Andrey Klymchenko, CNRS research director and head of the Photoactive Materials and Bioimaging team, is one of the winners announced by the European Research Council (ERC) for the ERC Advanced Grant 2024, designed to support established researchers carrying out scientific projects with high innovation potential.
His project, entitled CaptuRel (Capture-and-Release Organic Nanomaterials for Optical Sensing and Control of Cells), explores a new generation of intelligent organic nanomaterials capable of both sensing and controlling cellular chemical signals using light.
A bioinspired approach to talking to cells
CaptuRel aims to combine two hitherto separate concepts :
- Fluorescent probes, used to detect biologically active molecules,
- Molecular photocaging, to trigger biological processes under the effect of light.
CaptuRel's ambition is to create "artificial neurons" capable of capturing and releasing on command natural chemical messengers - such as protons or neurotransmitters - to communicate with cells or other materials. These materials will be used to study, or even influence, fundamental processes such as neuronal growth or synaptic plasticity.
The award of this ERC Advanced Grant underlines the excellence of his scientific career and the disruptive potential of his research at the interface of chemistry, photonic biology and nanotechnology.
Congratulations to Andrey on this major distinction, which reinforces the visibility of our laboratory at the highest European level!
