Publications by Xufeng Xu | EPFL Graph Search

Versatile Capillary Cells for Handling Concentrated Samples in Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Francesco Stellacci, Quy Ong Khac, Xufeng Xu

In concentrated macromolecular dispersions, far-from-ideal intermolecular interactions determine the dispersion behaviors including phase transition, crystallization, and liquid-liquid phase separation. Here, we present a novel versatile capillary-cell des ...

Amer Chemical Soc2024

Amino Acids and Their Biological Derivatives Modulate Protein-Protein Interactions in an Additive Way

Francesco Stellacci, Xufeng Xu

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) differ when measured in test tubes and cells due to the complexity of the intracellular environment. Free amino acids (AAs) and their derivatives constitute a significant fraction of the intracellular volume and mass. Re ...

2024

Amino acids modulate liquid-liquid phase separation in vitro and in vivo by regulating protein-protein interactions

Francesco Stellacci, Xufeng Xu

Copyright © 2024 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) is an intracellular process widely used by cells for many key biological functions. It occurs in complex and crowded environments, where amino acids (AAs) are vital com ...

National Academy of Sciences2024

Simultaneous Electrophysiology and Imaging Reveal Changes in Lipid Membrane Thickness and Tension upon Uptake of Amphiphilic Gold Nanoparticles

Francesco Stellacci, Xufeng Xu, Paulo Henrique Jacob Silva, Camilla Servidio

Amphiphilic gold core nanoparticles (AmNPs) striped with hydrophilic 11-mercapto-1-undecanesulfonate (MUS) and hydrophobic 1-octanethiol (OT) ligands are promising candidates for drug carriers that passively and nondisruptively enter cells. Yet, how they i ...

Amer Chemical Soc2023

Stress granules quantification on fixed and live cells

Francesco Stellacci, Romain Guiet, Xufeng Xu

The custom script was written based on Fiji for measuring the number or size of stress granules inside fixed cells (using a fixed threshold) or live cells (using a local maximum). It allows the batch image data processing for the study of the effects of di ...

Zenodo2023

Ligand concentration determines antiviral efficacy of silica multivalent nanoparticles

Francesco Stellacci, Quy Ong Khac, Xufeng Xu, Heyun Wang, Paulo Henrique Jacob Silva, Rémi Andréa La Polla

We have learned from the recent COVID-19 pandemic that the emergence of a new virus can quickly become a global health burden and kill millions of lives. Antiviral drugs are essential in our fight against viral diseases, but most of them are virus-specific ...

Academic Press Inc Elsevier Science2023

Cryogenic electron tomography to determine thermodynamic quantities for nanoparticle dispersions

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

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

Experimental Method to Distinguish between a Solution and a Suspension

Francesco Stellacci, Quy Ong Khac, Xufeng Xu, Ting Mao, Paulo Henrique Jacob Silva

Dispersion of objects in a fluid phase can be classified as solutions (Gibbs free energy of mixing, Delta G(mix) < 0) or suspensions (Delta G(mix) > 0) depending on their thermodynamic stability. Small objects tend to form solutions, larger ones suspension ...

WILEY2022