Laboratoire de chimie de la matière condensée de Paris
Tour 44-43 / 4ème étage
Case courrier 174
4, Place Jussieu
75005 PARIS
France

Francisco FERNANDES

Maître de Conférences
MATBIO

francisco.fernandes(@-Code a retirer pour éviter le SPAM-)sorbonne-universite.fr

I am an associate professor at the Sorbonne Université, leading the Materials & Biology team at the Condensed Matter Chemistry Laboratory of Paris (LCMCP).

His current research interests span the large field of biomaterials with a particular focus on the integration of biological functions in exogenous materials. The main strategy is to adapt materials science processing techniques to meet the requirements of living matter.

I have obtained a degree in Chemistry and a MSci in Environmental Sciences from the University of Minho in Braga, Portugal. I’ve then moved to Madrid, Spain to pursue a PhD under Prof. Ruiz-Hitzky guidance at the Materials Science Institute of Madrid, focusing on the interface between biopolymers and clay minerals to develop bionanocomposite materials. In 2011, I moved to Paris to integrate the LCMCP as a post-doctoral fellow working on collagen-based materials for biomedical applications.

Research Positions

Since 2024
Head of the Materials & Biology team – Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Paris, UMR7574, France

Since 2021
Associate Professor (Maître de Conférences HDR) – Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Paris, UMR7574, France

May – July 2016
Invited Lecturer – King’s College London, Department of Physics, Sapienza Lab, London, United Kingdom

2013 – 2021
Assistant Professor (Maître de Conférences) – Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Paris, UMR7574, France

2011 – 2013
Post-doctoral fellow – Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Paris, UMR7574, France

Academic positions

2021
« Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches » – Sorbonne Université, Paris, France

2011
PhD in Applied Physical Chemistry – Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Materials Science Insitute of Madrid, CSIC, Madrid, Spain

2008
MSci in Environmental Sciences – Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal

2006
Degree in Applied Chemistry – Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal

In multicellular organisms, tissues are structured as complex—often hierarchical—assemblies of biopolymers and living cells. The ability to reproduce the features of the native architecture of such biopolymer systems (the extracellular matrix, ECM) opens exciting perspectives in designing new, more relevant materials for 3D cell culture.

Using type I collagen, the main component of mammals’ ECM we have recently shown that freezing under carefully controlled conditions allows to design macroporous materials that can host primary cells in a 3D environment for extended periods of time.

Ice templating (or directional freezing, freeze casting, etc…) allows for controlled phase separation events during freezing. We have shown that when controlled freezing is applied to biopolymer solutions with cells in suspension, it allows for the encapsulation of cells withing the biopolymer matrix.

These results shine a new light on cell cryopreservation, the single available technique to extend the lifespan of biological entities. Systematically used from research labs up to the clinic, cell cryopreservations relies on toxic cryoprotectants (such as DMSO or glycerol) to minimize the deletrious effects induced by ice crystals on living cells. Applying new strategies to control the freezing events (such as directional freezing) opens new avenues to maximise cell viability in absence of toxic cryoprotectants

Designing cell-containing materials is critical for a wide range of applications. From soil biodegradation to wound healing or bone regeneration, we rely heavily on the work provided by cellular entities.

One of our main research lines aims at designing radical new approaches to build cell-containing materials. Our efforts in rationalizing the spatial relations between cells and their host materials during fabrication have led to a double criteria that determines the possible cellularization pathways—fabrication process cytocompatibility and porosity.

