Biography
Trained as a biochemist, I received in 2004 my PhD in Biochemistry from the Free University of Berlin (Germany) on a comprehensive study on the characterization of PDZ domain/ligand specificity under the supervision of Profs. H. Oschkinat and J. Schneider-Mergener. Then, she joined the group of Dr. R. Volkmer (Charité – Berlin) as a post-doctoral fellow to further improve the chemical features of peptide library screening. In 2009, she joined the group of Prof. B. Lebleu at the University of Montpellier (France) to work on cell-penetrating peptides to vectorize oligonucleotides as therapeutics for Duchenne muscular dystrophin. In 2012, I was appointed as a junior researcher (CR1) at CNRS and in 2013 as co-PI at the Centre de Recherche de Biologie cellulaire de Montpellier (CRBM). I defended my accreditation to supervise research (HDR) in 2013. Since 2021, I am member of the INSERM Team N°4, "Development of the visceral smooth muscle and associated pathologies" at the laboratory Physiology and Experimental Biology of Heart and Muscles (PhyMedEexp).
Research topics
My research topics are focused on the development of therapeutic peptides which could be cell-penetrating peptides or interfering peptides.
Cell-Penetrating Peptides (CPPs): Most of the used pharmacological molecules (proteins, antibodies, nucleic acids, etc.) are not permeable for the cells. Beside several delivery systems, CPPs are short peptides, mainly with a positive global charge which are able to internalize cell by their one – alone or together with a cargo. Depending on the used cargo, two delivery strategies are used: the first requires chemical linkage with the cargo and the second involves the formation of stable, non-covalent peptide-based nanoparticles (PBNs). PBNs are mainly used to deliver nucleic acids such as plasmids, mRNA, siRNA or oligonucleotides. My main research objective will be the application of our designed PBNs in order to knock-down or overexpress specific proteins involved in different physio-pathologies in order to develop innovative therapeutics.
Interfering peptides : The dissection of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) implicated in signaling cascades by different techniques (in silico, genetic or biochemical) has demonstrated a direct correlation between various PPIs and different human pathologies. Thus, specific PPI inhibitors (also known as interfering peptides) appear as a new class of drugs with many potential applications in fundamental research and in clinics. The main focus of my research is the design and screening of interfering peptides as PPI inhibitors using my know-how in peptide library screening by the SPOT technology combined with cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) as vectorization methodology. This approached was successfully applied in the context of different pathologies such myocardial infarction and cystic fibrosis.
Fields of interest
Peptide Chemistry, Biology, Health, Therapeutics
Technologies
Peptide synthesis, SPOT synthesis, Peptide stability, Westen blot, Quantification assays (luciferase, LDH, BCA, etc.), Cell culture (cell lines and primary cells), Microscopy.
Applications
Interfering peptides, Cell-penetrating peptides, Nanoparticle.
Several publications
Deshayes S, Konate K, Dussot M, Chavey B, Vaissière A, Van TNN, Aldrian G, Padari K, Pooga M, Vivès E, Boisguérin P*. (2020) Deciphering the internalization mechanism of WRAP:siRNA nanoparticles. Biochim Biophys Acta Biomembr. 1862(6):183252.
Boisguérin P, Covinhes A, Gallot L, Barrère C, Vincent A, Busson M, Piot C, Nargeot J, Lebleu B, Barrère-Lemaire S*. (2020) A novel therapeutic peptide targeting myocardial reperfusion injury Cardiovasc Res. 116(3):633-644.
Seisel Q, Deshayes S, Boisguerin P*. (2019) How to evaluate the cellular uptake of CPPs with fluorescence techniques: dissecting methodological pitfalls associated to tryptophan-rich peptides. Biochim Biophys Acta Biomembr. 1861(9):1533-1545.
Konate K, Dussot M, Aldrian G, Vaissière A, Viguier V, Ferreiro Neira I, Couillaud F, Vivès E, Boisguerin P, Deshayes S*. (2019) Peptide-based nanoparticles to rapidly and efficiently “Wrap’n Roll" siRNA into cells. Bioconj. Chem. 30(3):592-603
Aldrian G, Vaissière A, Konate K, Seisel Q, Vivès E, Fernandez F, Viguier V, Genevois C, Couillaud F, Démèné H, Aggad D, Covinhes A, Barrère-Lemaire S, Deshayes S, Boisguerin P*. (2017) PEGylation rate influences peptide-based nanoparticles mediated siRNA delivery in vitro and in vivo. J Control Release. 256:79-91.
Reverte M, Vaissiere A, Boisguerin P, Vasseur J-J, Smietana M*. (2016) RNase H-Assisted Imaging of Peroxynitrite in Living Cells with 5’-Boronic Acid Modified DNA. ASC Sensors ACS Sens. 1(8), 970-974.
Müller J, Triebus J, Kretzschmar I, Volkmer R, Boisguerin P*. (2012) The agony of choice: how to find a suitable CPP for cargo delivery. J Pept Sci. 18(5):293-301.
Vouilleme L, Cushing PR, Volkmer R, Madden DR*, Boisguerin P*. (2010) Engineering Peptide Inhibitors to Overcome PDZ Binding Promiscuity. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 49(51):9907-11.
Ay B, Landgraf K, Streitz M, Fuhrmann S, Volkmer R, Boisguerin P*. (2008) Using hydroxymethylphenoxy derivates with the SPOT technology to generate peptides with authentic C-termini. Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 18(14):4038-43.
Wiedemann U, Boisguerin P, Leben R, Leitner D, Krause G, Moelling K, Volkmer-Engert R, Oschkinat H*. (2004) Quantification of PDZ domain specificity, prediction of ligand affinity and rational design of super-binding peptides. J Mol Biol 343(3):703-718.