Publications by Davide Demurtas

RAIN: machine learning-based identification for HIV-1 bNAbs

Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) are promising candidates for the treatment and prevention of HIV-1 infections. Despite their critical importance, automatic detection of HIV-1 bNAbs from immune repertoires is still lacking. Here, we develop a straig ...

Nature Research2024

Cryogenic electron tomography to determine thermodynamic quantities for nanoparticle dispersions

Davide Demurtas, Francesco Stellacci, Quy Ong Khac, Paulo Henrique Jacob Silva, Anna Murello, Ting Mao, Francesca Olgiati, Xufeng Xu

Here we present a method to extract thermodynamic quantities for nanoparticle dispersions in solvents. The method is based on the study of tomograms obtained from cryogenic electron tomography (cryoET). The approach is demonstrated for gold nanoparticles ( ...

2022

A highly potent antibody effective against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

Didier Trono, Priscilla Turelli, Davide Demurtas, Florence Pojer, Charlène Mireille Raymonde Raclot, Jérémy Campos, Kelvin Ka Ching Lau

Control of the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is endangered by the emergence of viral variants with increased transmission efficiency, resistance to marketed therapeutic antibodies, and reduced sensitivity to vaccine-induced immunity. Here, we screen B cells ...

2021

Rationally designed Human Cytomegalovirus gB nanoparticle vaccine with improved immunogenicity

Davide Demurtas

Author summary Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is the foremost viral cause of congenital birth defects. Attempts to vaccinate against HCMV brought moderate, though not sufficient, reduction in infection. Moreover, phase II clinical trial with gB for ...

2020

Novel features of centriole polarity and cartwheel stacking revealed by cryo-tomography

Pierre Gönczy, Davide Demurtas, Alexandra Bezler, Sergey Nazarov, Paul Guichard, Veronika Nemcíková Villímová, Georgios Hatzopoulos

Centrioles are polarized microtubule-based organelles that seed the formation of cilia, and which assemble from a cartwheel containing stacked ring oligomers ofSAS-6 proteins. A cryo-tomography map of centrioles from the termite flagellateTrichonymphaspp. ...

2020

KAP1 is an antiparallel dimer with a functional asymmetry

Didier Trono, Davide Demurtas, Matteo Dal Peraro, Louise Catherine Bryan, Beat Fierz, Pierre-Yves Joseph Laurent Helleboid, Alexandra Styliani Kalantzi, Giulia Fonti, Maria Josefina Marcaida Lopez

KAP1 (KRAB domain-associated protein 1) plays a fundamental role in regulating gene expression in mammalian cells by recruiting different transcription factors and altering the chromatin state. In doing so, KAP1 acts both as a platform for macromolecular i ...

Life Science Alliance, LLC2019

Flagellar microtubule doublet assembly in vitro reveals a regulatory role of tubulin C-terminal tails

Davide Demurtas, Virginie Hamel, Paul Guichard

Microtubule doublets (MTDs), consisting of an incomplete B-microtubule at the surface of a complete A-microtubule, provide a structural scaffold mediating intraflagellar transport and ciliary beating. Despite the fundamental role of MTDs, the molecular mec ...

American Association for the Advancement of Science2019

Tumor-associated factors are enriched in lymphatic exudate compared to plasma in metastatic melanoma patients

Melody Swartz, Davide Demurtas, Lambert Charles François Potin, Patricia Corthésy Henrioud, Léa Maillat, Romain Hamelin, Natacha Anne-Sophie Bordry, Maria Anna Sofia Broggi, Alexandre Harari

Liquid biopsies allow monitoring of cancer progression and detection of relapse, but reliable biomarkers in melanoma are lacking. Because secreted factors preferentially drain to lymphatic vessels before dilution in the blood, we hypothesized that lymph sh ...

ROCKEFELLER UNIV PRESS2019

Nanodesign of new self-assembling core-shell gellan-transfersomes loading baicalin and in vivo evaluation of repair response in skin

Davide Demurtas

2018

Structure-Property Relationships of Amphiphilic Nanoparticles That Penetrate or Fuse Lipid Membranes

Davide Demurtas, Francesco Stellacci, Randy Patrick Carney, Paulo Henrique Jacob Silva, Zekiye Pelin Güven, Ye Yang, Ahmet Bekdemir

2018

Primary human and rat beta cells release the intracellular autoantigens GAD65, IA-2 and proinsulin in exosomes together with cytokine-induced enhancers of immunity

Jeffrey Alan Hubbell, Melody Swartz, Miriella Carmela Pasquier, Davide Demurtas, Sachiko Hirosue, Romain Hamelin, Steinunn Baekkeskov Hanahan, Michele De Palma, Edward Allen Phelps, Chiara Cianciaruso

The target autoantigens in several organ-specific autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes (T1D), are intracellular membrane proteins, whose initial encounter with the immune system is poorly understood. Here we propose a new model for how these prot ...