Journal articles

ref_biblio: Tafsir Chowdhury, Benjamin Cressiot, Cleo Parisi, Georges Smolyakov, Bénédicte Thiébot, et al.. Circulating Tumor Cells in Cancer Diagnostics and Prognostics by Single-Molecule and Single-Cell Characterization. ACS Sensors, 2023, 8 (2), pp.406-426. ⟨10.1021/acssensors.2c02308⟩. ⟨hal-04037568⟩
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ref_biblio: Kankan Qin, Rui Pereira, Thibaud Coradin, Verónica de Zea Bermudez, Francisco M. Fernandes. Biomimetic Silk Macroporous Materials for Drug Delivery Obtained via Ice-Templating. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 2022, 5 (6), pp.2556-2566. ⟨10.1021/acsabm.2c00020⟩. ⟨hal-03790911⟩
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ref_biblio: Anastasia Permyakova, Alshaba Kakar, Jonathan Bachir, Effrosyni Gkaniatsou, Bernard Haye, et al.. In Situ Synthesis of a Mesoporous MIL-100(Fe) Bacteria Exoskeleton. ACS Materials Letters, 2022, 5 (1), pp.79-84. ⟨10.1021/acsmaterialslett.2c00820⟩. ⟨hal-03908537⟩
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ref_biblio: Sarah Christoph, Pierre Barré, Bernard Haye, Thibaud Coradin, Francisco M. Fernandes. Environmentally-stable eco-friendly pectin-silica bio-hybrid foams for soil remediation. Giant, 2022, 12, pp.100119. ⟨10.1016/j.giant.2022.100119⟩. ⟨hal-03819099⟩
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ref_biblio: Cleo Parisi, Bénédicte Thiébot, Gervaise Mosser, Léa Trichet, Philippe Manivet, et al.. Porous yet dense matrices: using ice to shape collagen 3D cell culture systems with increased physiological relevance. Biomaterials Science, 2022, 10 (24), pp.6939-6950. ⟨10.1039/D2BM00313A⟩. ⟨hal-03790924⟩
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ref_biblio: Cleo Parisi, Kankan Qin, Francisco M Fernandes. Colonization versus encapsulation in cell-laden materials design: porosity and process biocompatibility determine cellularization pathways. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 2021, 379 (2206), ⟨10.1098/rsta.2020.0344⟩. ⟨hal-03592455⟩
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ref_biblio: Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky, Cristina Ruiz-García, Francisco M Fernandes, Giulia Lo Dico, Lorenzo Lisuzzo, et al.. Sepiolite-Hydrogels: Synthesis by Ultrasound Irradiation and Their Use for the Preparation of Functional Clay-Based Nanoarchitectured Materials. Frontiers in Chemistry, 2021, 9, ⟨10.3389/fchem.2021.733105⟩. ⟨hal-03351415⟩
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ref_biblio: Arto Merivaara, Jacopo Zini, Elle Koivunotko, Sami Valkonen, Ossi Korhonen, et al.. Preservation of biomaterials and cells by freeze-drying: Change of paradigm. Journal of Controlled Release, 2021, 336, pp.480 - 498. ⟨10.1016/j.jconrel.2021.06.042⟩. ⟨hal-03278483⟩
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ref_biblio: Milena Lama, Biravena Raveendranathan, Julie Brun, Francisco M C Fernandes, Cedric Boissiere, et al.. Biomimetic Tough Gels with Weak Bonds Unravel the Role of Collagen from Fibril to Suprafibrillar Self‐Assembly. Macromolecular Bioscience, 2021, pp.2000435. ⟨10.1002/mabi.202000435⟩. ⟨hal-03219149⟩
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ref_biblio: Kankan Qin, Cleo Parisi, Francisco M Fernandes. Recent advances in ice templating: from biomimetic composites to cell culture scaffolds and tissue engineering. Journal of materials chemistry‎ B, 2021, 9 (4), pp.889-907. ⟨10.1039/D0TB02506B⟩. ⟨hal-03263326⟩
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ref_biblio: Z. Jaafar, B. Quelennec, C. Moreau, D. Lourdin, Jean-Eudes Maigret, et al.. Plant Cell wall inspired Xyloglucan/Cellulose Nanocrystals Aerogels Produced By Freeze-Casting. Carbohydrate Polymers, 2020, 247, pp.116642. ⟨10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116642⟩. ⟨hal-02887173⟩
