Thursday, July 16, 2026

11:15 AM - 1:15 PM

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Details

Photopharmacology is an emerging light-based strategy to manipulate biological processes with high spatiotemporal precision. It relies on the use of photosensitive ligands, called photoswitches, enabling the optical control of drug/target interactions and their consequent biological activities, in a reversible manner. Contrary to optogenetics, which requires the use of transgenes, this novel method allows for the modulation of endogenous receptor activity. Photopharmacology offers several advantages, including: 1) no need for exogenous viral expression of light-activatable proteins, 2) improved spatial and temporal control of compound activity compared to conventional pharmacological approaches, and 3) the use of small photoswitchable molecules that are amenable to drug development. In this symposium, we propose to present different aspects of photopharmacology, from the development of photoswitches to their multiple applications in structural biology, molecular pharmacology, control of gene expression, exploration of GPCR function and mapping of brain neuromodulatory mechanisms in neurological disorders.

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Session chair