Friscourt Team Chemical Glycobiology - Chemistry and Biology of Carbohydrates
Development and applications of chemical and biochemical tools for studying the functional role of cellular glycoconjugates
- Home unit: UMR5255 ISM - www.ism.u-bordeaux.fr
Our research group is interesting in understanding the functional role of mammalian complex glycans (chain of monosaccharides).
For this purpose, our team employs a interdisciplinary approach, including organic and enzymatic synthesis, biochemistry and cell imaging to probe complex glycans in living systems.
Team Leader
- FRISCOURT Frederic
- UB associate professor
- 0540003371
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After completing in parallel a M.Sc. in Chemistry and a Chemical Engineering diploma (2004) from the University of Clermont-Ferrand, France, Frederic moved to Scotland to do his PhD in Chemistry on asymmetric organometallic and organic catalysis under the supervision of Prof Pavel Kočovský at the University of Glasgow, UK.
He then transitioned to the field of Chemical Biology during his postdoctoral fellowship (2009-2014) in the laboratory of Prof Geert-Jan Boons at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center (GA, USA), where he developed novel chemical probes for imaging the glycome in living cells.
In 2014, he obtained a Junior Chair position in Chemical Biology from the University of Bordeaux, France and a co-affiliated position at the European Institute of Chemistry and Biology in Bordeaux as a group leader. He was recently promoted to Associate Professor in Chemical Biology at the University of Bordeaux, France, co-affiliated to IECB and ISM UMR5255 (2021).
Selected awards: CNRS ATIP-Avenir Award for outstanding young principal investigator (2017) | IdEx Bordeaux Junior Chair of Excellence in Chemical Biology Award (2014) | ACS Outstanding Postdoctoral Research Chemist Award (2012).
The central dogma of molecular biology has been that biological information moves from DNA to RNA to protein. However, there is a growing appreciation that posttranslational modifications, such as protein glycosylation, dramatically increase protein complexity and function.
Glycans are chains of monosaccharides that are covalently linked to cell surface proteins. They have been recognized as key participants in cell-cell communications. From a pathological point of view, changes in the glycome of cells are associated with developmental disorders and can mark the onset of cancer.
Despite these intriguing observations, the molecular mechanisms by which these complex carbohydrates influence cells are not well understood due to their inherent structural complexity and a lack of suitable biochemical methods to study them. To address these limitations, our research group focusses on two major lines of research:
- Development of fluorogenic bioorthogonal chemistry and probes in order to image glycans in living cells
- Probing and controlling the biosynthesis of glycans
Selected publications:
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Favre, C.; Friscourt, F.* Org. Lett. 2018, 20, 4213-4217.
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Chinoy, Z. S.; Bodineau, C.; Favre, C.; Moremen, K. W.; Durán R. V.; Friscourt, F.* Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 4281-4285
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Chinoy, Z. S.; Montembault, E.; Moremen, K. W.; Royou, A. and Friscourt, F.* ACS Chem. Biol. 2021, 16, 2307-2314.
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Chinoy, Z. S.; Moremen, K. W. and Friscourt, F.* Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2022, 27, e202200271.
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