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ref_biblio: Kankan Qin, Corentin Eschenbrenner, Félix Ginot, Dmytro Dedovets, Thibaud Coradin, et al.. Unveiling Cells’ Local Environment during Cryopreservation by Correlative In Situ Spatial and Thermal Analyses. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2020, 11 (18), pp.7730-7738. ⟨10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c01729⟩. ⟨hal-02970802⟩
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ref_biblio: Niki Baccile, Thomas Zinn, Guillaume Laurent, Ghazi Ben Messaoud, Viviana Cristiglio, et al.. Unveiling the Interstitial Pressure Between Growing Ice Crystals During Ice-Templating Using a Lipid Lamellar Probe. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2020, 11 (6), pp.1989-1997. ⟨10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b03347⟩. ⟨hal-02490271⟩
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ref_biblio: Milena Lama, Francisco M Fernandes, Alba Marcellan, Juliette Peltzer, Marina Trouillas, et al.. Self‐Assembled Collagen Microparticles by Aerosol as a Versatile Platform for Injectable Anisotropic Materials. Small, 2020, pp.1902224. ⟨10.1002/smll.201902224⟩. ⟨hal-02432930⟩
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ref_biblio: Niki Baccile, Ghazi Ben Messaoud, Thomas Zinn, Francisco M Fernandes. Soft lamellar solid foams from ice-templating of self-assembled lipid hydrogels: organization drives the mechanical properties. Materials Horizons, 2019, 6 (10), pp.2073-2086. ⟨10.1039/c9mh00371a⟩. ⟨hal-02188389⟩
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ref_biblio: Clément Rieu, Cleo Parisi, Gervaise Mosser, Bernard Haye, Thibaud Coradin, et al.. Topotactic Fibrillogenesis of Freeze-Cast Microridged Collagen Scaffolds for 3D Cell Culture. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2019, 11 (16), pp.14672-14683. ⟨10.1021/acsami.9b03219⟩. ⟨hal-02124299⟩
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ref_biblio: Sarah Christoph, Ahmed Hamraoui, Estelle Bonnin, Catherine Garnier, Thibaud Coradin, et al.. Ice-templating beet-root pectin foams: Controlling texture, mechanics and capillary properties. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2018, 350, pp.20-28. ⟨10.1016/j.cej.2018.05.160⟩. ⟨hal-02124304⟩
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ref_biblio: Margarita Darder, Pilar Aranda, Cristina Ruiz-García, Francisco Fernandes, Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky. The Meeting Point of Carbonaceous Materials and Clays: Toward a New Generation of Functional Composites. Advanced Functional Materials, 2018, 28 (27), pp.1704323. ⟨10.1002/adfm.201704323⟩. ⟨hal-03592454⟩
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ref_biblio: Ana Bettencourt, Marián Castro, João Silva, Francisco Fernandes, Olga Coutinho, et al.. New Nitrogen Compounds Coupled to Phenolic Units with Antioxidant and Antifungal Activities: Synthesis and Structure–Activity Relationship. Molecules, 2018, 23 (10), pp.2530. ⟨10.3390/molecules23102530⟩. ⟨hal-03864597⟩
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ref_biblio: Flor Canencia, Margarita Darder, Pilar Aranda, Francisco Fernandes, Rubia Figueredo Gouveia, et al.. Conducting macroporous carbon foams derived from microwave-generated caramel/silica gel intermediates. Journal of Materials Science, 2017, 52 (19), pp.11269-11281. ⟨10.1007/s10853-017-1227-y⟩. ⟨hal-03592450⟩
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ref_biblio: Francisco M Fernandes, Bernd Wicklein. Guest editors' preface. Journal of Materials Science, 2017, 52 (19), pp.11121-11123. ⟨10.1007/s10853017-1130-6⟩. ⟨hal-03865445⟩
