On September 18, current and former Cermav staff gathered to celebrate the laboratory’s 60th anniversary. It was a day filled with reunions, memories, and conversation—centered on research, certainly, but also on the people who helped build this remarkable story. The day began with remarks from representatives of the partner institutions—CNRS, CNRS Chemistry, and Université Grenoble […]

Après Étonnant Vivant, Étonnante Chimie, Étonnants Infinis et Étonnante Physique, découvrez Étonnants Matériaux, le nouvel ouvrage de la série de CNRS Éditions. Ce nouvel ouvrage propose une soixantai...

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60 years of research, innovation, knowledge sharing and commitment! This year, our laboratory is celebrating its 60th anniversary! 🎈🎉 Six decades.A collective journey shaped by all those who have contributed to the laboratory’s life, development and evolution over the years. To mark this special anniversary, we invite you to join us for a day filled […]

Founded in 1966, the Centre for Research on Plant Macromolecules (Cermav) has undergone numerous evolutions and transformations. Initially conceived as the Institute of Cellulose and Lignin—complement...

Serge Pérez, CNRS Emeritus Research Director at Cermav, has just published an e-book titled Foundations of Polysaccharide Science with Taylor & Francis (CRC Press). The book outlines the origins and natural sources of polysaccharides in plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and algae. It describes the biosynthetic pathways and functional modifications of these molecules for a variety […]

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Glycoconjugate metal complexes target bacterial and fungal proteins for antiadhesive effects.

Glycoconjugate metal complexes target bacterial and fungal proteins for antiadhesive effects.

Glycan epitopes exposed on the host cell surface serve as receptors for a wide range of proteins expressed by microorganisms. Among these, lectins that are produced by viruses, bacteria, and fungi in either soluble or surface-attached forms, play key roles in infection processes. The fine specificity that many of these glycan-binding proteins display toward human glycan epitopes is the result of long-term co-evolution. Structural insights into lectin architecture, their binding sites, and the atomic details of their interactions with glycans are crucial for designing antimicrobial agents capable of competing with infectious processes and potentially supplementing antibiotics in the current fight against antimicrobial resistance. This review highlights how structural lectinology can serve as a starting point for fruitful collaborations with synthetic carbohydrate chemists in the design, synthesis, and characterization of glycomimetics acting as pathoblockers. Various strategies have been developed to target lectins, exemplified here by soluble lectins from the lung pathogens Pseudomonas aeruginosa and members of the Burkholderia cepacia complex. The affinity for monosaccharide ligands has been enhanced through heterocyclic functionalization using classical medicinal chemistry approaches, with the best results obtained by mimicking natural glycan receptors. Alternatively, the oligomeric nature of lectins allows the design of divalent or multivalent ligands, which exhibit much stronger affinity due to the cluster effect. Covalent inhibitors and non-carbohydrate glycomimetics also represent promising leads for future strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance.

The notorious pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa relies on the lectin LecA for host cell adhesion, invasion, and biofilm formation. Motivated by the pressing need for new antiinfective therapies caused by antimicrobial resistance, inhibitors of LecA are under investigation. Complementary to the use of carbohydrate-based inhibitors, we have previously identified catechols as weak but specific ligands of LecA, constituting a novel class of noncarbohydrate glycomimetics. Here, we present the catechol Tolcapone and derivatives as a new class of potent glycomimetics. By growing the initial millimolar fragment hits, we identified Tolcapone as a promising compound. To gain insight into the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of catechols as LecA binders more than 3,200 compounds of the Roche in-house library were experimentally screened in a competitive binding assay at three concentrations. Of these, 48 compounds were chosen for further investigation, resulting in compounds equipotent to aryl galactosides, the current epithome of LecA inhibition. X-ray crystallography and saturation transfer difference NMR spectroscopy revealed conserved interactions of the catechol moiety in the glycan binding site of LecA and rationalized the observed SAR. Our findings demonstrate that it is possible to develop potent non-carbohydrate glycomimetic lectin inhibitors, paving the way for a new avenue of research that could yield innovative antiinfective drugs.

Most antibiotics used in human medicine inhibit the biosynthesis of peptidoglycan (PG), a vital component of the bacterial cell wall. However, the rapid rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a major global health threat. Gaining deeper insight into PG metabolism is a crucial step in combating AMR, an objective achievable only through the use of welldefined molecular probes. In this study, we developed a chemo-enzymatic method to synthesize PG oligosaccharides using a lysozyme-derived glycosynthase. To prevent unwanted polymerization and enable precise control over product size, a glycosyl fluoride donor bearing a terminal galactosyl unit was designed. The trisaccharide Gal-beta-(1→4)-GlcNAc-beta-(1→4)-1,6-anhydro-MurNAc was biosynthesized in metabolically engineered Escherichia coli cells and subsequently fluorinated at the reducing end via chemical modification. Successive glycosylation and degalactosylation steps using this donor, starting from two disaccharide acceptors, led to the synthesis of PG tetra-, hexa-, and octasaccharides, with 60-70% yield at each cycle. These compounds were used to probe the specificity of E. coli DedD, a SPOR-domain-containing protein involved in bacterial cell division. NMR spectroscopy and NMR-restraint-driven molecular dynamics provide new insights into the role of this protein relative to other E. coli SPOR domain-containing proteins.

