Presentation

The aim of the Laboratory of Bioimaging and Pathology is to use multidisciplinary (biology/chemistry/physics) and multi-scale (from molecule to patient) approaches to study, at both fundamental and applied levels, the properties and roles of a limited number of key biomolecules involved in various pathological processes. Our approach is to develop new therapeutic and diagnostic approaches in oncology and microbiology based on information obtained at the fundamental level. A key feature of the unit is the parallel development and characterisation of innovative fluorescence-based tools, methods and techniques to answer these questions. This multidisciplinary approach, which combines the development of innovative fluorescence and imaging tools to address biological questions, is unique in the French scientific landscape. The laboratory is organised into 4 teams:

• The aim of the Biophotonics of Molecular and Cellular Interactions (BIMC) team is to characterise the molecular mechanisms of biomolecules that play a key role in infectious mechanisms or cancer processes, with the ambition of proposing new therapeutic avenues while at the same time developing innovative fluorescence microscopy and targeting approaches.
• The Photoactive Materials and Bioimaging (MPB) team develops multifunctional fluorescent probes and nanomaterials for biomolecular detection and biological imaging, and develops model systems to validate these probes and nanomaterials.
• The aim of the Migration, Invasion and Targeting (MIC) team is to identify the mechanisms of cell migration and invasion in the context of melanoma. In particular, their project aims to characterise the direct interactions of FAK (focal adhesion kinase) and its homologue Pyk2 (proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2) with their protein partners, with a particular interest in the mechanisms involved in the morphological changes of organelles at the origin of cancer initiation and progression.
• The Translational, Transversal and Therapeutic Oncology (ONKO3T) team studies how tumours function in their ecosystem to identify: (i) cancer cell targets that alter the mechanisms of tumour cell maintenance and progression and/or microenvironmental targets that alter the tumour ecology to render it unsuitable for survival, and (ii) novel phenotypic, prognostic and predictive markers of treatment response.

The Laboratory of Bioimaging and Pathologies ensures also the management of 3 platforms located in the Faculty of Pharmacy: