[Dec. 7, 2025] Once again, I would like to sincerely thank Jun Zhou from Nanjing University (PRC) for successfully leading a project aimed at elucidating how guanine (G)-rich sequences interact with one another—whether in their unfolded or folded (i.e., G-quadruplex, or G4) forms. The goal of this work was to recapitulate in vitro the dynamic interactions that may occur within cells, particularly as part of the mechanisms regulating gene expression through chromatin organization. This highly original study has now been published in Nucleic Acids Research.
[Nov. 13, 2025] I would like to thank the editorial team of Chem. Eur. J. for inviting me to contribute to the special issue dedicated to Prof. Seela. We seized this opportunity to describe a new synthetic scheme we developed to access TASQs in a far more straightforward and versatile manner. This so-called 'convergent' synthesis, which enables the ready preparation of different multivalent TASQs, relies on the chemistry of AMC (aminomethylcyclene). Despite its apparent simplicity, working with AMC remains challenging and intricate! Our work is now fully detailed in Chem. Eur. J. A special thank you to Sandy for her dedication and hard work!
[Oct. 30, 2025] Another type of biotechnological applications for G4s: in this novel Anal. Chem. article, G4s were used for controlling the activity of a CRISPR-Cas12a device in a spatio-temporal manner, this system being aimed at diagnosing viral infection (human papilloma virus, HPV). Indeed, the size and shape of G4s make them ideal blocks to impede access to the CRISPR RNA, thereby annihilating the device’s activity. Upon photo-activation, the trigger is removed and the activity of the device restored, making it able to cleave HPV DNA in small fragments, which then hybridize with fluorescently labelled synthetic oligonucleotides to provide readily monitored (and highly sensitive) fluorescence readout. And it works quite well! Thank you, Jun and his team!
[Oct. 21, 2025] DNA catalysts are studied for decades, and new applications are reported almost on a daily basis. This is particularly true for DNA G4 catalysts, or G4-DNAzymes. While hundreds of applications have been developed so far, only a few of them have been shown to be implementable in real-life conditions. Thanks to a series of nature-inspired optimizations of the active center of a G4-hemin-peptide conjugate, it was possible to endow the resulting G4-DNAzyme with both peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) activity: the resulting system, referred to as bi-CPDzyme, was used for remediation of real industrial wastewater samples (printing and dyeing industry), where its POD activity was useful to degrade polluting dyes and its CAT activity to remove the oxidizing agent. Now accepted for publication in Natl. Sci. Rev., the journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IF >17!): thrilling!
[Sep. 30, 2025] We are happy to report in ACS Bio & Med Chem Au the synthesis and in vitro validations of our brand new TASQ named photoMultiTASQ, which is both photoactivatable and clickable. This TASQ is a new molecular tool in the arsenal of chemical cross-linking and isolation by pull-down (Chem-CLIP) technologies, which could lead to the identification of both G4 targets and associated proteins (G4BPs) in cells. A beautiful collaboration with the teams of Oscar (IPHC Strasbourg, FR) and Eran (WIS Rehovot, IS), supported by CNRS MITI.
[Sep. 23, 2025] Quite honored to appear in this prestigious list for the fifth year in a row (here). It does not mean much in terms of science per se but I am just thrilled to be there, which is some sort of peer recognition of the determination and tireless work done by my team and colleagues in a not-often-easy national and international context. Thanks to all of them!
[Aug. 17, 2025] Earlier this year, Knipscheer et al. published an interesting paper in Science in which they described how cells could use G-loops to resolve G4s and alleviate G4-mediated genetic instability. I was invited to discuss these findings in the 'generalist' science magazine Pour La Science. You can read the article here (sorry, it's only available in French).
[July 24, 2025] In this work, we establish a novel label-free, DNA-based system used for the specific and sensitive detection of colistin, an antibiotic that is widely used nowadays notably in animal husbandry, which is found as health-threatening pollutant in groundwater. Using a G4-based system we developed a device able to detect colistin with a limit as low as 0.4 ng/mL through a color change (luminol oxidation) and assessed this easy-to-implement method under real conditions (milk samples). Now published in Anal. Chem. Thank you Jun and co-workers!
