Lucia Gardini

Short Bio

ACTUAL POSITION: Researcher at the Institute for Complex Systems of the National Research Council of Italy (Level III, TI). Head of the Nanoscopy Laboratory at ISC. Associate Researcher and Group Leader of the Super-resolution and Single Molecule Imaging activity at the European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy (LENS) .

EDUCATION: March 2014 PhD in Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy at LENS, University of Florence (UNIFI), Italy. Supervisor: Prof. F.S. Pavone. Title of the thesis: “3D tracking of single molecular motors”. March 2010: Master’s Degree in Physics, University of Bologna, Italy. Supervisor: Prof. G.C. Castellani in Biophysics. 110/110 cum laude.

CAREER BREAKS: 06/08/2016 – 08/01/2017(Maternity leave)

TEACHING ACTIVITIES: Since AA 2024/25, Classes of Multiscale Biomedical Optics, at the Master Degree in Biomedical Engineering of the University of Florence (3CFU); Since AA 2023/24, Classes of Optics for the International Doctorate of Atomic and Molecular Photonics at LENS.
Supervisor of several PhD students and master students.

PROJECTS: October 2024 – present, Task leader, HORIZON-INFRA-2023-SERV-01, LASERS4EU, European Laser Research Infrastructures serving Science and Industry , Task 1.3, Scientific Advisor, Access March 2025-present Board member, Data Management and FAIR representatives for LENS.
Principal Investigator, “IN-ROOTS: INdentation experiments to dissect the plant ROOTS mechanotransduction”, Joint Bilateral Agreement CNR / Royal Society of Edinburgh (UK) Biennial Programme 2025 – 2026.
External collaborator in the AIRC project lead by Prof. Annarosa Arcangeli: “Leveraging hERG1 ion channel-based multiprotein complexes for innovative therapies in hard to treat cancers”, 2025-2030

RELEVANT PUBBLICATIONS:
1. Gardini, L., Capitanio M., Pavone F.S. “3D tracking of single nanoparticles and quantum dots in living cells by out-of-focus imaging with diffraction pattern recognition.” Scientific Reports 5, Article number: 16088. doi:10.1038/srep16088 (2015)
2. Gardini, L., Heissler, S., Arbore, C., Yang, Y., Sellers, J., Pavone, F. S. and M. Capitanio, “Dissecting myosin-5B mechanosensitivity and calcium regulation at the single molecule level”, Nature Communications 9, 2844 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05251-z (2018).
3. C. Arbore, M Sergides, L. Gardini, G. Bianchi, A.V. Kashchuk, I. Pertici, P. Bianco,F.S. Pavone, M. Capitanio, “α-catenin switches between a slip and an asymmetric catch bond with F-actin to cooperatively regulate cell junction fluidity”, Nature communications 13.1 (2022): 1146. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28779-7
4. L. Gardini (corresponding), T. Vignolini, V. Curcio, F.S. Pavone,, & M. Capitanio, (2023). “Optimization of highly inclined Illumination for diffraction-limited and super-resolution microscopy”. Optics Express 2023.DOI: 10.1364/OE.492152
5. I. Lüchtefeld, I.V. Pivkin, L. Gardini, E. Zare-Eelanjegh, C. Gäbelein, S.J. Ihle,, … & M. Vassalli, “Dissecting cell membrane tension dynamics and its effect on Piezo1-mediated cellular mechanosensitivity using force-controlled nanopipettes.” Nature Methods, 2024, 1-11.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-024-02277-8
6. T. Vignolini, M. Capitanio, C. Caldini, L. Gardini (corresponding), & F.S. Pavone, “Highly inclined light sheet allows volumetric super-resolution imaging of efflux pumps distribution in bacterial biofilms.” Scientific Reports, 14(1), 12902. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-63729-x.

Research interests

I am an experimental biophysicicst working on the development and application of single-molecule tracking and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy techniques. Through these techniques I study the biophysics of biomolecules in vitro, in cells and in thick samples. I have also been working of the development of Optical Tweezers with application to the study of biomolecules interacting with DNA and cytoskeletal polymers, and on the combination of optical manipulation with optical microscopy to study mechanotransduction at the cellular level (both mammalian and plant). I work in close collaboration with clinical groups (Meyer and the Mario Serio Department of Biomedical, Experimental and Clinical Sciences in Florence) and other Departments of the University of Florence (Molecular and Cellular Mechanobiology Lab of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, DAGRI and Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica). I am Associate Researcher at the European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectrscopy (LENS) in Florence. I am responsible of the Nanoscopy Lab at ISC, Sesto Fiorentino.