Symposium 23: Lighting up pharmacology with photoswitches
Tracks
Track 7
| Thursday, July 16, 2026 |
| 11:15 AM - 1:15 PM |
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.
Speaker
Dr Cyril Goudet
Igf, University Montpellier, Cnrs, Inserm
Optical interrogation of pain neuromodulatory mechanisms
Biography
Dr Cyril Goudet is a Research Director affiliated with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). He currently works at the Institute of Functional Genomics in Montpellier, France, where he leads the ‘Molecular and Structural Mechanisms of Neuromodulation’ team. He received his PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology from University of Burgundy, France. He then held postdoctoral positions at the Universities of Leuven and Montpellier before being recruited as a researcher at the CNRS.
He is a neuropharmacologist and expert in the neuromodulation of biological functions by G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs), notably metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors. His research is dedicated to developing and understanding the mode of action of innovative pharmacological and photopharmacological tools, and their use in exploring the pathophysiological function and therapeutic potential of mGlu receptors in brain disorders with a particular focus on chronic pain. He has published 57 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 18 reviews and editorials, 6 book chapters, two granted patents and one provisional patent.
Cyril Goudet is a member of the French Society of Neuroscience and of the French Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (SFPT), where he was an elected member of the Administrative and Scientific Council (2014-2018). Since 2015, he is the president of the NC-IUPHAR committee on mGlu receptors.
Session chair
Cyril Goudet
Igf, University Montpellier, Cnrs, Inserm
Amadeu Llebaria
IQAC-CSIC
