CV Science

Sébastien DESHAYES Ph.D. Biophysics

Course and current status

Academic Degrees

2002-2005: Ph.D. in Biophysics on the Physico-chemical characterization of Peptides for Therapeutics Delivery in the “Department of Molecular Biophysics and Therapeutic", Centre de Recherche en Biochimie Macromoléculaire (CRBM), CNRS-FRE 2593, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France. European consortium “Small carrier peptides as a new tool for selective drug delivery” N°QLK2 CT 2001 01451 (Adivisor: Dr. Frédéric Heitz).

 Appointments

Since 2021: CRCN, Member of the INSERM Team N°4, "Development of the visceral smooth muscle and Associated Pathologies". Physiology and Experimental Biology of Heart and Muscles (PHYMEDEXP), INSERM U1046, CNRS UMR 9214 CNRS, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France. Director: Dr. Alain Lacampagne.

2015-2020: CRCN, Member of the CNRS Team "Peptide-based vectors for therapeutic delivery". Centre de Recherche de Biologie cellulaire de Montpellier (CRBM), CNRS-UMR 5237, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France. Director: Dr. Anne Debant.

2007-2015: CRCN, Member of the CNRS Team "Department of Molecular Biophysics and Therapeutic". Centre de Recherche en Biochimie Macromoléculaire (CRBM), CNRS-UMR 5237, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France. Director: Pr. Paul Mangeat.

2005 – 2007: Post-doctoral position, Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire Numérique (CBMN), Faculté Universitaire des Sciences Agronomiques de Gembloux, Belgium, Director: Pr. Robert Brasseur.

Scientific summary

Cell-Penetrating Peptides (CPPs) consist in a promising approach opening new perspectives for drug delivery and have undergone a real increase of interest during the last two decades. CPPs can be described as short peptides which are able to penetrate biological membrane and to transfer therapeutic cargoes into cells. CPPs can be subdivided into two main classes, the first requires chemical linkage with the cargo and the second involves the formation of stable Peptide-Based Nanoparticles (PBN) with therapeutics without requiring any cross-linking or chemical modifications. This strategy has been shown to constitute a potent alternative for drug delivery and offers several advantages, including no requirement for chemical cleavage which favors a better release of the cargo inside the targeted cells, and a fan of modifications in order to increase specificity for the cargo and/or the target. PBN might be improved in the nature of the cargoes to deliver (ex: cocktails of oligonucleotides), in their stability (ex: PEGylation) and in their cells/tissues specificity (ex: targeting sequences, homing motif). In this context, we develop several PBN for different types of therapeutic agents in order to down- or up- regulate specific proteins/genes involved in different mechanisms, from proteins/genes involved in the development/differentiation of smooth muscle cells of the gastrointestinal tract to the proteins/genes involved in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) progression.