What happens when laboratory-created small molecules enter human cells? How do they act? An answer was provided by a study published yesterday in the journal "Advanced Materials" by a research team led by the Institute for Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity of the National Research Council (Cnr-Isof) of Bologna in collaboration with several Cnr groups, the Polytechnic of Milan, the University of Bologna, and the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT, with offices in Milan and Pisa). The study is titled "Insight on the Intracellular Supramolecular Assembly of DTTO: A Peculiar Example of Cell-Driven Polymorphism." These molecules can form highly biocompatible and conductive nanostructures. "After more than a decade of interdisciplinary research, we have discovered the extraordinary ability of some organic molecules to'self-assemble' into fibrous crystalline structures (fibrils) inside human cells, without compromising their vitality, and constituting highly organized structures with electrical conduction properties," explained Francesca Di Maria, a researcher at Cnr-Isof. The researchers investigated the growth mechanism of one of these molecules, called DTTO, using cutting-edge cell imaging and microscopy techniques. According to Guglielmo Lanzani of the IIT, "new perspectives for the development of therapies based on the stimulation and regulation of cellular interactions are opening up. Furthermore, it may enable significant advances in tissue engineering, allowing the creation of functional three-dimensional cellular structures." The use of these organic molecules, according to the study's authors, is only the first step in a vast field of research on the properties of self-organization within cells, laying the groundwork for future studies and potential applications in cell biology and regenerative medicine.
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