https://joliot.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2025/Llama-antibodies-therapeutic-avenues-against-schizophrenia.aspx Website of the Frédéric-Joliot Institute of Life Sciences which includes 4 departments: I2BC, DMTS, NeuroSpin and Service hospitalier Frédéric Joliot (SHFJ). The teams are mainly located at the CEA Paris-Saclay center and at the Orsay hospital. en-US https://www.cea.fr/Style%20Library/Themes/drf/instituts/images/logo-cea-joliot-2023.png https://joliot.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2026/Biotherapies-immunogenicity-associated-with-nanobodies.aspx Nanobodies, promising biotherapeutic agents, may trigger undesirable immune reactions. A team from SIMoS demonstrates, using a sensitive assay on human T lymphocytes, that this risk exists for certain nanobodies and can be reduced through sequence humanization. These findings highlight the importance of assessing immunogenicity alongside therapeutic efficacy. Biotechnology ; Diagnosis and innovative treatment SIMOPRO Scientific result Tue, 31 Mar 2026 10:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2025/Cyanine-5-huwentoxin-IV-imaging-agent-lung-cancer.aspx A team from SIMoS (DMTS) has demonstrated the ability of a peptide derived from a spider venom toxin to detect overexpressed sodium channels in a metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line. Biotechnology ; Biomarkers ; Cell and molecular imaging ; Cancer SIMOPRO Scientific result Mon, 10 Nov 2025 11:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2025/Llama-antibodies-therapeutic-avenues-against-schizophrenia.aspx Researchers from SIMoS (DMTS) contributed to the characterization of a nanobody (VHH) designed by scientists at the Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle in Montpellier. They performed tritium labeling and biodistribution tracking of this VHH, which can specifically activate a glutamate receptor involved in schizophrenia. This work was published in Nature. Biotechnology SIMOPRO Scientific result ; Article preclinical model;animal models; Wed, 10 Sep 2025 10:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2025/Monoclonal-antibodies-production-targeted-cell-fusion.aspx Researchers at SPI (DMTS) have developed a high-yield strategy for producing monoclonal antibodies by preselecting the antibody-producing cells most likely to form viable hybridomas. This represents a step towards a wider use of this technology which should help to further reduce the number of animals to be immunised. Biotechnology SPI Scientific result ; Article animal models; Fri, 05 Sep 2025 10:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2025/Optimized-toxin-MQ232-snake-venom-renal-diseases.aspx Researchers at SIMoS, SPI (DMTS) and BioMaps (SHFJ) report the development of a new molecule, MQ232, derived from mambaquaretin. As a specific antagonist of the vasopressin V2 receptor, MQ232 is a promising drug candidate for the treatment of renal pathologies. Health ＆ life sciences ; Diseases ; Biotechnology SHFJ Scientific result ; Article animal models;preclinic; Thu, 20 Mar 2025 11:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2024/Functionalization-B-subunit-Shigatoxin-vaccine-tool.aspx Researchers at SIMoS (DMTS) describe the synthesis, engineering and evaluation of the properties of the B subunit of bacterial Shiga toxin (STxB), administered mucosally, as a vaccine tool. Their results confirm the value of using a synthetic STxB in an anti-tumor and anti-infectious vaccination strategy. Biotechnology ; Vaccine SIMOPRO Scientific result préclinique; Fri, 26 Jan 2024 11:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2023/Click-Chemistry-optimized-drug-delivery-nanomicelles.aspx Researchers at SCBM have used a click-and-release chemistry approach to mass-release an anti-cancer drug into cells from cleavable nanomicelles, thanks to a bioorthogonal activation process. A step towards the development of new nanomedicines Chemistry ; Biotechnology SCBM Scientific result Fri, 10 Nov 2023 11:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2023/Model-cyanobacterium-production-high-value-terpenes.aspx Through two publications, an I2BC team demonstrates the high biotechnological potential of the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803 