I’m a third-year PhD Student from the University of Florence under the supervision of Prof. Anna Maria Papini and my research regarding the design, synthesis, characterization and biological activity evaluation of antimicrobial and antiviral peptide with a well-defined secondary structure [1-3]. 

Thanks to the support of EPS Mobility Fellowship, I was able to spend 6-moths abroad, from January to June 2024, at the University of Cologne in the lab of Prof. Dr. Ines Neundorf. The project involved the the antimicrobial activity evaluation of peptides conformationally blocked by triazole bridges, obtained exploiting the Cycloaddition Azide-Alkyne Catalized by Cu(I) (CuAAC), the most important “Click reaction” [4]. The most promising analog was structurally characterised by NMR spectroscopy (in collaboration with Dr. Daniel Friedrich from the University of Cologne). Finally, the Ala-scan analogs were designed, synthesised, structurally characterised and biologically tested to assess both the importance of single residues and secondary structure for antimicrobial activity. The Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) obtained in this project will be the subject of a future publication and could be useful as a toolbox for the development of increasingly efficient conformationally blocked antimicrobial peptides.

In this experience, I acquired knowledge in spectroscopic techniques, such as Circular Dicroism (CD) and NMR, and in antimicrobial assays, such as Iodonitrotetrazolium (INT) assay. Furthermore, I had the opportunity to work within Prof. Dr. Ines Neundorf’s research group, which is composed of extremely professional and helpful people. In conclusion, I would like to thank EPS for the financial support for this 6-month internship at the University of Cologne. I would also like to thank all the members of the host laboratory for making me feel at home, and in particular Prof. Dr. Ines Neundorf for her willingness to welcome me into her research laboratory. In light of these considerations, I strongly recommend to all young peptide scientists to perform an internship abroad and apply for the EPS fellowship. 

References:

[1] Quagliata, M.; Stincarelli, M.A.; Papini, A.M.; Giannecchini, S.; Rovero, P. “Antiviral Activity against SARS-CoV-2 of Conformationally Constrained Helical Peptides Derived from Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme-2.” ACS Omega, 2023, 8, 25, 22665–22672. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c01436

[2] Stincarelli, M.A.; Quagliata, M.; Di Santo, A.; Pacini, L.; Fernandez, F.R.; Arvia, R.; Rinaldi, S.; Papini, A.M.; Rovero, P.; Giannecchini, S. “SARS-CoV-2 inhibitory activity of a short peptide derived from internal fusion peptide of S2 subunit of spike glycoprotein.” Virus Research, 2023, 334, 199170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virusres.2023.199170

[3] Quagliata, M.; Papini, A.M.; Rovero, P. “Chemically modified antiviral peptides against SARS-CoV-2.” J. Pep. Sci, 2023, e3541. https://doi.org/10.1002/psc.3541

[4] Grabeck, J.; Mayer, J.; Miltz, A.; Casoria, M.; Quagliata, M; Meinberger, D.; Klatt, A.R.; Wielert, I.; Maier, B.; Papini, A.M.; Neundorf, I. “Triazole-bridged peptides with enhanced antimicrobial activity and potency against pathogenic bacteria.” ACS Inf. Dis, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsinfecdis.4c00078