Sofia Serravalle was born in Catania on July 25, 2000. Her interest in biophysics emerged during her early university years. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree on March 4, 2022, with a final grade of 110/110 cum laude, defending a thesis titled “Lipid-Chaperone Hypothesis: The Role of Cholesterol in the Interaction Between Human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide Protein (hIAPP) and Phospholipid Bilayer”, under the supervision of Prof. La Rosa. Her research focused on the interaction between model membranes and intrinsically disordered proteins. In 2023, she completed a training internship at the Institute of Crystallography of the CNR in Catania, under the supervision of Dr. Sciacca, where she strengthened her expertise in techniques used to study membrane damage. That same year, as part of an Erasmus program, she conducted part of her Master’s thesis research at the Institute of Chemistry & Biology of Membranes & Nano-objects in Bordeaux, under the supervision of Dr. Khemthemourian. There, she gained independent experience in using an atomic force microscope to study phospholipid bilayers.
In January 2024, her first paper, “Critical Micellar Concentration Determination of Pure Phospholipids and Lipid Raft and Their Mixtures with Cholesterol”, was published in Proteins. She earned her Master’s Degree in Chemical Sciences (Materials Chemistry and Nanotechnology curriculum) on April 5, 2024, with a final grade of 110/110 cum laude. Her thesis, “Lipid-Chaperone Hypothesis: Interaction of Model Membranes with hIAPP and Aβ(1-40) and the Correlation Between Bilayer Structure and CMC”, further explored these interactions. Since October 2024, she has been a PhD student in the XL cycle of the Doctorate in Chemical Sciences at the University of Catania. Her research project is a natural continuation of her previous studies, focusing on the role of free lipids in amyloidogenic protein aggregation to characterize the lipid-protein complex. Supervised by Prof. La Rosa, her project, “The Lipid-Chaperone Hypothesis on Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDPs) Dysregulation and Membrane Damage”, aims to contribute another piece to the puzzle of understanding membrane damage and developing effective pharmacological treatments for proteinopathies.
[04.04.2025]
Thesis title: “The Lipid-Chaperone Hypothesis on Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDPs) dysregulation and membrane damage”
Keywords: Amyloids, membrane biophysics, proteinopathies, IDPs, lipidomics
Abstract: Proteinopathies – such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, type II diabetes – are associated with cell membrane damage caused by amyloidogenic proteins. According to the Lipid-Chaperone Hypothesis, the mechanism of this phenomenon is closely linked to the critical micellar concentration of lipids: there is a dynamic equilibrium between membrane-bound lipids and free lipids in aqueous solution. The free lipids form a toxic complex with the protein, which facilitates its incorporation into the membrane. The aim of the thesis is to characterize the lipid-protein complex.
