Nour Ayoub
“Article of the Month” award October 2026. Exploring the multi-protein assembly of the enzymes of the de novo purine nucleotide biosynthetic pathway from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Int J Biol Macromol. 2026
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Purine nucleotide biosynthesis is a crucial metabolic pathway responsible for producing building blocks essential for a plethora of cellular processes. In bacteria, the de novo purine nucleotide biosynthetic pathway (DNPNB) involves fifteen chemical steps catalysed by fourteen different enzymes. While the mammalian orthologues have been extensively shown to interact and form a metabolon named “purinosome”, the possible existence of a prokaryotic equivalent was only recently revealed for the case of Escherichia coli. In this study, we explored the potential conservation of a bacterial purinosome-like complex in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic pathogen known for its high antibiotic resistance. Using a bacterial two-hybrid system, we mapped protein-protein interactions among all tested DNPNB enzymes in P. aeruginosa and revealed a dense interaction network. An in-silico protein-protein docking approach on three core enzymes allowed the structural reconstitution of a complex composed of PurK, PurE and PurC with a 4:8:8 stoichiometry, respectively. Interestingly, a tunnel connecting the different active sites has been revealed, showing a metabolon-like property for possible efficient substrate channelling. These findings support a conserved regulatory organization of purine biosynthesis in bacteria, providing deeper insights into bacterial metabolism and paving the way for potential antibiotic targets.
The latests winners
Nour Ayoub
Team Structural mobility, Institut Curie, Paris
Charlotte Bellamy
Weill Cornell Medicine – New York City, USA
Anaïs Astier
Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI) – Toulouse
Hugo Millat
IBCP – Lyon
Maximilian Kohl
IBMC (CNRS/Strasbourg University) – Strasbourg
Julius Martinkus
LISM (CNRS/Aix-Marseille Université)
Serhii Pankivskyi
SABNP laboratory (Université Évry Paris-Saclay)
Safa Boussouar
Bioenergetics and Protein Engineering (BIP) laboratory, Marseille
Morgane Roger-Margueritat
TIMC laboratory, Grenoble
Léa Prochasson and Makram Mghezzi-Habellah
Curie Institute and Sorbonne University, Paris
Maëliss Germain
Rennes University, BRM Lab. (Bacterial RNAs in Medicine)
Olga Kolosova
IGBMC, Strasbourg
Mélisse Hamidi
Institute of Molecular Microbiology and Structural Biochemistry, Lyon
Zhao Jiangfeng
EMBL, Grenoble
Robine Maffo Woulefack
Sciences and Technologies Faculty,Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy
Alexia Godet
Université d’Aarthus, Danemark
Veronica Nuccetteli et Makram Mghezzi
Biology et Cell Modelisation Lab., ENS, Lyon and IBCP, Lyon
Akandé Eyitayo
IBGC, CNRS, Bordeaux University
Markel Martinez-Carranza
Pasteur Institute, Paris
Nour Ayoub
Institut Pasteur Paris, UPCité and INSERM UMRS-1124, Paris
Claire Husser
CNRS, UPR 9002, Architecture & Reactivity of RNA
Mickaël Guérin
CNRS, UMR7025, Génie Enzymatique et Cellulaire
Aria Gheeraeart
INSERM, Paris
Pauline Herviou
Institut Beatson, Glasgow
Charbel Alfeghali
Laboratoire d’Ingénierie Moléculaire et Physiopathologie Articulaire (IMoPA), Nancy
Yoann Santin
Institut de Duve, Bruxelles
Florent Waltz
Université de Strasbourg
Juliette Fédry
Institut Pasteur, Paris
Clément Charenton
École Polytechnique, Palaiseau
Thomas Eychenne
CEA, Saclay
Apply for the Dina Surdin Award
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Virginie Marcel
UMR INSERM 1052, Cancérologies Research Center, Centre Léon Bérard, Lyon
Pascale Romby
CNRS, UPR 9002, ARN “RNA Architecture and Reactivity”, IBMC, Strasbourg
Pascale Lesage
CNRS et équipe de Biologie de l’instabilité des génomes, Paris
Carine Tisné
IBPC, Paris
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Etienne BLANC
Institute for Research in Health, Environment and Work – INSERM UMRS 1085 – Rennes
Laure-Emmanuelle Zaragosi
Inserm, IPMC, Sophia-Antipolis
Maxime Wery
Institut Curie, Paris
Tamara Basta-Le-Berre
CNRS, UMR9198, Institut de Biologie Intégrative de la Cellule (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette
Ludovic Pelosi
Laboratoire UGA (Groupe Quinones Respiratoires), Grenoble
Cyril Bourgeois
ENS, Lyon
Célia Plisson-Chastang
CNRS, UMR 5099, Toulouse
Odil Porrua
CNRS, UMR7592 (Institut Jacques Monod), Paris
Hervé Seitz
CNRS, UMR 9002 (Institut de génétique humaine), Montpellier
Michaël Ryckelynck
Biologie Digitale de l’ARN, UPR 9002, Architecture et réactivité de l’ARN, IBMC, Strasbourg.
Martin PICARD
CNRS UMR 7099, Laboratoire de Biologie Physico-chimique des protéines membranaires, IBPC
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Our scientific awards
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Honors a young researcher for a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal.
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Rewards a young researcher for an outstanding PhD thesis in biochemistry or molecular biology.
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Honors a woman who has made an outstanding contribution to public research, recognized for the significance of her work and her impact in her scientific field.
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