Valérie Gabelica Building tools to measure living molecules

No science without measurements

Why, in the same organism, is a retina cell so different from a liver cell? Both have the same DNA in their nucleus, inherited from their parents. The cells of different organs have such distinct shapes and functions because, among other things, of chemical changes that attach to the DNA and RNA. These chemical changes are very diverse. Existing analytical methods struggle to map them all. To solve this problem, Valérie Gabelica develops, adapts and pushes back the limits of a cutting-edge technology: mass spectrometry, which accurately measures the mass of molecules to determine their composition.

Staying in shape

In addition to going through chemical modifications, the nucleic acids that make up DNA and RNA can fold in relation to each other in various serpentine forms. Most existing analytical methods distort these forms, causing researchers to lose valuable information. Valérie Gabelica aims to keep the context, and thus the shape, of the DNA or RNA sequence where the change is found. She has developed protocols to analyze nucleic acids under conditions as close as possible to in vivo so that they keep the shape they had in the cell.

Such technical improvements reveal the spatiality of chemical changes, thus allowing cells that cooperate with each other to be identified. Mapping this synergy could open up therapeutic avenues unimaginable today.

The Liliane Bettencourt Life Sciences Prize funds extremely promising projects to develop targeted therapies in Dr. Gabelica's laboratory.

One of them targets oncogene promoters, small DNA sequences that are strongly linked to cancer. Oncogene promoters undergo chemical and structural changes that Dr. Gabelica will analyze with the tools she develops. The promoters are potential targets for more effective cancer drugs with fewer side effects.