Scientific strategy

The laboratory Biotechnology and Cell Signaling | UMR 7242 | CNRS Unistra implements a common research strategy “from the gene to drug discovery”. The teams contribute to this strategy which aims to develop innovative biotechnological approaches for understanding cell signaling pathways and their manipulation for the development of new therapeutic approaches. This strategy relies on functional genomics and the chemistry-biology interface to identify and exploit models and small molecules to understand biological processes, from genes to functions and then to drugs. It integrates the new possibilities offered by vectorization technologies, synthetic biology and the development of organoids, and encourages the integration of ESBS professors within the teams without imposing a large gap between their teaching and research activities.

The research teams are particularly interested in three scientific themes:

• Genome integrity and cancer : the study of pathways protecting genome integrity through epigenetic, transcriptional and DNA repair mechanisms, and their deregulation in cancers.
• Pain and inflammation : the study of molecular pathways involved in the processes of pain, inflammation and pathogenicity.
• Infection and pathogens : the study of metal transport pathways in pathogenic bacteria and the development of novel strategies against antibiotic resistance.

To support this strategy, the laboratory promotes the establishment of technological platforms for the discovery of molecular targets and small molecules from chemical libraries (i.e. National chemical library) and has forged a strong link with the UAR 3286 (PCBIS) to exploit these banks of molecules. The Unit provides structure and clarity to its scientific strategy by managing two interdisciplinary thematic institutes (ITIs) in the field of medical sciences: IMS (Strasbourg Medicine Institute) and InnoVec (Innovation in vectorization of molecules with therapeutic potential).

This strategy takes place in the favorable scientific environment of the Illkirch-Graffenstaden University campus, which offers access to numerous technological platforms and possibilities for scientific interactions.