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ref_biblio: Moreno Marcellini, Francisco M. Fernandes, Dmytro Dedovets, Sylvain Deville. Water/ice phase transition: The role of zirconium acetate, a compound with ice-shaping properties. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 2017, 146 (14), pp.144504. ⟨10.1063/1.4979845⟩. ⟨hal-01520211⟩
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ref_biblio: van Duong Ta, Soraya Caixeiro, Francisco M. Fernandes, Riccardo Sapienza. Microsphere Solid-State Biolasers. Advanced Optical Materials, 2017, 5 (8), pp.1601022. ⟨10.1002/adom.201601022⟩. ⟨hal-01526945⟩
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ref_biblio: Sarah Christoph, Julien Kwiatoszynski, Thibaud Coradin, Francisco M. Fernandes. Cellularized Cellular Solids via Freeze-Casting. Macromolecular Bioscience, 2016, 16 (2), pp.182-187. ⟨10.1002/mabi.201500319⟩. ⟨hal-01286119⟩
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ref_biblio: Sarah Christoph, Francisco M. Fernandes, T. Coradin. Immobilization of Proteins in Biopolymer-Silica Hybrid Materials: Functional Properties and Applications. Current Organic Chemistry, 2015, 19 (17), pp.1669-1676. ⟨10.2174/1385272819666150429231937⟩. ⟨hal-01274320⟩
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ref_biblio: Francisco M. Fernandes, H. Baradari, Clément Sanchez. Integrative strategies to hybrid lamellar compounds: an integration challenge. Applied Clay Science, 2014, 100, pp.2-21. ⟨10.1016/j.clay.2014.05.013⟩. ⟨hal-01139001⟩
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ref_biblio: Francisco M. Fernandes, Thibaud Coradin, Carole Aimé. Self-Assembly in Biosilicification and Biotemplated Silica Materials. Nanomaterials, 2014, 4 (3), pp.792-812. ⟨10.3390/nano4030792⟩. ⟨hal-01140406⟩
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ref_biblio: Francisco M. Fernandes, Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky. Assembling nanotubes and nanofibres: Cooperativeness in sepiolite–carbon nanotube materials. Carbon, 2014, 72, pp.296-303. ⟨10.1016/j.carbon.2014.02.009⟩. ⟨hal-01520240⟩
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ref_biblio: Yan Wang, Stanislas von Euw, Francisco M. Fernandes, Sophie Cassaignon, Mohamed Selmane, et al.. Water-mediated structuring of bone apatite. Nature Materials, 2013, 12 (12), pp.1144-1153. ⟨10.1038/NMAT3787⟩. ⟨hal-01289769⟩
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ref_biblio: Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky, Francisco M. Fernandes. Progress in Bionanocomposites: From green plastics to biomedical applications. Progress in Polymer Science, 2013, 38 (10-11), pp.1391. ⟨10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2013.07.004⟩. ⟨hal-01461416⟩
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ref_biblio: Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky, Margarita Darder, Francisco M. Fernandes, Bernd Wicklein, Ana C. S. Alcantara, et al.. Fibrous clays based bionanocomposites. Progress in Polymer Science, 2013, 38 (10-11), pp.1392-1414. ⟨10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2013.05.004⟩. ⟨hal-01461418⟩
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ref_biblio: Almudena Gomez-Aviles, Pilar Aranda, Francisco M. Fernandes, Carolina Belver, Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky. Silica-Sepiolite Nanoarchitectures. Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 2013, 13 (4, SI), pp.2897-2907. ⟨10.1166/jnn.2013.7429⟩. ⟨hal-01461414⟩
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Book sections

ref_biblio: Marie-Madeleine Giraud-Guille, Nadine Nassif, Francisco M. Fernandes. Collagen‐based Materials for Tissue Repair, from Bio‐inspired to Biomimetic. Materials Design Inspired by Nature : Function Through Inner Architecture, RSC Publishing, pp.107-127, 2013, 978-1-84973-553-7. ⟨10.1039/9781849737555-00107⟩. ⟨hal-01292202⟩
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