About the Authors

Carlo Meneghini

Contributed equally to this work with: Carlo Meneghini, Loris Leboffe

Affiliation Department of Sciences, Roma Tre University, Roma, Italy

Loris Leboffe

Contributed equally to this work with: Carlo Meneghini, Loris Leboffe

Affiliations Department of Sciences, Roma Tre University, Roma, Italy, National Institute of Biostructures and Biosystems, Roma, Italy

Monica Bionducci

Affiliation Department of Sciences, Roma Tre University, Roma, Italy

Gabriella Fanali

Affiliation Biomedical Research Division, Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, and Center of Neuroscience, University of Insubria, Busto Arsizio (VA), Italy

Massimiliano Meli

Affiliation Institute for Molecular Recognition Chemistry, National Research Council, Milano, Italy

Giorgio Colombo

Affiliation Institute for Molecular Recognition Chemistry, National Research Council, Milano, Italy

Mauro Fasano

Affiliation Biomedical Research Division, Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, and Center of Neuroscience, University of Insubria, Busto Arsizio (VA), Italy

Paolo Ascenzi

ascenzi@uniroma3.it

Affiliations National Institute of Biostructures and Biosystems, Roma, Italy, Interdepartmental Laboratory of Electron Microscopy, Roma Tre University, Roma, Italy

Settimio Mobilio

Affiliation Department of Sciences, Roma Tre University, Roma, Italy

Competing Interests

The authors have the following interest: co-author Giorgio Colombo is a PLOS ONE Editorial Board member. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: GC MF PA SM. Performed the experiments: CM LL MM. Analyzed the data: CM LL MB GF MM GC MF PA. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: GC PA. Contributed to the writing of the manuscript: GC MF PA SM.