Virulence Nano-Macromolecular Machinosome (VN2M)

Our team aims to Identify, to Understand, to Block and to Hijack bacterial nanomachines that challenge human health.

Bacterial nanomachines play a pivotal role in bacterial life processes, for the good but also for the bad. Nanoscale dynamic protein protein interaction (PPI) drives the assembly of the myriad of protein components that build these nanomachines. Our VN2M team seeks to understand the molecular intimacy and the atomic architecture of these powerful biological nanomachines with the objective of deciphering how they work and regulate their activity. Our knowledge is then used to develop original and “chirurgical” strategies to interfere with the assembly and functioning of the virulence nanomachines, just like a “grain of sand in the nanomachine’s gears”. Our molecules or peptides will allow to combat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in the future. Ultimately, our increasing level of detail in the building of such “molecular cathedral” will feed our synthetic biology initiative to mimic and hijack such powerful engines for biotechnological applications, notably in cancer treatment.

Our research revolves around 5 themes :

1. Integrative structural approach to decipher “atypical” T6SS nanomachines
2. Molecular understanding of nanomachines crosstalk
3. Connecting clinical to molecular microbiology: Identification nanomachines implicated in the virulence of Gram-negative bacterial pathogens
4. Combatting multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogen by targeting a conserved virulence mechanisms: structure inspired (peptides) and high-throughput screening (molecules).
5. Synthetic biology: artificial nanomachines for biotech/biomed applications.