Chirality transfer across length scales is a fascinating phenomenon that has intrigued researchers across disciplines. This is especially the case with cellulose, where, despite being one of the most exploited materials in our society, such as paper and cotton, it remains elusive when it comes to the transfer of the intrinsic chirality at the molecular scale to larger hierarchical structures. Here we show that in the case of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), allomorphic transformation from cellulose I to cellulose II can lead to chirality inversions in chiral nematic suspensions. This phenomenon allows the fabrication of right-handed chiral photonic films using CNCs extracted from standard plant biomass, which is first mercerized and then subjected to sulfuric acid hydrolysis followed by desulfation. Similar to standard cellulose I-based CNC self-assembly, the twist chirality and aspect ratio of the left-handed CNCs in cellulose II can be significantly modified through crystallite aggregation engineering. In contrast to molecular liquid crystals, chirality inversion has never been presented in colloidal liquid crystals, and our findings present a step towards the development of so far inaccessible cellulose materials beyond the native crystallinity

The prime objective of this study was to construct a synthetic platform for an aqueous reaction system that enabled chemical modification of environmentally-friendly resources by using multicomponent reactions (MCRs). The target system was based on the Passerini three-component (P-3CR) reaction among carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), formaldehyde (F-CHO), and 1-adamantyl isocyanide (Adm-NC), which has been a heterogeneous reaction due to the insolubility of Adm-NC in water. Such a reaction to produce gel-like products is difficult to control. In this study, we have added cyclodextrins (CDs) to the system in order to bypass uncontrolled interactions between the Adm-NC and water molecules by utilizing a host-guest complexation between the CDs and adamantane (Adm) derivatives. The CD-supported P-3CR homogeneously proceeded in water. The resulting products have been characterized to clarify the impact of the CDs and stoichiometric ratios of the three starting materials in the feeds. This paper includes another minor topic that CDs have been subsequently released by dialysis by using an automatic continuous ultrafiltration apparatus, making the inherent Adm units exposed in aqueous media. The CD-released P-3CR products showed selforganization properties due to hydrophobic associations between the exposed Adm units.

Submitted on : Monday, January 5, 2026-8:32:10 PM

Efforts to fully understand the structure-to-function relationships of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) have been hampered by the complexity and polydispersi…

Composite manufacturing often requires multiple additives to achieve desired properties in terms of strength, safety, and durability. Here, we produce multifunctional lignin-cellulose nanofibrils (PLCNFs) via a simple phosphorylation of giant reed using H3PO4/urea. The synergistic effects of cellulose, lignin, and phosphate in PLCNFs offer promising prospects for the manufacturing of multifunctional composites. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/PLCNF nanocomposites were produced by solvent casting and comprehensively characterized using scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, UV–vis spectroscopy, contact angle measurements, moisture uptake, and microscale combustion calorimetry. The reinforcing and flame-retardant potentials of PLCNF in the PVA matrix were revealed, along with additional UV-shielding and hydrophobicity imparted by lignin. These features highlight the potential applications of these nanocomposites as a safe substitute for flammable or hazardous materials. These multifunctional films are promising for sustainable food packaging and protective coating applications requiring UV-blocking and flame-retardant properties. In summary, this study demonstrates that underused lignocellulosic resources, when combined with benign phosphorylation chemistry, can serve as robust, reliable, and eco-friendly flame-retardant additives for enhanced nanocomposites.

Composite manufacturing often requires multiple additives to achieve desired properties in terms of strength, safety, and durability. Here, we produce…

Compared with cyclodextrins (CD), carbohydrate-based block copolymers offer enhanced tunability regarding guest encapsulation properties by forming mi…

Block co-oligomers (BCOs) consisting of oligosaccharides and hydrophobic terpenoid blocks exhibit microphase-separated structures of various morpholog…

Herein, the application of a stable aqueous suspension of sugar-functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to thermoelectric energy harvesting is reported…

Regenerated cellulose films suffer from inherent brittleness, restricting their practical use. Conventional plasticizer-based strategies can enhance d…

We are pleased to announce the continuation of our collaboration with FunCell. Following the creation of FunCell in 2020, based on research results from Cermav and a SATT Linksium maturation project, ...

Anne Imberty, CNRS Research Director, has been awarded the 2025 Pierre Süe Prize by the French Chemical Society (SCF). The SCF recognizes chemists who have contributed to the advancement of a field of...

La start-up grenobloise, qui développe un spray nasal à base de sucres pour cibler les virus responsables de la grippe a levé 1,5 million d’euros, notamment auprès de plusieurs investisseurs du territ...

Increasing plastic pollution, particularly in oceans, calls for a fundamental shift towards future-proof plastics throughout the circular economy. In a landmark

Romain Bordage completed his PhD thesis entitled “Spontaneous and mechanically-assisted water transport in beech wood: investigation using X-ray tomography and digital volume correlation” under the jo...

Batoul Moubarak completed her doctoral thesis, entitled “Understanding the Biochemical Function and Evolutionary Diversification of Galactolipid Synthases” under the joint supervision of Christelle Br...

A new method combining frontal ultrafiltration and ultrasound, followed by UV photocrosslinking enabled the fabrication of orthotropic CNC/PEGDA (poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate) nanocomposites with ...