Bernardi Group

CV

I graduated in Chemistry at the Università degli Studi di Milano (UNIMI) in 2008 with a MSc project on the synthesis of pseudo-disaccharides as inhibitors of DC-SIGN. 
I remained at the Università degli Studi di Milano to undertake my PhD studies in Chemical Sciences with a specialization in organic chemistry with Prof. Anna Bernardi, from 2009 to 2012, working on the design and synthesis of unnatural glycopeptides.  

After my PhD graduation, I took up a postdoctoral fellowship at CNR-ISTM (Milan) and I worked on the synthesis of peptidomimetics as cadherin’s inhibitors.  I moved to France in November 2012 to join Dr. I. Huc group at the Institut Européen de Chimie et Biologie.

The research project was part of the FP7-People IAPP project FOLDAPPI and dealt with the development of helical aromatic amide foldamers to inhibit protein-protein interactions.  In January 2014 I moved to the Simon Fraser University (Canada) with a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship (IOF-FP7-People) to work on the development of novel neuraminidase inhibitors.  I carried out the second part of the IOF fellowship in the Bernardi group.

Cinzia is currently a Postdoc (Assegno di tipo A) in the Lay’s group.

 

Research Interests

I am interested in all aspects of organic chemistry, bioorganic chemistry and medicinal chemistry. In particular, I acquired experience in organic synthetic chemistry applied to small molecules, carbohydrates, glycopeptides, peptidomimetics and foldamers. 
I am engaged with the design and development of molecules which may mimic and interfere with molecular recognition events with a special focus in glycoscience, the study of glycoconjugates present on proteins, cells, bacterial and viral surfaces.
I am also interested in targeting protein-protein interactions and small molecules-protein interactions of relevant biological targets.

 

Publications

Synthesis and evaluation of influenza A viral neuraminidase candidate inhibitors based on a bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane scaffold C. Colombo; M.B. Pinto; A. Bernardi and A.J. Bennet
Org. Biomol. Chem. 2016, 14, 6539- 6553

Solution Observation of Dimerization and Helix Handedness Induction in a Human Carbonic Anhydrase-Helical Aromatic Amide Foldamer Complex M. Jewginski, L. Fischer, C. Colombo, I. Huc, C. D. Mackereth
 ChemBioChem 2016, 17, 727-736.

In situ Determination of Fructose-Isomer Concentrations in Wine Using Quantitative 13C NMR Spectroscopy
C. Colombo, C. Aupic, A. R. Lewis, B. M. Pinto
J. Agric. Food Chem. 2015, 63, 8551–8559.

Computational design of novel peptidomimetic inhibitors of cadherin homophilic interactions F. Doro, C. Colombo, C. Alberti, D. Arosio, L. Belvisi, C. Casagrande, R. Fanelli, L. Manzoni, E. Parisini, U. Piarulli, E. Luison, M. Figini, A.Tomassetti, M. Civera
Org. Biomol. Chem. 2015, 13, 2570-2573.

Controlling Helix Handedness in Water-Soluble Quinoline Oligoamide Foldamers S. J. Dawson, Á. Mészáros, L. Pethő, C. Colombo, M. Csékei, A. Kotschy, I. Huc
Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2014, 4265- 4275.

Structure of a Complex Formed by a Protein and a Helical Aromatic Oligoamide Foldamer at 2.1 Å Resolution C. Colombo, J. Buratto, M. Stupfel, S. J. Dawson, C. Dolain, B. Langlois d'Estaintot, L. Fischer, T. Granier, M. Laguerre, B. Gallois, I. Huc
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 883-887.

α-N-Linked Glycopeptides: conformational analysis and bioactivity as lectin ligands F. Marcelo, F. J. Cañada, S. André, C. Colombo, F. Doro, H. J. Gabius, A. Bernardi, J. Jiménez-Barbero Org. Biomol. Chem. 2012, 10, 5916-5923.

Synthesis of α-N-Linked Glycopeptides  C. Colombo and A. Bernardi Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2011, 3911- 3919.  This article has been selected for inclusion in the Special Issue: Women in Chemistry of the European Journal of Organic Chemistry

Design, synthesis and activity evaluation of mannose-based DC-SIGN antagonists N. Obermajer, S. Sattin, C. Colombo, M. Bruno, U. Švajger, M. Anderluh, A. Bernardi Molecular Diversity 2011, 15, 347-360.