Maxime Wery
2024 Maurice Nicloux award winner
Profile
The central theme of Maxime WERY’s research is the integrated study of RNA metabolism, from synthesis to degradation, including their assembly and regulatory functions. Early research focused on transcription by RNA polymerase II in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, highlighting functional interactions between the Rpb9 subunit, the elongation factor TFIIS, and the SAGA co-activator complex. This suggested an unexpected role for SAGA during transcriptional elongation. Analysis of RNA polymerase II mutants subsequently revealed a function of the switch 1 domain as an internal sensor of the cellular nucleotide pool.
Later work focused on the early assembly of pre-ribosomes, demonstrating that RNA degradation factors are co-transcriptionally recruited to eliminate misassembled ribosomal particles. At the Institut Curie, research shifted to the biogenesis and regulation of long antisense non-coding RNAs in the context of pervasive transcription. The development of dedicated sequencing and bioinformatics analysis approaches enabled the characterization of these cryptic transcripts and the exploration of their potential functions.
These studies showed that antisense RNAs (asRNAs) are predominantly unstable and targeted by RNA degradation pathways, particularly through Xrn1 and the translation-dependent NMD pathway. The formation of sense/antisense RNA duplexes appears to be a major determinant of transcript fate, modulating their stability or elimination, with the involvement of specific helicases. Comparative approaches in different yeast species revealed evolutionary conservation of the mechanisms regulating asRNAs, while highlighting the role of the RNAi system in shaping the antisense transcriptome. Overall, this work underscores the central importance of post-transcriptional control in the regulation of non-coding RNA expression.
The latest winners
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
Mickaël Guérin
CNRS, UMR7025, Enzymatic and Cellular Engineering
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
Applications must be submitted in March. The exact deadline is announced each year by email.
Documents to be submitted:
Downloadable application guidelines document below, a copy of the thesis manuscript.
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
Apply for the Marianne Grunberg-Manago Award
Applications must be submitted by email to martin.picard@ibpc.fr. The exact deadline will be announced annually via email.
Required Documents:
Updated CV, including a summary of the candidate’s work and publications, formatted according to the downloadable guide below.
Any application received after the specified deadline will not be considered.
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
Apply for the Maurice Nicloux Award
Applications must be submitted by March of each year. The exact deadline will be announced annually via email.
Required Documents:
Updated CV, including a summary of the candidate’s work and publications, formatted according to the downloadable guide below.
Any application received after the specified deadline will not be considered.
Our scientific awards
“Article of the Month” award
Honors a young researcher for a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Dina Surdin award
Rewards a young researcher for an outstanding PhD thesis in biochemistry or molecular biology.
Marianne Grunberg-Manago Award
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.
Maurice Nicloux award
Honors an established researcher for their overall contribution to the scientific community and to research in biochemistry or molecular biology.