Centre for Molecular Biophysics (CBM)

Address 2:  31 avenue Monge, 37200 Tours

Fostering interdisciplinary collaborations between physicist, chemists and biologists, our researches focus on the understanding of the role and the mechanisms of actions of biomacromolecules in human health and the design of new macromolecules. They are applied to cancer, neurosciences, inflammatory diseases, theranostic clinical applications. The four teams of CBM develop re- search in the fields of structural, molecular and cellular biology, chemical biology, biomedical imaging, exobiology and theoretical biophysics. This scientific diversity is an important feature of CBM. 

Research Topics:

•    Development of new contrasts agents
•    Vectorization and formulation of nucleic acids (siRNA, pDNA, mRNA)
•    Targets and innovative therapies (oncology, neurosciences, infectiology, immunology, vascular disorders, skin biology)
•    Biomolecular engineering: post-translational modifications, chemical engineering of proteins, ribo-switches
•    Basic mechanisms of life
•    Translational studies (preclinic and clinal trial)

Equipements and technology:

• NMR spectrometers at 400, 600, and 700 MHz
• Mass spectrometers (ESI-ion trap, MALDI-TOF, high-resolution nanoESI)
• 7 T and 9.4 T MRI systems
• Photoacoustic imaging; confocal microscopy
• Flow video microscopy; cell analyzers and sorters (FACS)
• Microfluidic nanoassembler; macroscope
• Vis-NIR spectrofluorimeter; time-resolved measurements (ns–ms)
• Relaxometer (10 kHz–80 MHz); atomic force microscope
• Raman spectroscopy; circular dichroism
• X-ray generator; automated pipetting and crystallization systems
• Phosphorimagers
• Peptide synthesizer
• Raman microspectroscopy
• MALS
• Particle size analysis
• PBLI