HDR defense - Leandro Tabares (B3S dpt)

Speaker: Leandro Tabares

Title: Metals at the Heart of Life: Metalloproteins, Radioresistance, and the Design of Spectroscopic Probes

Abstract: 
Transition metals play essential and multifaceted roles in biology where their redox and coordination properties are exploited in enzymatic catalysis, stress adaptation, and cellular regulation. Understanding these processes requires
experimental approaches capable of probing both the metal centers and their protein environments, not only in vitro but also within the cellular context. My research has been devoted to exploring these questions by combining biochemistry and molecular biology with advanced biophysical tools, in particular Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy. I have applied these methods to a wide range of systems, from superoxide dismutases and copper enzymes to organisms adapted to extreme radiative stress. Together, these studies have revealed how protein-metal interactions tune enzymatic reactivity, how cells exploit metal availability to modulate function, and how metalloenzymes contribute to resistance against oxidative and radiative damage. More recently, I have been using metal centers as spectroscopic tools for in-cell structural biology approaches based on pulsed dipolar spectroscopy by designing genetically encodable metal-based spin labels. These strategies open a new way to investigate the conformational state of proteins directly in their native environments.

Jury members:
- Anabella IVANCICH, Directrice de Recherches CNRS, Bioénergétique et Ingénierie des Protéines, Marseille.
- Bruno GUIGLIARELLI, Professor Université Aix-Marseille, Bioénergétique et Ingénierie des Protéines, Marseille.
- Jean-Michel JAULT, Directeur de recherche CNRS, Microbiologie Moléculaire et Biochimie Structurale, Lyon.
- Clotilde POLICAR, Professeure École Normale Supérieure de Paris, Chimie Physique et Chimie du Vivant, Paris.
- Frédéric AVENIER, Professor Université Paris-Saclay, Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d'Orsay.
- Benoit D'AUTRÉAUX, Directeur de Recherche INSERM, Institut de Biologie Intégrative de la Cellule, Gif-sur-Yvette.