Inorganic Nanoparticles interacting with membrane models of lamellar and non-lamellar nature

Despite the efforts towards the design of inorganic nanoparticles (NP) for Nanomedicine, the poor understanding of their interaction with biological barriers limits translation into medical practice. Artificial cell-membrane models are useful to identify key determinants of NP cytotoxicity under controlled conditions. We recently performed Neutron Reflectometry experiment at ISIS (June 2019, OFFSPEC) to determine the structural effects of AuNPs' surface features and shape on model membranes of different geometry, i.e. cubic and lamellar lipid films. Here, we propose to complete the previous NR dataset and to extend it to NP of a different composition: this will represent one of the first attempt to study the impact of NP on non-lamellar membranes, as compared to lamellar ones. The results will contribute to the assessment of NP cytotoxicity and implementation of their medical potential.