Ricerc@Sapienza

Hydrogel materials, thanks to their biocompatibility and biodegradability, are very promising for the development of new biocompatible scaffolds for controlled drug release, tissue regeneration and tissue engineering. Low molecular weight peptide-based hydrogels (LMWPGs) are an interesting class of soft materials for the preparation of versatile systems that can be easily modified, both chemically and biologically. Recently, we developed an enzymatic approach for the preparation of injectable, self-assembling materials based on Fmoc-oligopeptides1.

Polymeric nanoparticle-based carriers are promising agents to deliver drugs to cells. Vitis vinifera phenolic compounds are known for their antifungal activity against Candida albicans. The aim of the present study was to investigate the antifungal activity of pterostilbene or crude extracts from non-fermented grape pomace, entrapped in poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid nanoparticles (NPs), with diameters of 50 and 150 nm, on Candida biofilm. The fluorescent probe coumarin 6 was used to study the uptake of poly(lactic-co-glycolic)acid (PLGA) NPs in planktonic cells and biofilm.