for the photosynthetic production of high value-added organic compounds, the terpenes. Photosynthesis ; Microalgae ; Biotechnology SB2SM Scientific result Fri, 10 Feb 2023 11:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2022/Discovery-natural-peptide-black-mamba-venom.aspx ​A team from SIMoS (DMTS) identifies and characterizes a toxin isolated from black mamba venom, whose specific anticholinergic properties at the type 2 acetylcholine receptor, a regulator of arterial tone, position it as a potential drug candidate for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Health ＆ life sciences ; Biotechnology SIMOPRO Scientific result ; Article Mon, 21 Nov 2022 11:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2022/Engineering-antibodies-accommodate-antigenic-drift-SARS-CoV-1-2.aspx Researchers from SIMoS and SPI (DMTS) demonstrate that molecular engineering of llama antibodies, capable of neutralizing SARS-CoV-1, allows to obtain optimized antibodies with very high affinities for SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, the culprits of the Covid-19 epidemic. Biotechnology ; Virus SPI Scientific result Thu, 22 Sep 2022 10:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2022/How-to-make-biodrugs-less-immunogenic.aspx SIMoS team, in collaboration with Bicêtre Hospital, shows that certolizumab pegol, a pegylated monoclonal antibody fragment for anti-inflammatory use, is less likely to trigger an adverse immune response than the non-pegylated form. Health ＆ life sciences ; Biotechnology SIMOPRO Scientific result Mon, 20 Jun 2022 10:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Institute/2021/Deeptope-start-up-Simos.aspx Deeptope, founded in February 2021 from a technology developed at the DMTS Laboratory of Cellular Immunology and Biotechnology (LICB), is a company of therapeutic antibody engineering that provides antibody optimization and characterization services to biotech or pharmaceutical firms with the goal of increasing the quality of antibodies in a very short timeframe. Biotechnology ; Pharmacology News ; Article Mon, 29 Nov 2021 11:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2020/Synthetic-biology-increase-diversity-diketopiperazines.aspx Researchers from I2BC (SBIGeM), in collaboration with teams from Sorbonne University, have characterized cyclodipeptide oxidases in vivo and shown that they are valuable tools for producing dehydrogenated 2,5-diketopiperazines, precursors of bioactive molecules of pharmaceutical interest, in Escherichia coli using synthetic biology approaches. Fundamental Research ; Health ＆ life sciences ; Biotechnology Scientific result Fri, 25 Sep 2020 10:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2020/Magnetic-sensors-ultra-sensitive-biochips.aspx Researchers from IRAMIS collaborated with a team from SPI (LERI) for the development of a microfluidic biochip ("lab-on-chip") based on ultra-sensitive magnetic sensors with giant magnetoresistance (GMR sensors), capable of individually and effectively detect magnetically-labeled biological targets. Biotechnology ; Biodetection ; Physics Scientific result Wed, 08 Jan 2020 11:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2019/A-ferredoxin-to-fuel-metabolic-pathways.aspx Researchers at BIAM and I2BC@Saclay, in collaboration with Japanese colleagues from Okayama University and Ehime, have characterized in a cyanobacterium a minor protein that diverts part of the energy from photosynthesis to secondary metabolic pathways. This discovery is promising to exploit these metabolic pathways in a biotechnological process of bioenergy production. Biotechnology ; Bioenergy ; Photosynthesis Scientific result Mon, 14 Oct 2019 10:00:00 GMT https://www.cea.fr/drf/joliot/en/Pages/news/Science/2018/biotechnological-approach-new-bioactive-molecules.aspx ​Muriel Gondry's Research Team (I2BC@Saclay / SBIGeM), in collaboration with SIMOPRO and Biomolecules Laboratory of the Sorbonne University's one, produced 200 cyclodipeptides containing non-natural amino acids by luring and diverting the cellular machinery for the synthesis of proteins. This unprecedented approach significantly increases the diversity of these bioactive molecules. Biotechnology ; Structural biology Scientific result Mon, 05 Mar 2018 11:00:00 GMT