CV Science

Françoise GUERITTE Bioactive Natural Products

Course and current status

1976: Thèse de Doctorat de 3° Cycle - Université Paris XI, Orsay. (Grant: Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer). Semisynthesis and biological activity of vinblastine analogues

1977-1979: Post-Doctoral positions (NIH Grant) Department of Chemistry, Yale University, USA and Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, USA. Laboratory of Professeur A. Ian Scott. Biosynthesis of vinblastine

1980: Thèse de Doctorat d’Etat : ICSN-CNRS, Gif (P. Potier, Y. et N. Langlois) Vinca alcaloïds : Semisynthesis, Biosynthesis and Structure-Activity Relationships

1981: "Chargée de Recherche" INSERM

Today: Research Director INSERM (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale) Team manager of the “Pôle Substance Naturelle-Plantes” at ICSN (Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles) – CNRS (Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique)

144 research papers, 9 patents

Scientific summary

My team is specialized in the isolation and chemistry of natural bioactive products. We are looking for natural products that 1) could be used as ligands to study biological targets in the fields of cancer, infectiology, neglected diseases, etc., 2) may serve as “hits” for further optimization and drug development, and 3) could be used as mimics for the synthesis of new molecules with biological properties. We have already succeeded in isolating molecules that interact with anti-apoptotic proteins, kinases, tubulin, proteins involved in the RSV replication, RNA polymerase of flavivirus, etc., and are inhibitors of viral replication, plasmodium or cancer cell growth. The team is also involved in the synthesis and structure-activity relationships of natural compounds interacting with tubulin and anti-apoptotic proteins.