publication entitled “Highlights of New Strategies to Increase the Efficacy of Transition Metal Complexes for Cancer Treatments” in Molecules.In this article, two promising strategies to increase the efficacy of transition metal-based complexes were reviewed. First, was considered the possibility of assembling two biologically active fragments containing different metal centres into the same molecule, thus obtaining a heterobimetallic complex.
Congratulations to our PhD student Carlo Marotta for his scientific publication entitled “An overview of recent advancements in anticancer Pt(IV) prodrugs: new smart drug combinations, activation and delivery strategies ” in Inorganica Chimica Acta. In this article, the most recent advancements made in the field of anticancer Pt(IV) complexes were reviewed. First, have been described Pt(IV) complexes functionalized with molecules that could increase the anticancer activity of the entire complex.
Phytochromes are ubiquitous photoreceptors responsible for sensing light in plants, fungi and bacteria. Their photoactivation is initiated by the photoisomerization of an embedded chromophore, triggering large conformational changes in the protein. Despite numerous experimental and computational studies, a lot of questions remain unanswered: what happens to the chromophore just after light absorption? How does the environment affect the entire activation process?