American Diabetes Association2017

A Cationic Micelle Complex Improves CD8+T Cell Responses in Vaccination Against Unmodified Protein Antigen

Jeffrey Alan Hubbell, Melody Swartz, Davide Demurtas, Vasiliki Panagiotou, Carrie Ellen Brubaker, Daniel Kenneth Bonner

Nanoscale carrier platforms promote immune responses to vaccination by facilitating delivery of vaccine components to immunologically relevant sites. The technique is particularly valuable for subunit vaccination, in which coadministration of immunostimula ...

Amer Chemical Soc2016

Amyloid-beta oligomerization is associated with the generation of a typical peptide fragment fingerprint

Cyntia De Piano, Nikita Rudinskiy, Adrian Schmid, Marc Moniatte, Davide Demurtas, Christophe Fuerer

Amyloid-beta (A beta) peptide oligomerization plays a central role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and A beta oligomers are collectively considered an appealing therapeutic target for the treatment of AD. However, the molecular mechanisms ...

Elsevier Science Inc2016

Santosomes as natural and efficient carriers for the improvement of phycocyanin reepithelising ability in vitro and in vivo

Davide Demurtas

New biocarriers, named santosomes, were formulated using Santolina insularis essential oil and hydrogenated phosphatidylcholine. They were modified by adding propylene glycol, a hydrophylic penetration enhancer, and loaded with phycocyanin, a protein found ...

Elsevier Science Bv2016

Crystalline Oligo(ethylene sulfide) Domains Define Highly Stable Supramolecular Block Copolymer Assemblies

Jeffrey Alan Hubbell, Davide Demurtas, Carrie Ellen Brubaker, Edward Allen Phelps

With proper control over copolymer design and solvation conditions, self-assembled materials display impressive morphological variety that encompasses nanoscale colloids as well as bulk three-dimensional architectures. Here we take advantage of both hydrop ...

Amer Chemical Soc2015

Faceted phospholipid vesicles tailored for the delivery of Santolina insularis essential oil to the skin

Davide Demurtas

The aim of this work was to formulate Santolina insularis essential oil-loaded nanocarriers, namely Penetration Enhancer containing Vesicles (PEVs), evaluate the physico-chemical features and stability, and gain insights into their ability to deliver the o ...

Elsevier Science Bv2015

Direct visualization of dispersed lipid bicontinuous cubic phases by cryo-electron tomography

Raffaele Mezzenga, Davide Demurtas, Cécile Hébert, Paul Guichard

Bulk and dispersed cubic liquid crystalline phases (cubosomes), present in the body and in living cell membranes, are believed to play an essential role in biological phenomena. Moreover, their biocompatibility is attractive for nutrient or drug delivery s ...

Nature Publishing Group2015

Molecular screening of cancer-derived exosomes by surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy

Horst Vogel, Michel Prudent, Niels Erik Lion, Luigino Grasso, Romain Wyss, Davide Demurtas, Ashwin Thampi, Lorenz Weidenauer

We report on a generic method to detect and iden- tify the molecular profile of exosomes either derived from cultured cell lines or isolated from biofluids. Exosomes are nanovesicles shed by cells into their microenvironment and carry the molecular identit ...

Springer Heidelberg2015

Molecular and Dimensional Profiling of Highly Purified Extracellular Vesicles by Fluorescence Fluctuation Spectroscopy

Horst Vogel, Luigino Grasso, Romain Wyss, Davide Demurtas, Camille Wolf, Hans Wolfgang Grosse

Cells secrete extracellular vesicles (EVs) into their microenvironment that act as mediators of intercellulard communication under physiological conditions and in this context also actively participate in spreading various diseases. Large efforts are curre ...

Amer Chemical Soc2014

Native Architecture of the Centriole Proximal Region Reveals Features Underlying Its 9-Fold Radial Symmetry

Aitana Neves da Silva, Pierre Gönczy, Davide Demurtas, Isabelle Fluckiger, Paul Guichard, Norbert Majubu

Centrioles are cylindrical microtubule-based structures whose assembly is critical for the formation of cilia, flagella, and centrosomes. The centriole proximal region harbors a cartwheel that dictates the 9-fold symmetry of centrioles. Although the cartwh ...

2013