[July 04, 2025] In this study, now published in BMC Biol., we investigated the G4-forming sequences found in three long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) known to be dysregulated in colorectal cancer (CRC), i.e., LINC01589, MELTF-AS1 and UXT-AS1. We applied a pure chemical biology approach in which we positively and negatively modulate these G4s using ad hoc molecular tools, i.e., the G4 stabilizer BRACO-19 and the G4 destabilizer PhpC, and assessed the cellular outcomes of this modulation. This led us to describe a fully innovative anticancer strategy, disturbing the homeostasis and inner functioning of CRC lncRNAs. Now published in BMC Biol. as a part of the “Regulation of gene expression through RNA” Collection, Guest Edited by Marco Mangone and Gian Gaetano Tartaglia. Thanks to Shubham and Bhaskar (IIT Gandhinagar, India) for this collaborative work, and EMBO for funding the Shubham's internship in Dijon.
[June 18, 2025] For several years now, we aim at demonstrating that PhpC can be used as a molecular helicase prone to unfold both DNA and RNA G4s in cells. Thanks to a collaboration with Carla Cruz, we now provide another demonstration of this activity, showing that PhpC does indeed unfold RNA G4s belonging to pre-miRNA in cells quite efficiently. To this end, a series of biophysical techniques was implemented (notably an NMR titration that was attempted for the very first time with this molecule) along with a series of cell-based assays, which shows both the decrease in G4 abundance and the modification of that of the corresponding miRNA (miR-3196) upon PhpC incubation. These results thus provide another demonstration of the promising helicase-mimicking properties of PhpC ; they are now accepted for publication in Int. J. Biol. Macromol. Many thanks to Carla and her collaborators for this beautiful work.
[May 15, 2025] It was an absolute pleasure to organize the 1st International Meeting on Nucleic Acid Junctions (IMAJ#1) in Paris from May 12 to 14, 2025. This meeting was supported by the CNRS as part of the creation of an International Research Network (IRN), bringing together EU researchers from the UK, Spain, Ireland, and France. I had the opportunity to meet friends and colleagues, and colleagues who quickly became friends. The event featured three days of excellent talks, lively discussions, and enriching exchanges. Many thanks to all and stayed tuned, we will start again next year!
[May 01, 2025] I am quite happy to appear on the ScholarGPS list of top scholars worldwide (here). Admittedly, this does not mean much in terms of science per se, but I am thrilled to be included, especially as the list is compiled in a way that excludes self-citations and combines quantity and quality, thus removing some biases... :-)
[Mar. 13, 2025] The aim of this study is to better understand how mitochondrial metabolism can affect cancer development. The synthesis of mitochondrial proteins occurs in the cytoplasm, and more precisely at the outer mitochondrial membrane, where the hnRNP U binds to RNA, and particularly G4-containing RNA, and cooperates with the helicase DDX3X to unwind G4s that may fold within mitochondrial RNA and hamper proper translation. If these G4-forming sequences are stabilized by ligands (eg, PhenDC3), then their translation is downregulated, which eventually inhibits mitochondrial respiration and functions, thereby jeopardizing the fate of cancer cells. This strategy, which is currently actively studied to fight against cancers, is fully validated herein. This manuscript is now accepted for publication in Nat. Commun.: many thanks to Stefania and her team for their pugnacity and dedication!
[Feb. 19, 2025] Gaining insights into the existence, prevalence and functional relevance of RNA G4s relies on efficient but technically challenging methods such as rG4-seq (in vitro) or G4RP-seq (in vivo). The latter technique involved a G4-RNA-specific precipitation (or G4RP) using biomimetic ligands (TASQs) as molecular baits, before affinity-based separation (biotin/streptavidin) and identification (sequencing) steps. Quite efficient (see our Nat. Protoc. and STAR Protoc.) but how to simplify this? By merging precipitation and separation steps. How? By exploiting the quite unique G4-interacting properties of colistin (COL), which interacts with and precipitates RNA G4 only. The resulting technique, named CoRP-seq, allows for identifying RNA G4s at a transcriptome-wide scale in a faster, simpler manner. Thrilling! Now published in the J. Am. Chem. Soc.: Thank you Jun and his team for this huge work!
[Jan. 22, 2025] Angie has invested massive efforts to be as specific as possible in describing how to detect G4s in human cells using our clickable TASQs (notably the commercially available MultiTASQ). The protocol, which is now freely available here, provides you with all necessary details and wet lab tips and tricks to successfully, reliably and reproducibly track DNA and RNA G4s, in live or fixed cells. Thanks Angie for this huge work!