124 / 5 000 Development of small molecules for targeted fluorogenic optofixation within three-dimensional biological systems

We discovered that palmatine (PAL), a well-known natural product, was inducing the fluorogenic fixation of live cells upon visible light irradiation. This ultrafast phenomenon proceeded under high spatiotemporal control down to single cells (SC), with persistence of well-preserved fixed-labeled cells. Cell optofixing was mediated by PAL interaction with nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, yielding reactive oxygen species (ROS) mainly singlet oxygen (1O2), lipid peroxidation (LPO) and LPO-derived fixing aldehydes. We found that other DNA dyes including conventional trackers were also capable of optofixing cells, furnishing a consistent methodology (fluorophore-mediated optofixation, FLUMO) across the visible spectrum.

https://www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2026.03.27.714905v1

The aim of the PhD project is to semisynthesize novel fluorogenic optofixatives with improved photobiological properties for applications in SC, organoid and whole organism biology at the level of partnering parisian institutes (I. Curie and I. Pasteur).

1 355 / 5 000

The UMR 261 IRD MERIT research unit, "Mother and Child in Tropical Environments: Pathogens, Health Systems, and Epidemiological Transition," comprises chemists, biochemists, parasitologists, medical biologists, epidemiologists and biostatisticians. Its mission is to study infectious and, more recently, non-communicable diseases (e.g., pollutants) affecting mothers and children in tropical regions. Research methods include field and laboratory studies, which may lead to clinical trials of drugs or vaccines. MERIT's historical and ongoing focus of study is malaria and its primary causative agent, Plasmodium falciparum.The chemistry and chemo-biology of Plasmodium studied at MERIT address  mechanisms of action of antiplasmodial drugs, resistance mechanisms, and the development of innovative molecular tools and new biologically active chemical series for research. 

- Organist chemist or cell biologist

- Outstanding track record (grade A in French license, M1 and M2 or equivalent)